It's been awhile since Reynolds basketball experienced its glory days.
But according to Hanif Bilal, those years of winning are on the way back.
Bilal, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound sophomore, has become the go-to player for the Demons, who recently have been tantalizingly close to some big wins. Bilal, in his second season as a starter, is an explosive guard who can drive and dunk in traffic, beat taller players to rebounds, and has an improving 3-point shot.
He is already being recruited — and according to Bilal, it's not just college programs but also some local high schools trying to woo him away from Reynolds. But Bilal, a left-hander, said he came to Reynolds because of a winning tradition he thinks will be restored.
"I like it here a lot," Bilal said. "I love it, actually."
Bilal averages 11.8 points and 3.3 rebounds for the Demons, who are 8-10 overall and 2-3 in the CPC. The Demons had their chances to be undefeated in the conference — of their three losses, two came in overtime against Mount Tabor and West Forsyth, and the other was a nail-biting 54-49 loss to Reagan on Tuesday night.
"We are right there," Bilal said. "We just need to close them out and do the little things to get us over the hump. Everybody is on the same page that we will get over this hump. No one is frustrated. We know how close we are."
The open-enrollment policy of Forsyth County schools has created an environment in which high-school coaches will attend the games of the top middle-school players — hoping those players will wind up on their rosters when they reach high school.
Bilal had that experience while attending Wiley Middle School and chose Reynolds, where his older sister was a senior last year.
Bilal's freshman season of 2010-11 was a learning experience, he said. He said he learned how to play smarter, and he was nervous enough through the course of the season that he thinks he got it all out of his system. But he said that he wasn't happy with how he played and to correct that, he started working on his weaknesses.
These days, Bilal arrives at Reynolds' Bryson Gym three days a week at 7 a.m., often let in the door by a janitor. He works out alone.
"I try to get some shots up on the gun, ball-handling drills, especially on game days," he said. "I think this is making me a lot better on the court, too. I get in a game situation, and taking shots I feel a lot more comfortable that they are going to go in.
"Last year, I didn't feel like I did what I needed to do to help my team win and this year, we are coming along. Like I said, we are one step away, it's just finishing the game."
Coach Billy Martin of Reynolds said that Bilal hasn't come close to reaching his potential.
"People look at him and they say, 'Wow,' but they fail to realize the kid is just a sophomore," Martin said. "He has a body right now like a college kid. I think that when people see that they think he's older. But he is one of our leaders as a sophomore, and he is actually a little more mature than you would think a sophomore should be."
Returning Reynolds to its state-championship days will take a lot of work, and Bilal's job extends beyond the gym. He said he is recruiting his younger brother, Yahya Bilal — an eighth-grader at Wiley — to join the Demons next season.
And he's also working on his brother's friends, in particular Harry Giles, an eighth-grader at Flat Rock Middle School who is rated among the top players in the nation among eighth-graders.
Hanif Bilal said that recruiting letters from schools such as North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest aren't distracting him from his goals.
"I don't pay it any attention right now, really, to be honest," he said. "I just have to keep putting in the work and get better day by day."
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