Sam Chumley will always have a place in Saline County Shootout lore. The annual battle between the Bryant Hornets and the Benton Panthers has produced a few of those moments through the years.
In 2017-18, Chumley’s tip-in of a teammate’s missed layup in the final seconds turned a 39-38 Hornets’ lead into a 41-38 advantage that held for the final score.
Likewise, when the Hornets were staging a remarkable comeback at Cabot, coming back from 13 down with 3:47 left to play, Chumley provided a crucial tip-in that had the Hornets within 4. Later, he made a steal that set up Khalen Robinson’s game-winning basket.
“Interesting about those two tip-ins, his only two points of those games,” noted Hornets head coach Mike Abrahamson, noting that foul trouble had limited Chumley’s time in those games. “But that’s Sam. He plays from the beginning to the end. He does whatever the team needs. He doesn’t back down. He doesn’t take the mentality of ‘Well, I haven’t scored so I’m not in this game.’
“Those were two huge plays that got us two big wins this year,” he added.
Chumley recalled, “Coach A just always talks about ‘Follow the play’ whenever somebody’s got a transition layup opportunity, always follow it because something like that might happen. It finally did, and it paid off to do it.”
Limited playing time was Chumley’s lot for his sophomore and junior seasons with the Hornets. But he made the most of his senior campaign and drew attention from college programs in the region.
And, on Thursday, April 12, Chumley, the son of Richard and Pamela Chumley, formally committed, signing a national letter of intent to continue his basketball career and education at College of the Ozarks in Hollister, Mo., just outside Branson.
You can give Calvin Allen, who may be the career leader for assists at Bryant, another assist in that regard.
“We already have a Bryant kid,” noted the Bobcats’ head coach Steve Shepherd. “Calvin Allen is playing for us and, after a week of practice, I saw how fundamentally sound Calvin was and how well coached he was.
“So, I asked Calvin, ‘Did you have any teammates that are now seniors?’ and he mentioned Sam,” Shepherd continued. “That’s how we got our first look at Sam. We came and watched him play. I love his size. I love the way he can shoot it. I lover his IQ — he’s got a high basketball IQ. He’ll be a good motion player, which is what we run.
“He’s a basketball guy,” he emphasized. “That’s what I love about him. He likes to play. He’s playing all the time. So, I know he’s going to be committed to improving, getting better and not just being satisfied with being a college basketball player. I think he’s going to work to improve and his character is a good fit for our college. He’s one of those kids that comes in and fits the mission.”
“I’ve known I wanted to go to the College of the Ozarks for a while, especially when Calvin committed up there last year,” Chumley acknowledged. “That’s my best friend. I wanted to play with him in college. I went up there and visited the campus and it felt like home. That’s when I knew that’s where I wanted to be.”
“I looked at Lyon, University of the Ozarks in Clarksville,” he said. “They were nice places and I’m thankful they recruited me, but College of the Ozarks was where I wanted to be.”
Said Abrahamson, “I’m so proud of him because he’s such a hard worker. He was always a good player, but he was not one of the more physically ready players (as a sophomore). We had to work at it. He put in all the time and all the work. What’s so rewarding about a day like today is that he has earned it. Nothing, nothing has been given to him. He has put in so much time and effort to build himself into a good basketball player. As a coach, those are the most rewarding things to see.”
“When I was a sophomore and came up here I was real small,” Chumley allowed. “I could play, I could shoot but I wasn’t physically there at all. Coach A and Coach Lin (assistant Dominic Lincoln) just worked on me and made me a bigger player.
“I think there were probably five seniors and nine juniors when I was a sophomore so playing time was real hard to get,” he noted. “A couple of the upperclassmen just kept pounding on me to be a better player and that I could do it. At the end of my sophomore year, I finally got a little bit of playing time. Then I shot up and got taller.”
As a senior, Chumley played at 6’4” and because he was the tallest of an under-sized team, he wound up playing post on defense, matched up against bigger players almost every game.
“We were in that situation and that’s unfortunate for Sam but, to Sam’s credit, he never complained one time, never asked one time, never even brought it up,” Abrahamson said. “That’s what we needed him to do and that’s what he did. And that’s the type of person he is, the kind of character he has.
“Offensively, we tried to let him play to his strengths, on the perimeter more, but defensively that’s where we needed him. So, that’s what he did without hesitation,” the coach added. “And he did a pretty good job most of the year. He was probably physically out-matched but, again, things like technique and preparation, coupled with his effort, it worked out.”
“I was willing to do whatever I had to do for my team,” Chumley related. “If I had to go down there and play a 6’8” player, then I’d do it. It didn’t matter to me. I just wanted to win. Whatever I had to do, I’d do it.”
“We asked so much of him this year, and a few others, and he never backed down,” Abrahamson said. “This year, he was thrust into a totally different situation. But he embraced all the challenges. He’d waited his turn, so he wasn’t backing away from it. I’d ask for more and more and he’d give more and more.
“I think his best days are still ahead of him because he’s still developing and still improving and still physically kind of coming into his own,” the coach summarized. “There’s a tremendous upside to Sam. They’re going to get a player that does a little bit of everything. He can shoot it. He can drive it. He can handle it. He can pass it. He’s an incredible teammate with a tireless work ethic, high character. All of those things, they wouldn’t take him if he wasn’t.”
