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Leopards' Ford matures into a playmaker

By DAVID MURPHY
Published January 18, 2007

As an eighth-grader, Ford Manuel stood about 5-5 and weighed about 130 pounds. Still, when Hernando coach Jeff Laing spotted him at a summer basketball camp five years ago, he liked what he saw.

"He was just a little kid," said Laing, who first spotted Manuel at a summer basketball camp. "But you could see that he had a little bit of ability."

For two-and-a-half years, that ability was kept on layaway as upperclassmen like Blake Vanderford and Jacob Bess took turns leading the Leopards. But as Hernando looks toward the district tournament, hoping for redemption for what has been a lackluster regular season, a now 6-foot-1, slam-dunking swingman is its chief hope.

Manuel, a senior in his first season as a full-time starter, has gone from role player to go-to scorer in less than a year, averaging 14.2 points and 4.5 rebounds for a young team that has struggled to find an identity.

The only varsity player from last season fellow senior Todd Goetz played just seven games before leaving the team, Manuel has at times been the lone offensive threat. He is the only player averaging in double figures and has accounted for more than 50 percent of the Leopards' 3-pointers.

"We all have to fill different roles than we did last year," Manuel said. "It's a little different."

There is no question Hernando has struggled in doing so. The Leopards have won just three games, and by the end of the season they might invent a couple of new ways to lose them.

Take, for example, the past couple of weeks.

First Hernando lost a high-scoring game to a Central team that had won just one game, allowing sophomore Darryn Frazier to rattle off 34 points. Then, less than a week later, the Leopards dropped one of the uglier high school games you will see, holding a lead over a vaunted Springstead team much of the second half before losing in the final minute.

"We've been pulling our hair out trying to figure out the answer," Laing said.

But hope remains, both for the coach and for his senior star. Manuel said the team's performance against Springstead, when it nearly handed the Eagles their first district loss of the season, is evidence of the Leopards' potential.

"Hopefully that will be the turning point," Manuel said.

All but one of the Leopards' remaining games are at home. And once the district tournament starts, regular-season records are meaningless.

If you had told Laing five years ago he one day would count on the skinny eighth-grader at his basketball camp to lead a three-win team to the postseason, he might have laughed.

Now, a grownup Manuel looks like Hernando's best chance.

David Murphy can be reached at dmurphy@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1407.

[Last modified January 17, 2007, 21:48:48]