By Rich Flanagan
NEWTOWN-When George School took the floor for much of last season, they held a significant advantage inside.
Kachi Nzeh, the 6-foot-8 forward now playing at Xavier, was the first big that stood out with the ability to finish around and above the rim while protecting it on the defensive end. Next to him stood 6-10 Luke Bevilacqua, an evolving big who can use either hand around the basket and control the glass. Then there was Christian Bliss, the first 1,000-point scorer in George School history who is playing at Virginia, at 6-4 and while he wasn’t the biggest guard, his scoring prowess spoke volumes any time he was on the floor.
Head coach Ben Luber put together a towering front line with Bliss and Dante Weise (College of St. Rose) and it led to the greatest season in program history. That was a year ago.
The Cougars opened the season at home against the very school that it fell to in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) Tournament Championship Game, Perkiomen School. Nzeh, Bliss and Weise had graduated and moved onto the next stage in their careers as did Carson Mastin, now a walk-on at Miami (Fla.). Bevilacqua was warming and dunking the ball in the lay-up line, but another big loomed large. It was the newest addition for George School and a player that originally should have been suiting up in the Philadelphia Catholic League this season.
Tristen Guillouette was smiling from ear to ear each time he touched the basketball during warm-ups. In what had been a somewhat tumultuous start to his final high school season, the 6-9, 235-pound big man is getting a second chance to complete his remaining year of prep eligibility after initially being denied that chance and his elation can’t be minimized, even if he’s still figuring out where his classes are.
“I’m still figuring things out,” Guillouette said. “My teammates have been helping me navigate. There’s a lot of good teachers here and people have been welcoming me with open arms. It’s been great for me.”
Guillouette began the school year at St. Joe’s Prep, where he started the last two seasons including last year where he helped the Hawks reach the Philadelphia Catholic League quarterfinals. When he was playing with St. Joe’s Prep during the summer and at Philly Live, where the school played host to the event, the possibility of being ineligible for his senior season was always on the table. He began his career at Westhampton Tech (N.J.) and played 10 games as an eighth grader then spent a year playing at Life Center Academy (N.J.) during the COVID-19 shortened season.
After a two-year stint at St. Joe’s Prep and one of the better bigs in the league, Guillouette was optimistic about a final season in a Hawks uniform but following a hearing with the PIAA on September 12, he was ultimately ruled ineligible and, while there was always a glimmer of hope, his senior season appeared to be over before it even began.
#21 Tristen Guillouette in season opener vs. Perkiomen School. (Video/ Rich Flanagan for PSD)
Former St. Joe's Prep player Tristen Guillouette finishing out his senior year as a Cougar. (PSD Photo)
“At first, I was hurt, and I had to gather myself,” Guillouette said. “After that, I started talking with my mother about different ways I could go and talking to different people close to me about different options.”
Two weeks later, Guillouette chose to do one thing within his control and that was his commitment. With offers from St. Joe’s, Hofstra, Towson, North Carolina A&T, Seton Hall, Drexel, Albany, and St. Bonaventure, he announced his decision to play for Jay Young at Fairfield on September 29. Even though his senior season had been stripped away, his future was solidified. He visited the campus in August and that set things in motion.
Fairfield assistant coach James Johns, who has a lot of familiarity with southeastern Pa. having coached AAU programs WeR1 and Team Final, was his main recruiter and connected with Guillouette with both being from South Jersey. Johns led the Team Final 17U squad that featured Jalen Duren (Detroit Pistons) and Dereck Lively II (Dallas Mavericks) to the 2021 Peach Jam title, and the feeling was Johns could be the architect for Guillouette’s maturation throughout his collegiate career.
He was initially leaning toward early enrollment for the spring semester at Fairfield but plans immediately changed when Young stepped down on October 17, just weeks after Guillouette had committed and weeks before the season was set to tip off. Shortly after that, Johns left the program as well. Suddenly, that future that once was secure felt shaky, and Guillouette felt uneasy. The best decision was to find a new spot to play.
“I had to go back and rethink after initially deciding I wanted to enroll early,” Guillouette said. “Everyone told me I have to play if I want to change the school I want to go to, and in order to reopen my recruitment, I have to play. People told me about George School and said that Coach Ben would be a good fit for me.”
