Boys Basketball: Braylen Nash surges to forefront for New Albany Eagles

Dave Purpura, ThisWeek
·3 min read
Braylen Nash, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, is in his second year as a starter for New Albany. He was averaging 10.9 points through 13 games after averaging 6.3 points as a freshman. The Eagles were 10-3 before playing Grove City on Jan. 21.
Braylen Nash, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, is in his second year as a starter for New Albany. He was averaging 10.9 points through 13 games after averaging 6.3 points as a freshman. The Eagles were 10-3 before playing Grove City on Jan. 21.

Based purely on the eye test and not knowing all of the statistics, senior forward Justin Perry spares no praise when it comes to his New Albany boys basketball teammate, Braylen Nash.

“He’s probably the best shooter on whatever floor he’s on whenever he’s out there,” Perry said of Nash, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard in his second year as a starter. “Any shot he shoots, I feel like it’s going to go in. I trust that he’s going to make it. If he misses, it surprises me.

“He’s a very good shooter and we’ve seen that for a while in the New Albany program. Even when he was in eighth grade, I went to watch one of his games and he was hitting 3(-pointers) easy.”

After a promising freshman season, Nash has taken his game to the next level. He averaged 10.9 points with four games of 20 or more points through 13 games, led the Eagles in 2-point field-goal percentage (63%) and minutes and was a major reason that they were 10-3 overall and 3-2 in the OCC-Ohio Division before playing Grove City on Jan. 21.

Nash attributed his success to increased comfort at the varsity level, citing better handling of physicality as well as his own size and speed.

“Definitely all of the above. The speed was the biggest thing for me, followed by the physicality,” Nash said. “I’m still getting used to the physicality and speed, but this summer helped me get under control. Freshman year, I didn’t get a summer to get used to the varsity game (because of the COVID-19 pandemic).”

Nash averaged 6.3 points and 3.1 rebounds as a freshman, when he played in 15 of the Eagles’ 20 games and started most of them. He missed five contests in late January and early February because of a COVID-19 quarantine due to contact tracing.

In his last game before quarantining, Nash scored a then career-high 14 points in a win at Canal Winchester.

He eclipsed that with 21 points in the second game of this season, a 59-44 win at Grove City on Dec. 3. A 20-point game followed two weeks later in a 76-30 rout of Westland.

“Last year, I was a one-role type of guy, shooting 3s and playing good defense,” Nash said. “I’m playing looser. Last year I played tight, because as a freshman, it can be hard to find your groove.”

None of Nash’s success surprises coach Ryan Grashel.

“We looked at each other (last year) and said, ‘This kid can get it done,’ ” Grashel said. “He came (into this season) knowing he’d be one of those guys we’ll need every night. Nothing is too big for him. No light is too bright for him. He’s been a leader and he’s still growing.”

Nash is a key cog in a three-pronged scoring attack that also features Perry (15.4 points per game) and Josh Evans (10.5).

“We definitely all bring something different,” said Perry, who had the game-clinching basket as time expired Jan. 7 in a 58-56 win over Walnut Ridge during The Challenge at Africentric. “Everyone on any given night can just take over. If they have a great matchup and stop one of us, the other guys can beat their matchups. We can create a lot of stuff to help us win. ... It’s super hard for the other teams to guard and there isn’t too much pressure on any one of us.”

dpurpura@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekDave

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Boys Basketball: Nash surges to forefront for New Albany