The crowd packed tightly around the court at the Tri−State Classic on Sunday night. Sean (Diddy) Combs was in the house and the park on West 145th Street and Lenox Avenue was buzzing.
What the hundreds found out was something longtime streetball coach Euas (Topper) Cheetham already knew: Kavon Lytch, whose nickname turned quickly from “Young Fella” to “Good Fella” on Sunday night, is legit.
“He’s the best big man playing street basketball in New York City,” Cheetham said. “He can do it all.”
Lytch, a well−built 6−feet−7, scored from the inside and the outside, showing off explosive athleticism and an excellent handle for a big man. He led the Diamond All−Stars to an 80−77 win against Bad Boys – Diddy’s team – in a hard−fought, back−and−forth affair.
“I just hope he was noticing me out there doing his team bad,” Lytch said with a laugh.
The 21−year−old Brooklyn native has bounced around in his basketball career. Lytch attended Robeson, Bronx Regional and Bushwick during his high−school years – a period he called “troublesome.” He eventually played and graduated from Laurinburg (N.C.) Institute and spent a year each at Redlands (Okla.) Community and Midland (Texas) Community College. He led Midland to the NJCAA Division I championship game this past season, averaging 17.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
If you’re counting, that’s six schools in as many years. But Lytch says he has finally settled on a home. In the spring, he signed a letter of intent with Florida International University and new coach Isiah Thomas, the legendary Detroit Pistons player and former New York Knicks coach and executive.
“Just to hear him call me, just to hear his voice,” Lytch said of the former NBA superstar. “It was great.”
Lytch said he had a small army of college coaches vying for his services. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and USC were just a few of his suitors, which included most of the Big East, much of the Big 12 and several Pac−10 and Atlantic−10 schools.
“If I tell you [the whole list], we’re gonna be here all night,” Lytch joked.
Thomas’ status is what stood out to the big man. He was one of the best point guards in history, leading Indiana University to the NCAA title in 1981 and the Pistons to the 1989 and 1990 NBA championships.
“To play for one of the greatest players, you can’t turn that down,” Lytch said. … “He’s one of the only people to win a high−school, college and NBA championship. I think he knows what it takes to be a winner.”
Lytch says he’s put those days of jumping from school to school and having academic problems behind him. He wants to earn his degree at FIU and make money playing pro basketball somewhere afterward.
He isn’t sure how to describe his greatest strengths. Lytch said he can play a variety of positions, in the paint and on the perimeter. Whether or not he is, in fact, the best big man playing on the streets of New York is certainly in question.
“I might be,” Lytch said. “You never know.”
Then he pauses.
“I ain’t gonna take that crown yet,” he said, correcting himself. “I’ll wait a couple of years until I take that crown.”
Lytch is too young to have seen Thomas compete in his prime. But he’s seen enough to know his future coach was the real deal.
“When I first signed, I watched highlights of him,” Lytch said. “I watched how he went in there, how he controlled the game. That’s the type of player I’m trying to become.”
If Sunday night was any indication, he’s not far off.
