QEA sends another player to the next level
Photo by Timothy Ramsey
For the last decade Quality Education Academy (QEA) has had one of the better basketball programs in the state of North Carolina. The latest in their long line of stellar players to go onto the next level is Jordan Twyman, who will hit the court next season for University of Virginia’s College at Wise.
Twyman began his career at Southwest Guilford then transferred to High Point Central. During his senior year he decided to take his talents to QEA to finish out his high school career.
Twyman had offers from multiple HBCU’s but decided on UVA Wise because of the connection with the coaching staff. He also felt the environment surrounding the school would be better for him because of the lack of distractions.
For Twyman he feels it was the best move for him on and off the court to come to QEA. He says at his old schools he did not have the structure that QEA provides in the classroom, which his caused him to focus in on is studies even more.
“Since I have been here I feel as though I have become a more well rounded person on and off the court,” he said. “Our coaches and teachers are hard on us but they all want the best for us at the same time.”
QEA head coach Isaac Pitts says that Twyman has “unbelievable athleticism and quickness” along with possessing tremendous speed. He says their focus was to harness the speed Twyman has to get the best out of him.
“We wanted to harness that speed into a lethal weapon so that he could stop and go as he please,” Pitts said. “We also worked on him being a scoring guard to now becoming a facilitator and he is a quick learner so he picked that up easily.”
Brandon Robinson, QEA assistant basketball coach added, “When we first got Jordan he was a little sporadic with his speed and didn’t know how to channel it. We just tried to slow him down a little bit and toward the end of the year he wound up being our leading scorer and a better player because he was so coachable.”
Pitts and Robinson praise Twyman for his ability to shoot the mid range jump shot that not many players on that level possess. They also stated Twyman needs to become a more vocal leader because he is the coach on the floor as the point guard.
For Twyman, basketball is not his only focus once he goes to college. He stated his plan is to major in kinesiology and possibly play basketball overseas.
The coaching staff say they expect big things from Twyman on the next level. They said he is such a hard worker they expect him to start as a freshman.
“He is an humble and modest kid and is really a team player,” said Robinson. “There were times when I asked him to come off the bench and he never complained, which shows how much of a team player he really is.”
“Jordan is a smart kid and is very intelligent so I expect him to do very well in college. I also expect him to start right away because he is physically and mentally ready and we wish him all the luck going forward.” Pitts said.
Pitts went on to say he expects Twyman to have his jersey in the the QEA rafters one day. He says the only qualification is that the player receives their degree.
