New Kids on the Block: Transferred-in talents making mark for Greer

Isaiah Henry (left) and Zayn Valentine transferred to Greer High this season from J.L. Mann.

A lot can change in three months. Just ask Mikey Williams.

A mere 110 days ago, Williams threw on his shoulder pads and helmet at Slaton Field. His team was set to face J.L. Mann in week two of the football season.

Late in the first quarter, Williams hauled a 37-yard touchdown pass to give his team its first points of the evening. He hugged his teammates after and darted back to the sideline with his hands in the air.

But that was then. This is now.

For Williams, his “then” was football at Riverside High School.

His “now” is basketball at Greer.

On Sept. 26, Williams, a sophomore, announced on social media he’d transferred to Greer High School to continue his young basketball career with the Jackets. He forfeited the remainder of his Warrior football season to make the move.

“It was hard switching over because I know the [football and basketball] coaches over at Riverside love me,” said Williams. “And yeah, having to hear people’s opinions about it hurt, too. A lot of what I heard was pretty negative.

“A lot of people told me I shouldn’t have left. It hurts. It’s not really them saying those things that hurts, but thinking about my old teammates and knowing I may have hurt them.”

Williams avoids looking in the rear-view as much as possible, however. He’s living and working in the present, and Greer basketball couldn’t be more thankful. Through seven games, Williams is putting up an average of 17 points per game. He’s picked up right where he left off after a stellar freshman season at Riverside.

“He’s been incredible for us since he got here,” said Greer head coach Devin Liferidge. “He’s come in and been such a huge complementary piece for us in our backcourt. He does everything he’s asked.”

Amare Anderson—Greer’s star guard and the other half of the Jackets’ dynamic new backcourt duo with Williams—shares the same sentiments.

“Mikey brings so much to the table,” Anderson said. “He’s a tough guard; he’s a dawg on defense. And nobody can guard him on the offensive end. He’s so quick. Nobody can stay in front of him. When you’ve got somebody like Mikey on your team, it takes a whole lot of pressure off of you.”

“I just try to bring the energy,” said Williams. “And I’ve got a lot of good players that play around me here—both starters and on the bench. It’s great.”

MORE MANN POWER

Isaiah Henry and Zayn Valentine’s seasons were over already. But they weren’t done watching high school basketball.

The pair played at J.L. Mann, but the Patriots’ 2022-23 season ended in the first round of the Class 5-A playoffs with a loss to Lexington.

They decided to spend their first free Friday night in months catching a game at Greenville High. The powerhouse Red Raiders were set to take on a young, up-and-coming, scrappy team in the second round of the Class 4-A playoffs.

The Greer Yellow Jackets.

Greenville—eventual 4-A upper state finalists—clawed out a hard-fought 64-58 win over Greer. But Henry and Valentine loved what they saw out of Greer that night.

“We were watching them play Greenville, and we saw that they were dawgs,” said Henry. “They were close, but we saw that they may need a little help.”

They never saw themselves playing for Greer, but circumstances aligned and before they knew it, Henry and Valentine were Jackets in the fall.

They felt welcomed from the moment they walked in the door.

“When we first came here, Coach Liferidge introduced himself to us right away,” said Valentine. “It was before we even walked into class on the first day of school and way before basketball started. That meant a lot, and it showed us it was like a big family here.”

Both Henry and Valentine have been welcome additions to that family.

Henry’s a multifaceted 6-foot-1 guard averaging seven points per game off the bench. Valentine’s a defensive nightmare for opponents who averages 12 points a night himself.

“Both of these guys fit our culture and our dynamic so well,” said Liferidge of the former Patriots. “They’re just gritty basketball guys. And when they came in, they didn’t want to be handed anything. They wanted to earn everything. They’re workers. At the end of the day, both of them just want to win. That’s why they’ve been 100 percent accepted by both our players and our coaching staff.”

“I feel like we’ve already got that brotherly connection with everyone here at Greer,” said Henry. “We know what we can do as a team, so it’s been easy for us just coming in here and helping out.”

AT HOME IN THE HIVE

Adjusting to new environments is challenging, but one wouldn’t know it looking at Williams, Henry, and Valentine.

On Nov. 21, Valentine’s 21-point performance lifted Greer to an 89-46 win over Woodruff in the Rippy’s Tip-Off championship. Williams was named to the Rippy’s Tip-Off all-tournament team that same night.

Mikey Williams transferred to Greer from Riverside following a stellar freshman season with the Warriors.

Two weeks later, Williams dropped a team-high 19 points to deliver the Jackets a statement 67-58 win over rival Byrnes, the No. 3-ranked Class 5-A team in the state. Henry hit six consecutive free throws down the stretch to ice the game and stymy a potential Byrnes comeback.

Their early-season performances—and the smiles on each of their faces—say it all.

The “new kids on the block” feel right at home in the Hive.

“It was a big change for me to come over here,” said Williams. “I knew it would be. But I don’t mind it, really. I’ve liked the change.”

“We knew coming into this year that we had a good thing going,” said Liferidge. “We only lost one senior last year after that loss to Greenville. So as a coach, my first thought hearing that we had three new kids coming in was ‘Well, how will they mesh with the team?’ We didn’t want to mess anything up.

“But then you meet these guys—Mikey, Isaiah, and Zayn—and you don’t have those worries anymore. You get to know them, and you see ‘Okay, these guys, they’re almost exactly like us.’ These three kids, they’ve all come in and worked so hard. And they’ve been such a perfect fit for us at Greer.”