Daniel Young, Kellon Smith set tone for Shaker Heights: Boys basketball preseason camp tour

Daniel Young, Kellon Smith set tone for Shaker Heights
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SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio — Small but quick, Shaker Heights will look to beat its teams to the punch with a pressing attack and a slew of guards.

Daniel Young, a Cleveland State commit, leads that effort with junior Kellon Smith. How they adjust to the departure of Cody Head, a talented junior guard who transferred to Lutheran East, will be vital for a Shaker team that expected to be one of the area’s top teams with him.

Not all is lost with that departure, though.

The Raiders added Jalen Brown from Benedictine and Mike Gettys from Berea-Midpark.

They open with a Lake Erie League clash against Cleveland Heights — which ended their run last season — at the Tigers’ Great Lakes Classic showcase. Another showcase, the Scholastic Play By Play Classic on Jan. 2, will see them meet up with Head and his new team.

Shaker is used to pressing its opponents, but coach Danny Young said he does not expect to hit the brakes on that strategy this season with his guards. Guard play will be pushed by Young and Smith, who expects to have more freedom handling the ball, but the play up front by a handful of football standouts — including Tommy Dunn, Hasim Rashid and Aiden Diaz — will be needed for rebounding and inside muscle.

Get a look at the Red Raiders in the video above, which is part of cleveland.com’s preseason camp tour and learn more about them in a capsule below that includes a lineup and schedule for the 2021-22 season.

Previews will continue this month, leading up to the preseason Top 25 on Monday, Nov. 22 and division-by-division breakdowns that week.

SHAKER HEIGHTS RED RAIDERS

Coach: Danny Young (14th season)

2020-21 record: 11-6, 5-3 Lake Erie League (Division I district semifinalist)

Returning starters: Daniel Young (6-2, sr., PG, 25.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 4.0 steals), Kellon Smith (6-3, jr., G, 9.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals), Aiden King (6-3, sr., F, 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.0 steals)

In the rotation: Noah Chambers (5-8, fr., PG), Jalen Brown (5-9, sr., PG), Mike Gettys (6-3, sr., F), Ari Green (6-2, sr., G), Andrew Loney (5-9, sr., G), Adam Abdlrasul (6-2, sr., G), Jonas Burge (6-3, sr., G), Tommy Dunn (6-3., sr., F), Nasir Rashid (6-3, sr., F), Aiden Diaz (6-3, jr., F)

Schedule

Nov. 27 at Cleveland Heights, Dec. 3 vs. Maple Heights, Dec. 7 vs. Solon, Dec. 10 at Garfield Heights, Dec. 17 vs. Shaw, Dec. 23 vs. Richmond Heights at Garfield Heights

Jan. 2 vs. Lutheran East at Euclid, Jan. 4 at Warrensville Heights, Jan. 7 vs. Bedford, Jan. 14 at Lorain, Jan. 15 vs. Dream City Christian at Flyin’ to the Hoop, Jan. 23 at Brush, Jan. 28 vs. Garfield Heights

Feb. 1 at Shaw, Feb. 4 vs. Warrensville Heights, Feb. 5 at St. Ignatius, Feb. 8 vs. Cleveland Heights, Feb. 11 at Bedford, Feb. 12 at University School, Feb. 15 vs. Lorain, Feb. 18 vs. Glenville

Contact sports reporter Matt Goul on Twitter (@mgoul) or email (mgoul@cleveland.com).

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