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Havelock senior Darrien Ince shoots over a defender from D.H. Conley earlier this season. Ince is averagign 15.7 points, 5.4 assists and 3.2 steals per game for the Rams.
Liz Bowles/Sun Journal
One Ince at a time
Senior guard leads Rams in scoring
HAVELOCK — Havelock boys basketball coach Bill Fryczynski walked into open gym a few years ago and noticed this freshman with speed and skills.
This freshman — Darrien Ince — turned out to be the starting point guard for the Rams.
“He stood out because of his skills and you could see the kid had a love for basketball, Fryczynski said. He had all the instincts that you need. He instinctively did well. You could see that he put in a lot of work. His shooting was very good and he just looked like a really honest to goodness basketball player to me.”
Ince has been a member of the Havelock varsity basketball team since his sophomore year, starting several games.
Now, Ince has become a senior leader and key assets for the Rams.
“He is a natural-born leader,” Fryczynski said. “He will say what is on his mind. He takes the game and studies the game. He is a student of the game. He is very talkative and doesn’t mind talking a little bit of trash.”
Ince’s vision after high school is to play college. Fryczynski has been trying to get the word out about his guard, who is averaging 15.7 points per game, 5.4 assists and 3.2 steals.
In Havelock’s win over Washington on Friday, Ince tallied 17 points and nine assists.
His court vision and passing has sparked the Rams to a 9-6 record. One of the biggest plays of Friday’s game was an alley-oop pass to fellow co-captain Johnny Godette.
Ince lobbed the ball from near half court and Godette finished with a thunderous dunk.
“I can read him (Johnny) like a book,” Ince said. “I know where he is at, I know when he is not happy or I know what he likes to do. I put him in a good position and we have got the pick and roll down to perfection, just like John Stockton and Karl Malone.”
Ince also impressed a representative from North Carolina A&T, who was in attendance on Friday.
So far, A&T looks like the place he wants to be at the most. Chowan and Louisburg have also shown interest.
“There is no doubt in my mind that he can play college basketball,” Fryczinski. “The question is at what level.”
If Ince does take the college road, he would be the first kid in his family to go to a four-year university.
“If I get the chance to go to A&T, I can sit back and say that I made it to college,” Ince said. “But I won’t settle there. I want to get past A&T and play pro ball somewhere.”
His parents, John Ransom and Monique Ince, have been the biggest influence in Ince’s life.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Ince and his family moved to North Carolina when he was five years old.
“Up there there are kids who don’t make it but they should and they get in the flow of drugs and stuff like that,” Ince said. “My parents got me away from that and always put in my head books first, sports later. Not everybody makes it out there, so I have to use my knowledge to go further in life.”
During the summers Ince has been working on perfection his game. He competes at the five-star camp every year, but this past summer his also participated in former North Carolina star Kenny Smith’s basketball camp.
At Kenny Smith’s camp, Ince’s team won the championship and he was named to the all-star team. He also beat Smith in a shootout.
The main thing Ince has been working on throughout the years is working on his off hand.
“I took a lot of criticism for being a left-handed guard and not being able to go to my right,” Ince said. “I worked on my right hand a lot in the off season.”
But according to Ince, his hard work had paid off because of the people he has learned from.
“I always learn from the previous guards that I have played with that if you share the ball, your shots will come,” Ince said. “I try to share the ball with the boys and get my team going and I told them ‘if we win a game and I have no points and 10 assists, I will be happy.”
Adam Thompson can be reached at (252) 635-5670 or at athompson@freedomenc.com.
