Boys Basketball: Sophomore Isaiah Santos leading the charge for Seven Lakes
The 6-5, 200-pounder is evolving into a premier versatile talent for the regional power Spartans
As Seven Lakes’ boys basketball team bids for a three-peat as district champion and a return to the regional tournament, a sophomore holds the keys to its hopes.
Graduated are A.J. Bates, the program’s all-time leading scorer now playing at Louisiana Tech, and program stalwart Brett Norton. Moved on is Nasir Price, a four-star recruit now playing at Link Academy High School in Missouri.
That’s a considerable amount of talent gone from a program that won a school-record 36 games last season.
But if the early part of this season is any indication, the Spartans will be just fine. They still have 6-foot-5, 200-pound wing Isaiah Santos.
Santos, who primarily played out of position in the post last year, is authoring a breakthrough campaign as a sophomore, averaging 22 points and 12 rebounds per game while shooting better than 40% from 3-point range through the first 12 games, of which Seven Lakes won nine.
Santos set the program’s single-season rebounding record last year. He dunked a lot. He defended the rim.
This year, he’s still doing all of that. Plus, handling the ball in the open floor and creating for teammates. Plus, shooting from deep. Plus, assuming ownership of one of the top programs in the Greater Houston area.
“With guys like A.J., Nas and Brett not here anymore, his biggest growth is his leadership, and that’s what we need,” coach Shannon Heston said. “He’s always been a lead-by-example guy but he’s learning how to be a vocal leader. He accepts that responsibility.”
Santos said the biggest takeaway from his freshman year was the quality of competition. He had always been the biggest and strongest, and sometimes even the fastest, on his teams growing up.
But going up against bigger, stronger and faster players humbled him. So, a player Heston said is the hardest working in his program worked even harder during the offseason.
Santos knew his team would need more—a lot more—out of him this season. He was ready for it, excited for it.
“Last year, they called on me to be the big man because we didn’t really have anyone to fill that role,” he said. “Now we have more guys getting rebounds, so I’m on the perimeter more, able to facilitate and do all that.”
Offensively, Santos has matured on and off the ball.
His drive-and-kick game is arguably the biggest improvement from last season. He recognized teams game-plan to take charges around him to take away the drive, and he has adapted.
Santos is more and more using his pull-up jumper, but even more so he’s stopping at a moment’s notice to kick out to open shooters on the perimeter.
“I love to use my different tools,” he said. “Keep doing that over and over again.”
Off the ball, Santos is a skilled cutter. With defenses no longer having to key in on Bates, Price and Norton, Santos had to learn to get crafty eluding defenders, taking advantage of any brief moment they might relax.
Once he does get by, he’s practically a sure bucket. Santos loves the up-and-under move around the rim, exhibiting deft body control and touch for a player his size.
“It requires a lot of work,” he said. “I work on that stuff every single day, like how much spin to put off the backboard. It’s reps and reps and reps. But once the game comes around, it’s natural.”
Defensively, Santos, often stuck guarding the opponent’s biggest player last season, is defending anybody and everybody, from the point guard to the best shooter to the best big.
“He’s someone who can do anything on the basketball court, offensively or defensively,” Heston said.
Heston said because Santos set the rebounding mark and had a slew of highlights as a dunker last season, people saw him as a one-dimensional interior guy.
What they didn’t see, however, was the hours upon hours Santos spent in the gym working on shooting and ballhandling. He knew his time would come.
Heston said he would have used Santos in any way possible last season, but with the perimeter talent at his disposal, he didn’t need a freshman to do so much.
“He was a swiss army knife all year long, playing to the best of his ability wherever we needed him,” Heston said.
Santos’ efforts this season are proof to any skeptics he wasn’t riding anyone’s coattails last year.
“When you see him this year, when he is the man, you see what he is capable of doing,” Heston said. “This year, we’re going to rely on him to play 30 minutes a night, get us 20 points, get us 10 rebounds. It’s a lot of pressure on him, but he’s a high-level recruit and he’s meant to do this.”
Santos is driven by the desire for a college scholarship. He wants to be able to go to a school of his choosing.
While he acknowledges he still has a lot of developing to do, he is willing to do what it takes to not only get to the next level, but dominate once he gets there.
So far, he’s on his way.
“I wouldn’t trade him for anybody in Houston,” Heston said. “The kid is awesome. We’re going to go a long way as long as Isaiah’s here.”