FAMU basketball transfer Nate Drayton interacts with children on the playground of a school the Salkehatchie Community College basketball team spent its Friday's reading and hanging out with in Walterboro, S.C. / Special to the DemocratBy St. Clair Murraine
Democrat staff writer
Filed Under
FAMU
FAMU Men's Basketball
Being 6-foot-7, 245 pounds, the natural thinking is that Nate Drayton will be spend a lot of time in the post for the Florida A&M men's basketball team.
But realizing two of the least-advertised facts about the junior college transfer, coach Clemon Johnson said Drayton might find himself in multiple roles in whatever offensive scheme the Rattlers play next season.
"With Nate's versatility to put the ball on the floor, shoot the 3-point shot and also play in the post, I can move him around," Johnson said. "He is an individual I might decide to move to a small
forward every now and then."
Drayton is one of four big players signed by the Rattlers, filling a void that the team had last season.
The versatility that Drayton became known for in the latter part of his career at Salkehatchie Community College in Walterboro, S.C., has been work in progress. It wasn't until he attended a camp after graduating from Grove High School in Savannah, Ga., that he realized he could effectively do more than hang around the post, Drayton said.
"It felt like I could really hang on the court with big-time players," he said. "It (the camp) did a lot for my confidence and it made me more happy to play the game. I didn't enjoy just being stuck in the post because it got kind of boring. I had to step out and show what I can do."
He got even better at playing anywhere on the floor in his sophomore
season with the Indians. Knocking down 3-pointers became easier and during the second half of his final JUCO season he twice scored double-doubles, scoring more than 20 points in each game, with 20 rebounds.
"Nate has a great touch and he can shoot the ball from the 3-point line (and) he can shoot it with great confidence," said Travis Garrett, coach at Salkehatchie Community College. "He didn't take a lot of threes but when he took them he was very consistent. He has a very good first step as big as he is. He hasn't reached his basketball ceiling yet. He has a lot of upside and once he is great shape I think the sky is the limit for him."
Drayton said he began to experiment with facing the basket because he wanted to do more than simply dunking, as he did when he was at Grove High.
"I just started doing a lot of ball-handling drills and I got better at it," he said.
He pushed for perfection every time was on the court, Drayton said. Sometimes he tried too hard, though, Garrett said. So much so that it affected his performance on the floor.
"He really tried to do everything the right way and he is very hard on himself. When he did that, I think sometimes that took away from him being the best he can be because he sometimes became robotic because he doesn't want to make mistakes."
A few conversations with Drayton about trying too hard changed that. Then, the double-doubles started to occur more frequently. He even had a few games in which his 3-point scoring made a difference in the outcome of games for the Indians.
"He wasn't pushing the button," Garrett said, "just letting the game come to him."
