By Christopher Tremblay. Staff Sports Writer

Oxford’s Nolan Remington first stepped onto the basketball court for the varsity team as a freshman and although he received very little playing time that year, he has been taking things one day at a time. Now as a junior, the Pirate forward is the only returning player from last year’s team. 

After only seeing the court on occasion during his freshman campaign because of the talent in front of him, Remington became a starter midway through his sophomore season and now as the only returning starter he is the face of the team.

“As an eighth grader I was playing for the junior varsity team and did get called up to the varsity team that year on occasion, to basically sit on the bench and watch and learn. I did get into a game and I scored my first two varsity points,” he said. The next season I was on the varsity team but only saw minutes here and there; I was a bit nervous, but it helped me to where I am today.”

Prior to that second season Remington worked hard on his game, especially his low post moves and shooting. Primarily that year, Remington found himself as a power forward who didn’t shoot all that much; his role was to rebound and play defense. It was around the seventh game when the Pirates found themselves without some of their starters so the then sophomore got the start.

“It was against Leicester and I played one of my best games scoring 17 points and I think that was the reason the coach had me starting the rest of the season,” Remington said. “I had a good game, but it was the guards who created the openings for me to get into the lane and score.”

Remington’s basketball career began at the age of five and being on the taller side he was tapped as the center, a position that he was okay at playing. Around his middle school years he realized that he could not only play the game competitively, but also began scoring. He would utilize his family; his father and older brother Evan (who he played with on the high school level) to help him improve his game.

Over the years he continued to work on his game and as a junior he believes that his best attribute on the court is his shooting. Through the early games this year he has been averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds per game. 

Coming into this year as the only returner and a team captain Remington knows that he has to elevate his game while helping the younger players to step up their game. 

“As a captain I’ve got to go out and play hard while making sure that everyone is ready to compete,” he said. “I want to encourage them to play to the best of their ability and if they do something wrong I’ll take them aside and talk to them. As a team, we’ll grow and get better.”

The team is young and will get better as the year goes by and Coach David Alderich sees the junior being a main part of getting the team to be successful in the future.

“He shows up early and leaves late,” the coach said. “He’s a bit on the quiet side, but he is coming out of his shell and has been directing the team more lately. He’s improving and if we can get into the State Tournament that would be nice, but I think he’s going to be even better next year.”

As Remington and his Pirate teammates continue to grow on the court, the junior is hoping that they can once again get invited to play at the Clark Tournament as well as participate in the States.