#8 - David Dennis
In Cross Country, he may not be a top runner, but you'll always see him as the 3rd or 4th runner to cross the finish line for Oxford running near the leaders. It is because of him running near the top that Oxford won the State Title last year because your three-through-seven guys are usually the ones that determine who wins, not your top 1 or 2 - if your 6th and 7th guy finishes in 100th and 110th place, that will derail your team's chances. A team scores points based on how well the ENTIRE TEAM does, not your top 3 or 4.
In Basketball, he is a starter but one you wouldn't expect to just completely dominate a game. He'll take a charge on defense, he'll get after rebounds, he gets his points making occasional 12-15 foot jumpers and putbacks and maybe the occasional 3, he's a scraper that will earn everything he can get and doesn't force the turnover. He is the one that does exactly what Coach Drew Tyler wants him to do - do what you can for your team to be successful. Because of this, he actually led the team in free throw attempts because of his scrappiness and thus getting fouled while doing so. It's big he led the team in Free Throw attempts because he was second on the team in free throw percentage (for those with at least 15 free throw attempts). He was second on the team in rebounding, second on the team in blocks, second fewest turnovers among the normal starting 5, and led the team in FG%.
If there is one thing to work on, is continuing to scrap his way onto the stat sheet without fouling. He was tied for the team lead in fouls with Josh Gibbs. The way Dennis works, if he doesn't get into foul trouble, he could lead the team in minutes played (was 2nd last year).
Dennis also participates in Boys Track who won the 5A Title last year but missed out from participating in at the State Meet. Do expect him to challenge to earn a spot in an event next year. Barring a DQ, making the State Meet gets the team points. If the other two sports didn't say it, he is a team player across all three sports for this tri-athlete.
What you see is what you get, every single time he puts on an Oxford uniform.
**Editor's Note: This is the fifth of 12 Dandy Dozen Seniors I am releasing which will be done every Friday. They will be done AT RANDOM until the top two are released. You can see a schedule of which number will be released next HERE. #9 will be released next week.