Westinghouse and Perspectives-MSA are both known for what came before. Westinghouse is one of the city’s legendary powerhouses and Perspectives-MSA is current NBA star Anthony Davis’ alma mater.
Now both programs play in the Public League’s White Division, a notch below the Red. That generally means toiling in obscurity. Wednesday at Westinghouse, the two teams gave a glimpse of promising futures. Both squads start dynamic freshmen point guards: Ayo Dosunmu for Westinghouse and Marquan Williams for Perspectives.
Dosunmu scored a game-high 25 points to lead Westinghouse to a 58-55 victory.
Williams (16 points, five assists) had a chance to win it for the Wolves but his 3-point attempt rimmed out just before the buzzer.
“The kids know all about the history here,” Warriors coach Bill Curry said. “I tell them that in the past they had great coaches here and kids with an intense desire to win. But they didn’t have the resources. Now we’ve got the resources and we are working on getting that intense desire to win. And the coaches are working on getting better too.”
Dosunmu had his pick of high schools to attend, so deciding on a rebuilding program at Westinghouse (9-5, 6-0 White-West) was a bold move.
“I know what people expect Westinghouse to be,” Dosunmu said. “Now we have the academics here, too, so I thought it was the right place. It’s a great school and we can be a part of building the basketball [program] back up to what it used to be.”
Dosunmu doesn’t play like a freshman. He’s calm and confident with the ball, has terrific court vision and a consistent jumper (although it’s awkward looking).
“My teammates have my back so it’s easy to be confident,” Dosunmu said. “I know that my teammates can pick up any mistake I make. We can count on each other.”
Sophomore Coreyoun Rushin is the the other major building block in Curry’s rebuilding project at the West Side school.
The 6-5 forward scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds. He’s an explosive athlete.
Westinghouse is unbeaten in conference and has a great chance of moving back into the Red next season, which would be a major boost to Curry’s rebuilding efforts.
“That’s so important,” Rushin said. “It’s where we have to be and it’s our big goal for this season.”
Williams, the younger brother of former Morgan Park star Markee Williams, has consistently posted high scoring totals this year for the Wolves (8-8, 2-4). That wasn’t the case against Westinghouse, but the young guard was a terror heading to the basket. He was able to get to the rim at will and would have had nearly 10 assists if his teammates had converted a few more layups.
“He’s a heck of a player,” Perspectives-MSA coach Waybon McConnell said. “He’s the best player we’ve had since Anthony Davis. He’s going to help us build something here. We have the point guard, we just need some other pieces to build around him.”