He and his family reached out to Luber about the possibility of joining the team and how he would fit in. Luber was eager to add a prospect of Guillouette’s caliber and having another talented big that’s at least 6-9 doesn’t hurt, either. Tuesday’s season opener against Perkiomen School was Gullouette’s very first day of classes. As he was not enrolled in the school prior, Guillouette had yet to practice with the team, yet he played in the opener against the reigning PAISAA champions.
Tristen Guillouette (PSD Photo)
Luber was confident he would mesh well with this corps quickly.
“He got into school on Tuesday and it probably wasn’t the fairest thing to do but he’s a senior and wants to play,” Luber said. “Our team loves him and wants him to play. It was a four-week process to get him in here and today was finally his first day of classes. It looks funny from a distance, but this was all about getting Tristen back into a classroom and part of a team.”
Even in his first few minutes of action with a new team, Guillouette looked like a player who was in the right position, both literally and figuratively. He was in his traditional spot in the post or at the top of the key helping open things up. Despite so much change recently, there’s a sense of normalcy again and he credits Luber with that.
“Ever since I met him, he’s been about succeeding and putting me in the best place,” Guillouette said. “I’ve been on the high school scene for a minute, so I’ve seen how things are supposed to go and it’s easy to pick up and go.”
George School dropped the opener, 73-45 and even with a disappointing start to the season, Guillouette provided a spark with 19 points and 11 rebounds. It was impressive to see his rapport with Bevilacqua (10 points, 10 rebounds) as the two bigs played off each other with one always at the top of the key and the other one sealing their defender down low. Bevilacqua showed off his improving jump shot, giving Guillouette free range to roam in the paint, where he showed his knack to convert through contact.
While much of the terminology is new, his understanding of the game isn’t and he’s learning to coexist with a second post player on the floor for the first time.
“It was a little new playing alongside another big, but it was someone I’ve been familiar with,” Guillouette said. “Luke and I have worked out a bunch of times before, so I knew him. It wasn’t really that new to me, per se, but different playing alongside another big. It was more understanding when to duck in or cut, or when to pass and move.”
In his two seasons at St. Joe’s Prep, Guillouette was the centerpiece with an array of guards around him in Jaron McKie, Jordan Ellerbee, Olin Chamberlain Jr., and Jalen Harper. He avg. 10 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 3.0 blocks while shooting 54.5% from the field last season. He also led the team with 67 blocks and six double-doubles. He already recorded his first one in a George School uniform using his smooth footwork to go around and through defenders and his body to corral rebounds off the backboard.
The decision to leave St. Joe’s Prep was a difficult one but his teammates understood why he decided to leave. “Those guys have supported me since the summertime whether it was the hearing or whatever else was going on. When it didn’t go my way, they supported me. They kept with me no matter what, even when I decided to come here,” according to Guillouette.
He's a terrific addition to a team coming off a season where it recorded the most wins (23) in a single season in program history and won its first-ever Friends Schools League (FSL) title. Luber has also welcomed several other additions in La Salle transfer Kasey Fleming, Ziyi Xiong – a 6-9 freshman forward and exchange student from China who is only 14 years old – and Tyler Sutton, a highly touted guard who made his debut on Tuesday but already holds offers from Washington, Iowa, Miami (Fla.), St. John’s, West Virginia, Washington, and Penn State – Luber’s alma mater. A historic season breeds increased expectations, and George Schools is expected to be a contender in the FSL and PAISAA once again.
Guillouette mentioned several areas he’s hoping to improve upon while playing his lone season at the Newtown school such as “my conditioning, shooting, ball-handling and being a better teammate. That’s why I chose George School because I heard about what [he] did with Kachi. I wanted to keep improving everywhere in my game.” He was already showing signs of leadership by talking with guys on missed defensive assignments then acting as the steady post presence at the other end of the floor.
He's hoping his reopened recruitment will take care of itself and programs who previously recruited him will come back. In the meantime, he will focus on finding his way with the Cougars and Luber has a feeling everything else will take care of itself for the veteran big man.
“I couldn’t be happier that he’s on the team because he’s a leader on the team here from the get-go,” Luber said. “He’s the type of kid who looks you in the eye and tells you the truth then moves on and makes the next play. Any college that recruits him is going to be getting a really good one, for sure. I’m thrilled that he’s here at George School because he’s exactly what we need.”