Tuesday, January 16, 2001
St. X star wants another state title
By Carey Hoffman
Enquirer contributor
Jordan Cornette blocks a shot in last season's state semifinals.
(AP photo)
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Jordan Cornette's long-term future in basketball is assured. Now, with just over a month left in the regular season of his senior year in high school, he'd like to see about making some short-term history.
St. Xavier's star 6-foot-8 forward, who is headed to Notre Dame next year on a basketball scholarship, is most interested immediately in trying to get the Bombers into position to defend the Division I state title they won last March.
St. X had started this year 11-0 and was ranked No.1 in the Associated Press' Ohio Division I poll. But then the Bombers ran into their first roadblock, losing at home 55-53 in overtime to archrival Elder last Friday. That knocked St. X back to No.2 in The Enquirer's Division I coaches poll.
“It might not have been a bad thing,” Cornette said of the loss. “With us off to a good start, there were heavy expectations. This far in, people began to ask if we could go all the way and finish undefeated.”
It's hard enough to fathom winning consecutive big school titles — something that hasn't been done in Ohio since Elder in 1973-74 — let alone repeating in undefeated fashion.
Still, St. X fans might already suspect the last year and a half will perhaps rank as part of the greatest run in school history. And Cornette is likely to be the first player that comes to mind off these teams.
St. X coach Scott Martin, seeking to put perspective on Cornette's impact, says this: “In the year and a half he's played, he's on teams with a record of 36-3. That's the best way to put it.”
The buzz about Cornette has never really been about stats. He averaged just 8.3 points per game last year, yet showed enough to attract scholarship offers from many of the nation's collegiate powers. This year he is averaging a still-modest 14.9 points per game.
But, in a feature that any coach would love, you can tell Cornette to go out and produce in just about any aspect of the game.He's a 6-8 athlete that can handle the ball, pass, shoot the 3, rebound and block shots.
He ranks second in the area in blocked shots at 4.5 per game. In the Elder loss, he put up team-high totals of 20 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks.
Martin talked with Cornette before the season and told him that he'd have to look to score more this year. “He is putting more points on the board this year,” Martin said. “He's become a more consistent shooter in the last couple of weeks, and really that is his greatest improvement right now.”
“I do feel more responsibility as the main focus in the offense,” Cornette said. “I'm looking to create something when the ball comes to me, whether that's a shot or getting the ball to someone and getting an assist.”
Cornette may be even under more pressure offensively for the next couple of weeks. Senior point guard Steve Callahan, who went out early in the Elder game, will miss at least a couple of weeks with a severe ankle sprain.
Cornette's college career has never been too far out of mind — the entire St. X team got a chance on Christmas break to visit Notre Dame, practice at the Joyce Center and see the Notre Dame-Vermont game.
But Cornette's priority remains the present.
“I consider myself really fortunate,” he says. “I had expectations as a freshman with an older brother (Joel, now playing for Butler University) who was a pretty good player. But, especially because of what happened last year, I never dreamed of having a season like that. I'm happy with what has happened and happy with where we are now.”
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St. X star wants another state title
