Recruiting Report: Kendall Bynum (2019)
Western Branch was thought to have a pretty good season in 2017-2018, but not many expected them to make it to the state championship.
However, not many know the grit and perseverance of that group, led by junior point guard Kendall Bynum. The 6’0” guard made a name for himself and he helped the Bruins to a 25-3 season and a place in the VHSL Class 6 State Championship, which they lost to South County in. Despite the defeat, Bynum feels like it wasn’t all a loss because he learned a lot from this season.
“As a team, I feel like we exceeded everyone’s expectations as well had the best season in Western Branch history which deserves some praise, but we still fell short of the ultimate goal,” he said. “I don’t like to think of the state championship game as a loss, it was more like a lesson we learned and something we can use as motivation moving forward.
“Overall, this season was a fun and humbling experience, and hopefully next year we can build upon it and make it back to states and maybe win it next year.”
Bynum was named to the VHSL Class 6 All State First Team after averaging close to 15 points and 5 assists per game. An all around guard who’s shifty off the bounce and can create shots for himself and others, he thrived playing with a big front court that allowed him to work off ball screens. He’ll be playing with Boo Williams Russell this summer, where he hopes to continue to show what he learned from a leadership standpoint in his junior year.
“The biggest thing for me this season was becoming more of a vocal leader, learning what I could say to some teammates and knowing what not to say to others,” Bynum said.
Bynum is hearing from a number of schools, including VMI, Liberty, Hofstra, Hampton and Lehigh. As for when he makes his decision, he already has a criteria for what he’s looking for in a school.
“I want a place that’s a family environment, has the major I want to pursue (sports medicine), develops their players and is somewhere the players enjoy playing.”
One of the up and coming guards in the area, expect Bynum to continue to pull interest from division one schools as he thrives both on the court and in the classroom.