Prospect Spotlight: Promyse Ferguson (2021)

It’s always good to be able to learn a system before you’re thrown in the fire, because it typically allows a player to get comfortable with the way his team plays and he can learn his role. At LC Bird, rising junior Promyse Ferguson has been on varsity the past two years, but with an upperclassmen heavy lineup he didn’t see his time to shine very much.

That will all change this year, as the Skyhawks graduated six of their top seven guys from the previous two seasons, and will feature a young roster with as many as seven or eight sophomores on the team this upcoming season. For Ferguson, it’s his time to step up and do what he does best for this group.

“This year I’ll need to be more productive and do my role which is basically to make shots and play defense,” Ferguson said.

The LC Bird way has always been the next man up, and while Ferguson doesn’t have a ton of varsity experience under his belt he spent the last two years learning from a talented group who had a lot of success. Ferguson mentioned guys like Lance Monteiro, Corbin Slayton, Jamon “Doc” Battle as guys he learned from, all of whom played on the wing for Bird last year and all are currently going to college on a basketball scholarship. He says the teachings will help him and he hopes he can instill some lessons in the young guys on this group as well.

“Our coach [Troy Manns] is expecting me to lead since we don’t have a lot of returning varsity players,” he said. “So we need to step up and teach and help them so they can learn the same way I learned from past varsity players.”

A knock down shooter from deep, Ferguson had multiple games in Summer League for Bird where he went for double digits, including a few games of seven plus three-pointers from deep. He has good size at about 6’2”, a quick release and good footwork as he moves without the basketball. You can expect him to make a ton of shots this season, but he’s working to improve his all-around game as much as he can.

“I’ve been focusing on improving my defense especially, but also my ball handling so I can play both guard positions and help bring the ball up and stuff like that. I’m working on getting to the basket more and finishing strong and helping on the glass, especially on the defensive end since I have good size.”

Regardless of the experience of this group, Ferguson is quick to point out that they’re a scrappy and talented group who continues to improve. With that being said, the expectations for a program like this aren’t to rebuild but to contend every year.

“At Bird the expectations are always a state championship, and that’s what we’re striving for. I don’t think this year we’re quite as athletic or as big as we’ve been in the past, but I think we shoot a lot better. Our young guys play really hard, and they’re getting a lot of experience playing together in AAU and they’re going to continue to get better with time.”

With only one returning starter the Skyhawks will have a lot of gelling to do, but it’s nothing new for them to have a roster overhaul. However, Ferguson has been waiting his turn and will be one of the top three-point threats in the Richmond area. Be sure to keep an eye out for him and a host of 2022 prospects for Bird the next few seasons.