2019-20 Georgia Tech Everyday Champions Issue #3

MEN’S BASKETBALL | CENTER OF ATTENTION

BY THE NUMBERS 8 Place in Georgia Tech career list for blocked shots for James Banks (144).

“But the fundamental skill base of being a post player, a basketball player, wasn’t fully developed, so we’ve gone back and shored things up. It’s sealing, and positioning and angles.” Banks is always shoring up, and sometimes it costs him. He’s not laser-focused all the time. Maybe that’s because he cares so much about so many. First thing every day, “I call my mom and we pray,” he says. “We talk at least three or four times a day, or text some.” Banks is well spoken, like his mother, and he’s just as likely to come upon a media interview with teammates or head coach Josh Pastner and pop up two fingers behind the head of whomever is on camera as he is to show up with one of his multiple pairs of Crocs on his feet. Or, he might just stop to talk. Banks is different from his predecessor, Ben Lammers, who played out of the high block. James plays mostly low, but is so often so high on life. Reveno describes both as highly intelligent, Lammers as an introvert and Banks as an extrovert. “I wouldn’t say he’s happy-go-lucky just because he’s wearing bright Crocs and two different color socks. He enjoys himself; he enjoys people;” Reveno says. “We go to a restaurant and the guys are polite and say hello, but James talks and meets some people, talks to servers. We leave and people say, ‘Your guys are so friendly,’ and that’s the James Banks effect. That more than basketball, or football, James Banks III is big. “I believe can hold my own with anybody on this Earth on the basketball court. I believe my best basketball is ahead of me.” And, no longer in front, Sonja James from her wheelchair knows there will be more to life than hoops for her baby. “Every parent wants their kid to fulfill their dream, and what I’ve learned in life with him if you give a person just a little bit of fame or notoriety, you’ll find out what that person is really like,” Sonja says. “What I’ve come to learn is that James will not sway from what I’ve taught him. What I’ve always taught him is to always be respectful, show love to those in despair. I don’t want him to ever, ever look down on people. What I’ve found is that if there’s one kid that’s over there by himself, go over there to see what you can do.” In many ways, James III is fulfilling his dream on a daily basis, and his basketball journey is just beginning.

Decatur. Head pastor Prezzel Lane usually drives her back and forth to and from Atlanta. James thought she was going to get better, and went to play his senior season on scholarship for La Lumiere School in La Porte, Ind. That’s a hugely successful prep program. And then he chose Texas without knowing that fellow center Jarrett Allen would join the Longhorns a couple months later, just after James showed up on campus. Banks didn’t play much that season, and Allen was drafted after just one year of college by the NBA’s Nets at No. 22. A season later, center Mo Bamba showed up at Texas, and the freshman was in 2018 drafted No. 6 by the Magic. Again, Banks played little in what was his sophomore season. The timeline in the head of Banks III wasn’t unfolding. “As a 16 or 17-year old, I didn’t think I was going to be in college more than two years,” he said. Mom wasn’t getting better as fast as everyone had hoped, and the combination of James’ athletic and life realities led him back to Atlanta. So, he put his name in the transfer portal. Now, he majors in history, technology and society at Tech, and is among the ACC’s best shot blockers, quite a rebounder, and in line to score about a dozen points per game. “I think James has progressed in a lot of fundamental areas that may not jump out at somebody,” says assistant coach Eric Reveno, who works chiefly with Tech’s big players. “His technique on things, his shot blocking, his rebounding, some of the athletic plays he makes have always just naturally been there.

Banks led the ACC in blocked shots in 2019, but has blocked more shots per game this season

14   EVERYDAY CHAMPIONS | SPRING 2020