By John Clark
BLADENBORO – Thursday night West Bladen’s Knights, the Southeastern Athletic Conference co-champions, will begin their quest for an SAC-7 tournament title. But the roots for the success of this year’s team were planted on Saturday mornings during the 2015-16 school year when 4 of the starters on this year’s team were among the youngest participants in the first Lil Knights.
The Lil Knights basketball program that Coach Travis Pait started back in his 5th year at West Bladen was patterned after a program in Indiana that he had studied. “There were no outside courts on our side of the county,” said Pait. “Church basketball usually had at least one night for practice plus game day.”
At Lil Knights, players receive instruction in basic fundamentals – passing, ball-handling, setting picks and shooting – then are drilled on them in small groups at different stations. Current West Bladen players, assistant coaches and volunteers provide the instruction and run the drills with Pait overseeing. “Our focus is on player development,” shared Pait.
After the drills the players are divided into teams and play regular basketball games, but substitutions are mandated every few minutes so that everyone plays a nearly equal amount of time. Pait stated, “Lil Knights is a chance for kids to play more, and it is a one-stop shop where you practice and play on the same day. We allow no zone defenses and no double-teaming. Age-appropiate goals are used for the younger players.”
The West Bladen Athletic Association was founded as a non-profit to benefit youth and it helps with the funding and expenses for Lil Knights. Charter members were Leon Martin, Jimmy Allen, Dennis Troy, Carl Allen, Joe Druzak and Eddie Knight. “Those men are ‘Salt of the Earth,” said Pait. “They will do anything for us and have helped us so much.”
The non-profit is not a booster club, but it helps run West Bladen’s annual Christmas Tournament that helps fund Lil Knights. A minimal fee is charged per player for Lil Knights that helps purchase each player a t-shirt and a basketball. Scholarships are available to cover the fees in hardship situations.
“We send flyers to the local feeder schools, but we don’t turn anyone away,” noted Pait. Along with the usual Bladenboro and Tar Heel players, this season’s Lil Knights had players from Elizabethtown Middle and Clarkton School of Discovery as well as a few from Robeson County. Notable Lil Knights alumni include Zamar Lewis and Malcom Bolden who are senior stars on East Bladen’s SAC-7 co-champions.
Lil Knights had 120 kids this season, but before Covid Lil Knights had up to 140 participants. “It helps to have hands-on communication with these kids,” said Pait. “It really helped during Covid.” When it began Lil Knights was for grades 1-6 but has now expanded up through middle school age.
Pait credits former principal Toni Warrick with being instrumental in getting Lil Knights started and also points out the great support that the program has received from current principal Dr. Peggy Hester. “My wife Heather does a lot of work for the program, and Joe Gore (Bladenboro Middle basketball coach) helps us and also took kids to play in 1-day tournaments.”
Also helping out at Lil Knights are the current West Bladen players and when they can some of the Knights former college stars such as D. J. Mason (Campbell), Sayaun Dent (Sandhills Community national champions) and Rahu Purdie (Lander).
Pait also runs a summer basketball camp at West Bladen that is not quite the same as Lil Knights. “We hope to expand and use a 2nd site for the summer camp next year, but we need to purchase another set of drop-down goals,” he said.
All of this year’s varsity team has helped with Lil Knights, and those 4 guys that were the youngest at the first Lil Knights are current starters Hezekiah Adams, Chase Williams, Jackson Pait and Tylik McCall. Although a little bit older than them, current senior Gary Parker also joined up back then.
At halftime of this season’s Senior Night girls’ game, Pait and his Lil Knights from the younger age groups filled the court and gave a demonstration of some of their dribbling and ball-handling drills. During the pauses in their drills Pait led them in his familiar chorus from Saturday mornings, “It’s a Great Day … To Be a Knight!!”
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