Photo by Erin Nelson.
Briarwood’s Landon Nuyt (11) drives the ball towards the goal during the first half of a game at Briarwood Christian School on Jan. 5. The Lions fell to Woodlawn 60-47.
Landon Nuyt still remembers the feeling of hitting a game-winning shot in seventh grade. It is one of many great recollections he has of his six years playing basketball at Briarwood Christian School.
“It’s the best memories you can have with a bunch of your friends,” Nuyt said.
In his senior year, Nuyt has taken on the role of leading scorer and playmaker for the Lions’ high school varsity team, as he tries to cement his legacy with the program. It’s a role he has been accustomed to over the years at the middle school and junior varsity levels.
“When you talk about needing a player that knows when we need, that person to go score or get a bucket, he’s confident enough to be able to do that,” Briarwood head coach Bobby Kerley said.
Nuyt has been preparing his whole basketball career for this season, where he is asked to do a little bit of everything. Last year was the first in Nuyt’s life he was not asked to be one of the team’s primary offensive threats. That was an adjustment for him.
“Before last year, I had always had that role of scoring the ball. It was harder to transition last year,” he said. “That helped me to develop to where I am this year to where I know when to go score and when to kick it out.”
Having a strong senior class last year led by the likes of Hayden Lamey, whose game resembles Nuyt’s in many ways, forced Nuyt to become a more well-rounded player. He learned the importance of doing other things, such as playing solid defense and rebounding, to contribute to the team’s overall success.
Kerley said last season allowed Nuyt to become more complete as a player, capable of knowing when to share the basketball and when to score.
“I can draw a lot of people, it’s just knowing when to kick out and when to shoot the ball,” Nuyt said.
Through the middle of January, Nuyt had scored at least 25 points five times, including a high of 32 against Benjamin Russell. He also had performances of 29 points, 28 (twice) and 25.
Nuyt’s points come from all over the floor, and he is particularly lethal from the foul line area.
“He’s one of the few players we’ve had that can score on all three levels,” Kerley said. “He can get to the rim and score there, draws a lot of fouls. He’s a good set shooter from 3-point range. But I would say the most dangerous part of his game is around the foul line, jump shooting. There aren’t too many guys that can do that at a high level.”
But he is far from a selfish player on the floor.
“Landon does a great job of lifting up his other teammates,” Kerley said. “It’s not just the Landon show. He shares the ball with another great scorer we have, John Elliott.”
Nuyt will make this season of Briarwood basketball his final competitive season, as he heads off to Auburn University in the fall to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering. But Kerley has enjoyed getting to know Nuyt as much as a person as he has as a player.
“I’ve got a 10-year-old son playing ball, and it’d be really cool one day if he grew up and he’s a lot like Landon but for more than just putting the ball in the basket,” Kerley said.
