By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

PELHAM – Any discussion of Pelham basketball for the next two years will start and end with Alex Reese. And he’ll probably work his way into the middle of any such conversation as well. That’s just kind of the byproduct of having a 6-foot-nine-inch junior power forward who can bring the ball up the floor and pull up from 20 feet just as easily as he can post up on the low block and dunk on someone’s face. Head coach Joel Floyd knows his big man will draw lots of attention from fans, scouts, opposing teams and media alike this season and next, but any discussion of the 2015-16 Panthers has to come with a nod to who will not be in uniform this season.

Gone is Zach Allison, the career 1,000-point scorer who has been a mainstay in the Pelham backcourt for the last three years. Allison, who is now a walk-on at Auburn under Bruce Pearl, was a special player for Floyd and Pelham. His ability to create, score and see the floor from the point guard position was a deadly combination that made him one of the most efficient and productive backcourt players not only across the county, but the state as well.

“He’s a great basketball player, and he can play at any level,” Floyd said, referring to Allison. “He really did everything, he made us go. Losing your point guard in general is tough, but losing a point guard as special as he was? We’re trying to figure that out.”

Not only did Pelham lose Allison, but also lost every starter save for Reese and its sixth man as well. There were six seniors in total on last year’s squad, three of which are playing college sports (Allison at Auburn and then RJ McCall and Moregan Sharp are playing football at the next level), and a fourth in JT Kepler who could have played basketball in college but chose not to. It was an athletic class across the board, and replacing that chasm of productivity is going to be the hole Floyd and this team are trying to figure out how to fill.

One of the pieces that will help soften the loss of so many contributors is Cole Whitman, a senior Mississippi State verbal commitment for baseball. Whitman is playing again for the first time since he was a freshman, and will provide much needed size and athleticism for this team. The rest of the team across the board has not seen many, if any, varsity minutes.

But, at the end of the day, Pelham has the man in the middle and nobody else does. Reese is a matchup nightmare truly capable of doing whatever he wants on a basketball court. Currently the No. 46 player in the nation in the 2017 class according to 247sports.com, Reese has already spent time on the national scene. He traveled to Colorado Springs back in May to try out for the U16 US National Team that competed in the 2015 FIBA Americas U16 Championship. Reese did not make the final 12-man cut, but his inclusion on that list of just 29 players across the country speaks to the caliber of player he is.

He, along with classmate Austin Wiley of Spain Park, were also invited to try out for the 2015-16 USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team at the beginning of October as well, which saw 51 players attend and did not result in any decisions about the final roster.

While Reese is no doubt one to watch, the way this team as a whole begins to take shape and play together over the next few weeks and months will be one of the most intriguing situations to keep an eye on around the county.

Pelham tips off the season on Nov. 12 at Shelby County.