Sears leaves defenders scared, friends laughing

Tritons guard Wayne Sears Jr. still remembers his first dunk. It was a long summer's day at an outdoor park in his hometown of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where the 9th-grader honed his game. "Every single day I would go out and…at the end of the day, I'd probably try to dunk like 25 times, something like that," he remembers, "just to put it in the rim. I finally got it once and I was so excited. And I never stopped dunking after that."

Sears is gearing up to thrill fans at the Mac with more high-flying slams and big plays in his senior season. A swollen ankle hampered him in the offseason, but like his teammates, he's improved his health through Tritons Coach Tom Ryan's bi-weekly yoga sessions.  "I feel like it's made me stronger and more flexible," Sears  says. "I've never felt like this in my life."

He's also been working on his jump shot. "What he was lacking was shooting," says Ryan. "He really worked hard this summer to become a better outside shooter."

"I think it's gotten a lot better cause it's more fluid now," says Sears of his jumper. "[I've also been working on] just being confident enough to just shoot it."

Sears' improved shooting mechanics will add another dimension to his game, complementing his trademarked ability to drive the lane. Although he is among the shortest Tritons at about 6'1", Sears plays like a much bigger man, never shying away from contact with bigger opponents around the rim. His comfort in the paint comes from his unlikely experience of playing center in middle school, at the height of 5'11." Sears explains, "I play so aggressive [that] everybody's always talking about, ‘you play like you're 6'6.' That's because I played the big man position."

He compensates for his short stature with freakish athleticism. As a senior track star at Westminster Academy in Brandon, Fla., Sears helped his team to a state title by breaking records in the long jump, high jump and triple jump, winning All-County and MVP honors despite having no previous track experience. All this explosiveness translates into a formidable turn of speed. Sears' teammates and coaches are used to seeing him out front when the team is running suicides. "They expect Sammy [O'Garro] and I to be the fastest people and beat everybody in the race," says the speedster.

 He attributes his speed and leaping ability to a physically active childhood. "When I was a kid," remembers Sears, "I used to always play manhunt and tag and freeze tag and football in middle of the street. I just ran all the time. I used to jump all the time. So I think it all started when I was a kid, just running around the streets."

Sears has always been an athlete, but not always on the basketball court. As a child, he could be found at the skate park instead, riding his BMX bike and skateboarding. He even appeared on an episode of MTV's Jackass that was being filmed at the park. He followed that up with a stint in karate, but boredom eventually drove him to seek out a new challenge. Wayne Sears Sr. had played basketball in youth leagues and later in the Army, and suggested the sport to his sixth-grade son. Wayne Jr. took a liking to rec. league ball, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Ryan recalls Sears' visit to Eckerd. The coach had attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, not far from Wayne Sr.'s alma mater of Dillard High School, and the two men had all the same acquaintances. While Wayne Sr. chatted with Ryan about the old days, his son impressed both on and off the court. "He's just a great student, a great young man," Coach Ryan. "He played pretty well while he was here. And he wound up coming [to Eckerd]."

With a few more years of practice under his belt, Sears has evolved into a dangerous offensive weapon. He uses his quickness off the dribble to collapse defenses and draw double teams, freeing up his teammates and dishing out assists. "I'll hit the shot," says Sears, "but [my game] is more of creating for everybody else."

At the other end of the floor, his quickness helps him clamp down on opposing ball handlers, usually point guards, in the demanding full court press, which he considers to be the greatest challenge of playing his position. "I have to be a stopper," he says. "Point guards are usually the fastest people on the court, so it's really hard for you to turn the guy and make sure he doesn't just take a straight line to the basket. It's just containing him so he's slowing down the fast break. It's really hard, but that's what coach asks me to do, so you just do it. I'm not afraid to guard anybody one on one."

The Tritons will need all of Sears's ability to grind through a demanding 2011-2012 schedule that includes a home game against the Hilltoppers of West Liberty University, ranked third in the nation. Although he expects a tough game from the Hilltoppers, Sears is not intimidated by this formidable foe. "We're not looking for no moral victories or anything," he declares. "We're looking to win that one."    

Sears's playing contribution to his team is invaluable, but it's his welcoming persona that has inspired his teammates to elect him as one of the team's four captains for this season. When asked why his players wanted Sears as their captain, Ryan explains, "[It's] how he carries himself: what he does, what he stands for, academically, socially, everything. He's just a good person. I think people enjoy being around and him and I think they look up to him in some ways."

Teammate Darrien Mack agrees. "He's a really good dude. [He's a] fun guy to be around,  great personality, one of my good friends."

Mack is quick to vouch for his friend's character, but also not above a playful jab at Sears's rapping skills, or lack thereof. "Wayne cannot rap," he emphasizes. "If he tells you he can rap, do not believe it. I heard him rap one time. We were freestyling in the car, and he said like, I don't know, ‘I'm wearin' chicken pasta on my head…' or something and I was like, ‘Huh?' We just wanted to kick him out of the car."