Traylor’s evolution at Wossman earns senior his second-straight Player of the Year honor – The Franklin Sun

Casey Jones sat down at his desk in the Belton Sports Complex at Wossman High School following the conclusion of the high school basketball season and let out a long sigh.

Its frustrating, he said.

For Wossmans head coach, he cant begin to grasp why Nick Traylor has an offer from LSU-Alexandria and a couple of prep schools... And thats it.

A year after dominating the interior with his natural strength and rebounding prowess, the 63, 190-pound forward moved to a wing position, where he was even positioned at the front of a press. He showcased an ability to play just about any position on the floor that his head coach needed, earning the senior his second consecutive Ouachita Citizen All-Parish Boys Player of the Year honor.

Its just very frustrating that a kid of that caliber who does things the right way isnt getting looked at like some others, Jones said. Hes a good kid on and off the court and isnt getting the opportunities to play at the next level, and I dont know why.

It certainly wasnt from a lack of production. As a senior, Traylor averaged 20.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists per contest. After a full offseason of hard work, Traylor polished off his game to where he became a better facilitator and shooter on the court.

He actually shoots the 3-ball a lot better than people think, Jones said. Hes one of our top 3-point shooters out there. But he takes what the defense gives him. Hes so strong and gifted. He can get to the basket pretty much any time he wants. He understood going into this year that he was going to be keyed in on a lot.

With Devonte Austins ascension to superstardom on the local high school scene, Traylor benefitted from a supporting cast at Wossman that went deep into the bench. Together, they made a run for the Class 3A State Championship and came a point shy of accomplishing that goal against Bossier in the state title game. In order to get there, though, fellow teammate Brandon Dennis had to hit a shot at the buzzer to beat Madison Prep.

I knew he was going to do something with it, Traylor said. Whether it was make that shot for himself or create a shot for someone else. When he made that shot it was like when Ray-Ray (Rayson Robinson) hit that shot last year. Except, instead of sending us to overtime, it won the game for us.

Robinsons 3-pointer against Peabody led to an eventual 71-67 victory against Peabody, which set up a state championship game against Madison Prep. The Chargers got the best of Wossman in the state title game a year ago, and Traylor and company didnt forget. As fate would have it, Wossman would have to go through Madison Prep to get to Bossier in the state championship game. Adding fuel to the fire was the fact Madison Preps Elijah Tate received an offer from ULM. That didnt sit well with Traylor and company.

I feel like Im as good or maybe even better, Traylor said. We all wanted to prove that we were in that game, and I think we did.

In Traylors senior campaign, he helped anchor a 33-4 season that saw the Wildcats win a stacked East Ascension tournament and Don Redden Tournament. The latter was the first time Jones led his Wildcats to a Redden victory as Wossmans head coach. Traylor swelled with pride about that.

And even though the Wildcats ultimately came up shy of accomplishing the main goal of winning a state title, its hard not to think back at a run of four consecutive trips to the state tournament and call it anything but successful.

When we came in as freshmen we said wed win a state title either our junior year or senior year, Traylor said. We had it in our mind to get there, and we avoided any slip-up to get there four straight years.

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Traylor's evolution at Wossman earns senior his second-straight Player of the Year honor - The Franklin Sun