All-State Contest Will Be Looser Recent Ferris Grad Expecting To Make A Few Behind-The-Back Passses

Andre Atkins can’t wait.

On Saturday, he’ll play a basketball game in which crowd pleasing is expected.

That will be a change from the regular season under Ferris coach Wayne Gilman, when Atkins and his teammates were expected to be serious.

“We will do a couple things he didn’t let us do in the season,” said Atkins, a 1999 Ferris grad who’s playing in this weekend’s all-state basketball series.

“Watts will shoot some 3-pointers, and I will throw a couple behind-the-back passes or stuff he got on me about,” Atkins said.

Atkins and Ferris teammate Chris Watts will suit up for the state team, while Lewis and Clark’s Justin Defour is part of the 4A city team.

And Gilman will be coaching in the game, which tips off at 8 p.m. at the Yakima Sundome. Four other games - in the B, 1A, 2A and 3A classifications - go every two hours beginning at noon.

Atkins promises to put on a show for Gilman and the crowd.

That’s what all-star games are for, said Atkins, 17, who’s headed to Walla Walla Community College in the fall to play on a partial scholarship.

“When you have all the people yelling for you and your teammates, it makes you want to perform for them,” he said. “It’s more of a fun thing to be out there with guys you’ve been playing with for four years.

“(All-state games) are just to have fun and call it quits for high school. I feel it’s the perfect way to end.”

Atkins has been playing basketball since he was 7 but never thought he would play in college. His progression through high school changed his thinking.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound guard helped Ferris to place second at the State 4A tournament in March in his third varsity season. He was the Saxons’ fastest player.

Atkins chose Walla Walla over the Community Colleges of Spokane and Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Wash.

He plans to live with good friend Tommy Servine, a 1998 Ferris grad who also plays for the team.

Atkins said he doesn’t know what to expect at the next level. But he figures the pace will be much faster than what he’s used to.

“It’ll be a whole new world,” he said.

Atkins has been playing in full-court scrimmages two days a week, lifting weights three times a week and shooting with Servine.

“I have to take it a lot more seriously,” said Atkins, who plans to pursue an elementary education degree and become a coach. “Being a freshman, I have something to prove.

“I have to work a lot harder. It’s kind of like a job, an everyday thing.”