Since August, Lausanne’s Cisse and DeJurnett have built strong chemistry

Courtney Smith October 20, 2019 @ 07:00 PM

Since Moussa Cisse left Christ the King Regional and arrived at Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tennessee at the start of the 2019-20 school year, the basketball program has been receiving a lot of buzz. Head coach Marvis Davis’ cell phone has been ringing off the hook as a ton of college coaches have wanted to stop by to see the 6-foot-11 center. Since Cisse has arrived, he has picked up offers from LSU, USC, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Memphis. Before his arrival, he already had offers from UConn, Georgia and Pittsburgh. Kentucky has stopped by to see Cisse along with other programs. A lot of people are going to be at Lausanne this upcoming season to see Cisse play, and he gives the Lynx length that they didn’t have much of last season in the frontcourt. Cisse will be playing alongside senior forward Johnathan DeJurnett, who took off over the summer playing for Memphis based Hoop City 17U. His recruitment has picked up since the summer ended. As of right now, DeJurnett holds offers from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Campbell and Evansville. Davis probably has the biggest and most talented frontcourt in TSSAA Division II Class A heading into the season. Both big men are athletic, have the ability to put the ball on the floor and can knock down shots from inside the 3-point line. Overall, Cisse is a better player than DeJurnett because of his ability to knock down shots from 3-point range, but DeJurnett shouldn’t be overlooked when this team steps onto the floor next month. He’s a walking double-double almost every night when healthy. It didn’t take long for Cisse to settle in with his new teammates. He quickly hit the ground running with Lausanne in open gym workouts, quickly building chemistry with DeJurnett. “Man, they compete against each other in open gym. They’re guarding one another,” Davis said. “It’s making both of them better because it’s teaching Johnathan how to change his shot when you got a bigger guy on you. Johnathan is pushing him out, and it’s helping Moussa. “They work together so well, so it’s really good.” As a junior last season, DeJurnett, 6-8, averaged 14.3 points and eight rebounds a game while seeing double teams. His points and rebounds per game are expected to increase with Cisse playing alongside him. Add in other key pieces (senior guards Jalen Bo Montgomery, Nick Floyd and Dylan Andrews) and a handful of young players – sophomore point guard Hayden Ledbetter and freshmen Langston Rogers and AJ Dillworth - the Lynx are the team to beat in their league. Every season’s goal for Davis is to win a state title and even though he has the most talented roster in the league, Davis realizes his team still has to step onto the court and perform, which shouldn’t be an issue for a team that’s been hearing what it can’t accomplish since combo guard Alden Applewhite left the program after last season. “Our goal hasn’t changed,” Davis said. “To be honest, I felt like we were the favorite last year, and we came up short. So, that has lit a fire amongst us, lit a fire amongst our coaches, and lit a fire amongst our players. On November 4th, we are going to get ready for our first practice. “We’re going to go through the month of November and take it exactly where we need to take it. We have a lot of tough games to try to help us prepare for league play. Once we get to league play, obviously everyone in league play knows who you are. They’re going to scout you and have film. “So, we are going to adjust as needed, and we are just going to do what we do. I tell you what, ‘The goal is still the same. The goal is to be there, and we’re going to try to embrace it.’”