MANSFIELD — Kyevi Roane had just led his Mansfield Senior Tygers to a season-opening 59-44 win over Ashland to tip off his junior season in style.
He scored 18 points, added eight rebounds and was 9-for-11 from the free-throw line. As he settled into his nighttime routine after the game, he popped open his phone to read a story written about the game on the News Journal’s website. As he read, he came across a quote from head coach Marquis Sykes.
“He plays like an old man at the Y,” Sykes said with a laugh after the game. “He really does. He was very productive tonight and once he gets to where he needs to be, he will be able to close out games for us.”
Roane read it with a curious look on his face. Was his coach taking a dig at him or was that supposed to be a compliment? Fast-forward to the start of Roane’s senior year and the compliment still rings true.
“I still agree with that statement,” Sykes said with a smile. “He read that quote after that game and called me afterward and asked if that was a compliment or if it was a jab and I had to tell him that it was absolutely a compliment. When you look at him, he won’t make the all-airport team and typically won’t think he is the best basketball player on the court, but when he steps out on the floor, he is the best player out there and he does it in a manner of maturity and his own pace and speed.
“He goes to spots on the floor that he wants to and that gives him the best chance to succeed. Physically, he has the ability to control the game’s tempo and can play on the block or on the perimeter, similar to what you see from an older player at the YMCA playing against younger guys. He has that old-man game to him.”
It isn’t just a compliment, it is the ultimate compliment coming from a basketball junkie like Sykes. The veteran coach has seen a lot of basketball and is always amazed at the players who go out and play their style no matter the situation and just bust everyone’s butts while they do it.
“I thought it was kind of an insult,” Roane said laughing while drawing smiles from his coach. “I can agree with it a little bit, too though.”
Roane has been generously listed at 6-foot-1 on the Tygers’ roster since he was a freshman. He isn’t a high-flying dunker that the Tygers have had in the past nor will he pull up from the volleyball line for deep 3s. Instead, in his first three seasons, he made his living among the trees in the paint pulling down offensive rebounds and putting up impossible-to-block shots on a nightly basis. It led him to All-Ohio honors in both his sophomore and junior seasons.
He infuriated taller opponents because there is no way he should be getting rebounds much less putting up shots that don’t get swatted, but Roane always seemed to be in the right place at the right time, much like that savvy veteran at the Y. He scored 447 points last season with his style, good for 16th-most in a single season in program history.
“I try not to think a lot when I am on the court,” Roane said. “That is how I really try to approach every game. If I don’t overthink things and just go out there and play, I tend to make the right place by being a leader. It has worked so far.”
It worked so well in his first three seasons, but Sykes had a different plan for Roane heading into the 2024-25 season. Instead of spending his time on the block as an undersized post player (even though he was very successful at that spot), Sykes wanted to put Roane at point guard.
And the Tygers have flourished. They won their first five games and Roane has been a sensation in his new role. He is averaging 16 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals. He has become a complete all-around player in the process.
“I have been asking him to really study Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks,” Sykes said. “He is a point guard with a similar style game who is undersized and under-ranked but ended up being an NCAA National Champion and is always in the conference finals in the NBA. That is who we want him to learn and grow from and pattern his style of game.”
In his first game in his new role, Roane scored 20 points and added seven rebounds, four assists and three steals in a win over New Philadelphia. Then, it was maybe the best game of his career as the Tygers knocked off potential district tournament foe Sandusky when he scored 25 points, pulled down 19 rebounds, handed out two assists and added a steal. Add in his tip-in at the buzzer to beat Fremont Ross and Roane has had his hand in everything.
“I like playing the point,” Roane said. “It is a position I always wanted to play, but the senior classes we had as I was coming up had some very good point guards. I never got a chance to play that spot to show my true guard skills and this year, I get that shot and I will take advantage.”
And so will the Tygers. Everyone around Roane is playing better because of his ability to run the point. He has been great at grabbing defensive rebounds and starting fast breaks on his own which allows his teammates to leak out for easy buckets in transition. The Tygers are averaging 68.6 points but have topped 80 twice including a season-high 85 at Madison when Roane had a quiet 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists running the show.
“It has been fun to watch and it was not something I gave a second thought about,” Sykes said. “We made the decision that Kyevi would be the point guard and have the ball in his hands a lot and that is good for the Mansfield Senior Tygers. He is fine with it and his teammates were more than fine with it. His vision has improved so much and he is making a lot of plays for us. It has been a smooth transition and he will continue to grow and get better as the season goes on.”
What really stands out is his maturity on the court and how it rubs off on his teammates. There is a sense of calmness when Roane is running the point.
“I like to slow the game down and play my way,” Roane said. “Under control and not so fast that things get sloppy and the best way to do that is to play point guard. My scoring average might go down, but that’s fine. If I can control the game, we have a great chance of winning and that is all that matters.”
And it seems to be all the Tygers can do is win. They started the season 5-0 for the first time since the 2013-14 season and seem to be a favorite to compete for their first Ohio Cardinal Conference championship since sharing it with Lexington in 2018-19.
Roane sat just 47 points away from scoring his 1,000th career point after the first five games of his senior season and seems poised to join that exclusive club at Mansfield Senior. There have only been seven to score 1,000 in a Tyger uniform led by Dapreis Owens (1,478), Ahmed Kent (1,278), Keon Johnson (1,279), Sean Tucker (1,253), George Swank (1,190), Marquis Sykes (1,151), and Ken McCally (1,127). BJ Patrick scored more than 1,000 between Mansfield Christian and Mansfield Senior and Terrence Carmichael achieved the milestone between Malabar and Senior High.
Roane would cherish the opportunity to join the club.
“We don’t have a lot of 1,000-point scorers so I am honored to be in this position,” Roane said. “It will be a huge accomplishment and it is something that has been on my mind a lot. It feels so good to know I am approaching that milestone.”
Not too shabby for the kid who plays like an old man at the Y.
jfurr@gannett.com
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