Spartans start strong without TaWarren Grant to action

Mountain Brook’s boys, the two-time defending champions in Class 6A, are stepping up to 7A. There’s no question that coach Bucky McMillan will get the most out of his team. The question is just who will be on that team when the playoffs roll around.

The Spartans, who started out 3-0, have some talent as well as the hardworking, intense McMillan working the sidelines for a seventh season, but their most talented player, their difference maker, was on the sidelines as the season opened. 

TaWarren Grant, the Spartans senior point guard and most valuable player of the 6A tournament, was in limbo as the season tipped off. McMillan said at a media day held at Mountain Brook High in mid-October that Grant was on the team and practicing but wasn’t eligible to play.

McMillan said he was limited in what he could say in order to describe Grant’s current standing with the team. “As of now he is on our team,” McMillan said. “He just is suspended indefinitely from playing in basketball games this season.” 

McMillan said there was no specific timeline as to when Grant might return.

“It’s not a team issue,” he said. “It’s not an athletic issue. It is a school discipline issue, I guess. So he is going to practice with us and be a part of our team in every way. We’ll assume until we hear something different that we will go on without him on game day. Barring some type of change in an appeals process, then that is the way it will be.”

The Spartans rolled out to wins in their first three games, beating Oxford 73-42, Northridge 63-59 and Shades Valley 97-69.

“TaWarren is obviously a great player and is very athletic and can do a lot of things that some of us can’t on the basketball court,” teammate Jack Kline said. “We are just going to continue to go on without him. Just work hard and get better as a team every day. We’ll be fine without him.”

McMillan said Kline is a key leader.

“Jack’s a junior, but he’s been with me the longest of this group,” McMillan said. “I brought him up to the team as a freshman. He’s been a great leader this year, on and off the court. He’s got to use his experience to lead this team.”

Two transfers helped fill the void. Jared Henderson, a 6-6 senior forward from Mississippi who began his career at Winfield, scored 23 in the win over Shades Valley. Leeds transfer Terrell Guy, a 6-1 guard, scored 16 in the opener. 

With or without Grant, McMillan said his team will stick together and battle. “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender,” McMillan said.

“We’ll still be who we are.”