Texas Leadership Charter Academy boys’ basketball coach David Beaver puts De’Tarious Coleman in a category he has put few others in in his roughly two decades of coaching.
“On most nights we’ve taken the floor he’s been the best player out there,” Beaver told Texas Scorecard of the 5-foot-7, 125 pound eighth-grader who competes with the Eagles at the high school level. “I’ve had him since sixth-grade now, and almost from the start we’ve taken to calling him the human fast break.”
And with good reason. Beaver, who’s coached at the college level at Texas A&M International University, Brown Mackie College (Kansas) and been a top assistant at Sam Houston State, describes Coleman as the classic floor general.
“He’s lightning fast, can get to the rim on anybody and has a nice shot,” he said. “But more than that, he makes everyone around him better. I’ve coached at the Division 1 level for over 15 years and he already projects as at least a mid-major talent who can only get better from here.”
Playing against mostly junior-varsity level competition, Coleman averaged 17 points and eight assists in leading the Eagles to an 11-13 finish this season. Beaver said the plan now is to get Coleman as much exposure as possible while also getting him in the mindset of understanding just how good he can be.
“We believe he has another gear that will come as he matures more,” he said. “Being surrounded by college level coaches will only help him. Our philosophy for all the kids is it’s all about maximizing your potential as an athlete and as a person.”
Over the next few seasons, Beaver said he see Coleman and the program building their reputations and stature across the area together.
“The program’s definitely still building with a really nice core and De’Tarious is a young kid who’s learning how to be a leader on the fly,” he said. “He already understands the team goes as he goes and he’s learning to embrace that responsibility and the job of leading by example.”
