Sophomore Rudy Collins is expected tp contribute offensively this year for the Rangers. (Damion Reid)
Ben Chobhaphand wore a white T-shirt that read, in bright large letters, “Forest Hills Queens champions” on the front. It was merely coincidence, the coach said, not a reminder to his team for Tuesday afternoon’s scrimmage at Brooklyn powerhouse Thomas Jefferson.
“It was on the top of the laundry pile,” he said, serious as ever. “Usually I wear a polo shirt with two buttons.”
If anything, Chobhaphand wants the Rangers to forget last year, the borough title and run to the quarterfinals. It was a remarkable season, but one he felt ended too early. This year the idea is to reach similar plateaus, but attain new ones, too. The Queens crown is now an expectation, instead of a goal.
“A lot of things have changed at Forest Hills,” the sixth-year coach said.
The coach ran an open gym Oct. 4, drawing 22 Division I college coaches. Just two showed for the first one a few years ago. Junior guard Denzel Dulin was at Forest Hills his freshman year, before going down south to Atlanta for a year for family reasons. The program he left is hardly recognizable to the one he returned to.
“We were a blip on the radar then,” he recalled. “Now we’re much bigger.”
Gone are dependable seniors Alex Hall, the star of the borough title game, Andre Armstrong, Damir Beharovic and Chris Larmond, players that helped Chobhaphand build the program. They have been replaced by younger – and arguably more talented – pieces.
The only constant would be inside-out threat Maurice Harkless, a highly recruited 6-foot-7 junior. He has missed the start of preseason practices with a broken left foot that is expected to heal by the league opener against Martin Van Buren Dec. 3.
Sophomore Rudolph Collins has emerged as a viable offensive threat after missing his freshman year because of academic ineligibility. Returning junior Antoine Tutt is expected to split time in the backcourt with newcomer Devin Johnson, the brother of former Cardozo star Dwayne.
Two other transfers – 6-foot-6 center Jose Torres (formerly of Bishop Ford) and Dulin, a 6-foot-4 sharpshooter – will also contribute heavily. Junior guards Nick Padgett and sophomore Shawn Branch are hoping to add to impressive first varsity seasons.
“I think we have two guys at every position,” Chobhaphand said. “You’re gonna see a different Forest Hills team; way faster.”
The new parts and returning ones have Chobhaphand confident he can play with anyone in the city. He expects to run and run some more, the old walk-it-up-the-court Rangers a thing of the past. In the scrimmage with Jefferson, a notoriously fast team, there were times Forest Hills excelled in transition. That didn’t happen in past years.
That the Rangers were able to hang with the Orange Wave despite the absence of Harkless speaks volumes of the strides the program has made under Chobhaphand. Harkless, one of the elite juniors in the city who has received interest from Connecticut, Arizona, Kentucky and St. John’s, is clearly Forest Hills’ top option.
But with him out, it has allowed others, such as Collins, who hits 7 3-pointers in the scrimmage, Dulin, and Padgett more freedom and responsibility. If Harkless is to miss the beginning of the season, or fouls out in a big spot, the Rangers will be prepared.
“We know how to react without him,” Dulin said.
Chobhaphand went as far as to say he expects to be playing March 6, the day of the city championship. “35th and 7th – that’s the player’s entrance,” he said, smiling. That was the one goal the Rangers mentioned – getting to Madison Square Garden.
“That’s what we’re working to do,” Collins said.
Said Harkless: “We have bigger expectations than just Queens.”