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“Devon Saddler has the third highest Rate of all the basketball players I’ve ever rated,” says Ephraim Dorsey of Athelites. “When we first started in May, his Player Rating was 222.40, and when he finished in August, his Player Rating was 293.53, which is a 71.13 difference. That’s a big deal.”

Devon wasn’t happy with his initial Player Rating. “When I first started, I thought my score was bad, but [Mr. Ephraim] said it would improve… When we started doing all of [the training] it went up a lot.” Improving that much wasn’t easy. “It was a lot of work and time and effort,” says Devon, but, “It was worth it.”

His parents encouraged him to begin training with Athelites. “They didn’t want me getting in trouble in the summertime, so they said, ‘Go see what it’s about,’” Devon says. Not only did Devon stay out of trouble, his parents saw a dramatic difference in his skills. His dad told him, “It’s really improving your shot,” and his mom told him to keep on working hard.

Athelites encouraged him to excel. “In the summertime, a lot of people [don’t do anything], but Mr. Ephraim pushed me to this extent, and I started working hard… He showed me all these drills to make my legs stronger, and he made us run and do pushups and sit-ups and drills and things,” says Devon.

In addition to strength, Athelites gave him confidence on the court. “When I step on the court now, I’m not as nervous. When I step at the free throw line, I just shoot the free throws… Sometimes when my jump shot is long, I get nervous. Then, I wake up and think about what Mr. Ephraim told me, to lock my elbows.”

Only a 10th grader at Aberdeen High School, Devon is the best player on the varsity team. He and three other Aberdeen players train with Athelites. “We’re the top scorers on the team,” says Devon, but he says that they weren’t the top scorers before working with Athelites. He says the extra training made the difference.

Devon believes that if his entire team trained with Athelites that they’d win even more. “We’re 5 and 4 right now,” he says. “We’ve played the top 5 teams in the state. We beat everybody in the county so far, but we have a lot of work to do.”

Devon has several years to continue improving before playing college ball. Two of Aberdeen’s juniors and a freshman also train with Athelites, so Devon sees potential for the future. “I want to put the state championship in Aberdeen,” he says.

Written By Terri Pilcher

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