Arkansas Baptist’s boys basketball team looks inside first, for two good reasons.
Junior center Brandon Vanover is 7-0 and 235 pounds. His brother, freshman center Conner Vanover, is 7-2 and 205 pounds. Both start for Arkansas Baptist, and together they create a size advantage that is unique in Arkansas high school basketball.
“You don’t see many 7-foot players, and they have two,” said Pottsville Coach Shane Thurman, whose team gave up 27 second-half points to the Vanover brothers last Tuesday night in a 45-28 loss in Little Rock after holding them to four points in the opening half. “Once they started to get it going, they got comfortable.
“From then on, they were the difference in the game.”
The Vanovers’ performance against Pottsville has become typical this season. onner has averaged 13.8 points and 8.8 rebounds through 19 games, and Brandon is averaging 9.0 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Eagles, which are 14-5 and ranked third in the most recent Arkansas-Democrat Gazette Class 4A basketball poll.
“They’re both really skilled,” Thurman said. “I think the sky’s the limit for both those guys.”
Arkansas Baptist Coach Brian Ross said the only thing that surpasses their towering stature is an unselfishness that has made them popular among teammates. The latest example of that came Friday night in a 51-46 overtime victory at Subiaco Academy.
Ross said Subiaco kept close tabs on the Vanovers throughout, holding Brandon to eight points and Conner to six. So Arkansas Baptist turned to its 5-11 junior guards, identical twins Cory and Chad McGonigal, who combined for 37 points to lead the way.
“All the other kids on the team, they love them,” Ross said. “They love playing with the two Vanovers. They think it’s great. It brings a lot of attention, and it makes the game easier. They’re well-liked kids around school. They fit in.”
Brandon said he has learned to accept extra attention as part of the life of a 7-footer. Conner said at first he was so shy about his height that he didn’t want to leave home, but he has learned to accept it.
At least they know what to expect.
“Everywhere we go, people are always asking us how tall we are,” Brandon Vanover said. “That’s just part of it. It will never stop. When I was younger it might’ve been a little awkward, but now I’m used to it and it’s fine with me.”
“People ask us all the time,” Conner Vanover said. “We just have to be as polite as possible.”
The brothers tower over their mother, Robyn Vanover, but not because she is diminutive. Robyn (Irwin) Vanover played basketball, too, lettering three seasons as a post player at the University of Arkansas in 1987-1989.
“I’m 6-3, so people have asked me how tall I am my whole life,” Robin Vanover said. “But now with my sons, nobody ever asks me that anymore.
Conner has drawn more attention from a national basketball perspective. He attended a camp last October in Colorado Springs, Colo., where 53 potential members of future USA Basketball men’s junior national teams were invited. The training camp was used to evaluate players for upcoming international competitions, including the 2015 International Basketball Federation’s Americas Under-16 Championship and the 2016 Under-17 World Championship.
“That was a really great experience,” Conner Vanover said. “I met a lot of new people and worked with some great coaches up there. They taught me a lot about basketball. I hope I can make the team.”
Coaches from Arkansas, Virginia, and Iowa have come to watch Conner, and he has received mail from other top-ranked basketball programs around the country.
“I’m always excited,” he said. “Any time I get a letter, I’m always happy about it. It’s really fun to get all this attention from other places.”
Connor said he is comfortable, for now, playing the wing on offense. He is shooting 37.1 percent from three-point range this season and 58.8 percent overall from the field.
“I’m not really a driver,” Conner Vanover said. “Most of the time when I get the ball I either shoot or pass, so I need to work on having more options to choose from under the basket.”
Ross said Conner has improved his play in the post “He’s learned to play with better balance, play lower and wider, and he’s able to hold his ground and use his height in the post instead of just being a shooter,” Ross said.
Brandon Vanover said he hopes for the best for his younger brother, and that his own goal is a simple opportunity to play basketball in college. That also is clearly among Conner’s wishes for Brandon.
“I hope he gets to do what he loves when he’s in college,” Conner Vanover said.
“Brandon understands the reality that Conner is a little better than he is, but he has a great attitude about it,” Ross said. “In practice, though, he’s willing to compete against Conner to make him prove he’s better. That’s the way they are.
“The biggest thing with these two kids is not their height. I’m always preaching to all of the kids: ‘Whatever talent you have, make the most of it.’ The Vanover brothers take that to the fullest. They are extremely hard workers.
“They’re extremely unselfish, and they really are each others biggest fans.”