Former Scotland forward Lamonte Cousar (24) was recently named the Region 10 player of the year during his freshman season at Davidson-Davie Community College. Here, he dribbles around Terry Sanford’s Jonathan Higgins-Simmons (10) during a first-round 3A playoff matchup on Feb. 21 2023.
File Photo
LAURINBURG —Former Scotland basketball star Lamonte Cousar has enjoyed a historical freshman season at Davidson-Davie Community College (DDCC), being named the Region 10 player of the year, freshman of the year and offensive player of the year on Wednesday afternoon. Cousar has averaged 22.1 points per game on 59.5% shooting as well as 7.1 rebounds per game over 30 contests thus far during his freshman year (the team is still currently competing for a region championship).
While Cousar has always been a very talented player as evidenced by his time with the Scots where he passed 1,000 career points while averaging 21 points per contest and nine rebounds during his senior season, the journey to get to this point for Cousar was not a smooth one. Cousar ended up taking a season off from basketball after graduating from Scotland in 2023 and wound up having a seizure, leading to a long road for Cousar to get back in basketball shape. Cousar was honest in his assessment of the journey in that it was not at all easy.
“My journey to get to this point was pretty rough because I took a season off and I got all out of shape,” Cousar said. “I had a seizure during that time, so I had to work hard to get myself back in shape but thanks to God I made it back to myself.”
Cousar admitted that because of the circumstances he had tempered his personal expectations heading into the season. He was initially focused on getting back to playing basketball and gaining valuable experience in the college game.
“I definitely didn’t expect to have a season like this honestly I’m still shocked by it,” Cousar said. “My goals were to just get my feet wet because I took a year off after my 2023 season in high school.”
Even though Cousar has already far exceeded his goals to this point, he remains hungry for more as DDCC is set to compete for a Region 10 Championship on Friday night at 7 p.m. against Pitt Community College after they beat Central Carolina Community College and Fayetteville Technical CC on Wednesday and Thursday. As for the future, Cousar isn’t focused much on it right now but will want to continue to improve and become an even better player for his team.
“Our main goal right now is to win the regional championship so we can make it to nationals,” Cousar said. “My main thing for next season is to become a better player physically and mentally.”
Regardless of the result in Friday night’s contest, Cousar’s freshman season at DDCC has shown him something that he unfortunately didn’t experience much of at Scotland: winning. DDCC has gone 28-3 to this point in this season while the Scots only had one winning season during Cousar’s three years.
That said, Cousar still enjoyed an incredible career with the Scots where he led the team in scoring all three seasons and was also named a 2023 All-Star by the North Carolina Coaches Association. One person he is very grateful for is Scotland Head Coach Michael Malpass, who Cousar gave a lot of credit for in helping him become the person and player he is today.
“Coach Malpass took me a long way mentally, honestly I couldn’t thank Coach Malpass enough,” Cousar said. “He had everything drawn up to get me the ball, I wouldn’t be where I am without him helping me with recruitment and stuff like that, so I really appreciate Coach Malpass.”
Cousar also wanted to extend thanks to God, his family and his teammates at DDCC. Without them, Cousar said that none of this would be possible.
“I just want to thank God honestly because I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him, I’m so thankful for everybody that’s in my corner, supporting me, and helping me become a better person,” Cousar said. “I want to thank my DDCC teammates and coaches as well because if it wasn’t for them none of this is possible. Shoutout to my mom, dad, sister, and brothers they play a big part in everything too.”