Mt. Vernon 2016 point guard Braden Fitzjerrells is one of the toughest guards and competitors in the state of Illinois. The lead guard has a never ending motor at 5’8” with a strong frame. He makes plays scoring in bunches both getting buckets off the bounce and is a plus pull up jump shooter. He is also a solid distributor that has improved in that area over the years showing a good feel for when to feed the right guys. We caught up with him to talk about his spring and summer with the Southwest Jets 17U.
“The team started off pretty strong in the beginning. We had a big NY2LA Tournament win over All-Ohio Red which was one of our more notable wins. We gradually grew as a team through the spring and prepared for July. July was a pretty successful month. I think we were at least in the Sweet 16 or Elite 8 in every tournament we were in. The final tournament we finished second.”
How did he feel it went from an individual standpoint?
“I feel like I grew more as a point guard and accepted the true point guard role. On my high school team I’m asked to score. While this summer my job was to take care of the ball, apply defensive pressure, get my teammates involved, and knock down my open shots. This summer was great playing with two division one guys with Tarkus (Ferguson) and (Brendon) Gooch. So I know how to play with good teammates like that. It definitely developed my game to a more all-around point guard rather than just scoring.”
He chatted with us about open gyms at Mt. Vernon in preparation for next season.
“We’ve got a few guys in football, but our two guard and I are working on getting ready for the season and getting the feel for each other. I think we will surprise some people this year if we stay healthy. We’ve got size and athleticism.”
The senior updated us on his recruitment.
“I went up and visited Illinois Wesleyan. They basically told me I can fall back there if I don’t get anything else. Illinois Springfield is interested, but they won’t know if they need a point guard in my class or not until December. Marryville’s assistant was at a few practices in the AAU season for me and I’ve sent them my high school highlight film and such for their head coach to evaluate me. Also my high school coaches told me that SWIC is supposed to come see me either at school or one of our open gyms.”
Olney Central College is also another program that Fitzjerrells noted is taking significant interest in him. They landed his high school teammate Gilwan Nelson last year. Two areas academically Fitzjerrells is interested in pursuing are physical therapy along with teaching/coaching. Expect his recruitment to evolve as the high school season goes along and he puts up monster numbers for the Rams. They will open the season at the Marion/Herrin Thanksgiving tournament.
