Shadle’s Tower Of Scoring 6-Foot-8 Standout Rob Debeaumont Averaging 19 Points A Game

If Charles Dickens were alive today and following Shadle Park High School’s basketball fortunes, he would call these the best and worst of times.

The Highlander boys, one of the Greater Spokane League’s traditional powers, went into this week with a 4-9 league record. On the bright side, Shadle this year scored a talented 6-foot-8 senior transfer in Rob DeBeaumont, who has been averaging 19 points per game.

So, what gives?

“We have a great coach, and no matter what the record shows, we have some of the best talent in the league,” DeBeaumont says. “(The coach) can’t tell us anything more to do to win. It’s just a matter of everybody stepping up.”

DeBeaumont certainly isn’t guilty of failing in that department.

“Rob has had a good year. He’s a real plus as far as scoring,” says Shadle coach Darcy Wiesner. “There are some parts of his game that need work, but he’s not ignoring those.

“He’s been a real bright spot.”

DeBeaumont lived with his mother in Moses Lake most of his life. Two years ago, he moved to Illinois to live with his father.

After his aunt suffered the loss of her daughter, DeBeaumont came to Spokane to live with her.

He says his experience in Illinois helped make him even more competitive as a basketball player.

In the Midwest, he says, his size wasn’t nearly such an advantage. He had to work on his shooting ability to compensate.

“In the GSL, I’m one of the tallest guys in the league,” he says. “Over there it’s not a big deal.”

He doesn’t regret coming to Spokane, and specifically Shadle, in the least. He says he and his Highlander teammates are close, due in part to meeting and playing with them this summer at a camp sponsored by Eastern Washington University.

“It’s a new experience for me, but I really like it,” he says.

DeBeaumont says he and his teammates know what has been plaguing their season.

“Pressure,” he says. “We’re pretty unpredictable.”

The team’s most dramatic losses were the result of mistakes made in the last minutes of a game.

“As for the rest of the season, we’ll just play our best,” he says. He still has hope of competing in the GSL playoffs, with last week’s wins over Central Valley and Lewis and Clark allowing Shadle to remain in the hunt.

Still, the optimist knows a battle when he sees one.

“It’s kind of panic time,” he admits.

Recognizing that, Wiesner is using DeBeaumont’s height as a weapon.

“We don’t have a lot of 6-foot-8 kids running around,” Wiesner says. “We need him around the basket.”

DeBeaumont was a little worried about searching for college prospects when Shadle’s season first started to suffer. But several Northwest colleges have contacted his coaches and expressed interest in him.

It’s a scenario Jan DeBeaumont, Rob’s mother, has seen before. Her other son, Justin, graduated last year from Washington State University after playing football on scholarship.

“We try to encourage (Rob),” she says. “If they found Justin in Moses Lake, they’ll find Rob at Shadle.”

Wiesner is tight-lipped about all the colleges that have contacted him about DeBeaumont. He doesn’t even discuss the subject with DeBeaumont himself, much less the press.

Wiesner wants DeBeaumont in the here-and-now, focusing on Highlander basketball. Besides, the kid doesn’t have any reasons to worry.

“He’s recruitable,” Wiesner says. “He’ll definitely play somewhere.”