Southwest's Rue Chapman making a name for himself on basketball court
He goes by Rue, but Southwest basketball sophomore Eldemadre Chapman has another moniker given to him by coach Breon Hall.
“I call him a silent assassin,” Hall said. “He is a quiet guy, but he can get to the rack and score when he wants to and nobody can stay in front of him.”
As far as his original nickname, Chapman can’t recall a time when he wasn’t referred to as Rue. It has been a part of him since he was little. His family, friends, teammates and coaches all call him by it and he even writes it down on some of his homework assignments.
“But I do write my real name on test papers,” the 16-year-old Chapman quipped.
Regardless of how he is referred, Rue has emerged as one of the area’s top high school basketball underclassmen.
The 6-foot-1 point guard averages 15.8 points, 2.8 steals and 2.7 assists per game to go along with 3.6 rebounds. His efforts have helped the Stallions (12-9, 8-2) lock in second place in the East Central 2-A Conference after they finished 7-16 last year.
Southwest, which has won five of its last six games, hosts James Kenan (7-13, 1-8) on Tuesday before visiting East Duplin (5-10, 4-5) on Thursday to conclude the regular season.
“I am just trying to help the team out,” Chapman said. “The season has been fun, but we just need to keep working.”
Chapman’s best overall game came Jan. 3 when he had 29 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and three assists in a 71-56 victory over North Lenoir. While he added 27 points in a 93-79 loss to West Carteret on Jan. 11, Chapman has elevated his game in some of Southwest’s bigger conference wins.
He scored 26 points Dec. 16 in a 48-27 victory over South Lenoir and had 22 points, five assists, four rebounds, two steals and even two blocks in a 57-54 victory over Wallace-Rose Hill on Jan. 6.
Chapman added 21 points, six rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks Jan. 26 in a 62-59 win over East Duplin and had 13 points, eight assists, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks in a 59-50 triumph over South Lenoir on Monday.
Hall said Chapman has the potential to be one of the state’s best players before he graduates.
“Rue is one of the guys that a lot of coaches want to have on their team,” Hall said. “He has a good basketball IQ, he is not overwhelmed by the game, he is unselfish, he gets his teammates involved, he plays good defense and he can score.”
Chapman is originally from the Southwest area, but didn’t start playing for the school until he returned nearly a year ago to campus after living in Virginia for a short period. When he came back, he played on the JV team.
It didn’t take Hall, in his first season as varsity head coach, long to realize that Chapman had the potential to be Southwest’s primary ball handler.
“I had heard about Rue, but I didn’t know how good he was until I watched his game for the first time,” Hall said. “After that first time, I knew he had something that a lot of people don’t have.”
In other words, Chapman had that “It factor,” something he continues to show as he helps lead the Stallions.
“The better he plays, the better everybody else plays,” Hall said.
Still, Chapman knows he has room to grow. He said he wants to improve on his shooting and dribbling. Hall believes his point guard will do just that.
“I expect him to continue to grow as a player,” Hall said. “I want him to keep doing what he is doing, but add to it by two. I want him to continue to work on his game so that he can be that great player I know he can be.”
Chris Miller can be contacted via email at cmiller@jdnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @jdnsports.
This article originally appeared on The Daily News: Sophomore Rue Chapman helping lead Southwest basketball team in 2023
