You might call Muskogee High junior basketball player Javian Webber a work in progress. Last year he averaged 15 points a game and made third-team All-Frontier Conference. But he still has a lot of untapped potential according to his coach Lou Dawkins.

“He’s probably one of the best shooters in the area but we’re working on developing even more of his game,” said Dawkins. “We’re working on getting him to dribble and attack the rim more instead of just pulling and shooting the jumper so if he has those nights where the jumper isn’t falling, he’ll have some other weapons in his arsenal to be able to score and this will help him become a more complete player.”

Webber certainly has the genes in his family to become a complete player as his uncle, and one of his role models, Adrian Webber, played some college ball at Oral Roberts. But Javian has some catching up to do in his basketball experience.

“When I was little, I played some basketball but was also into football and it wasn’t until around the eighth grade that I decided to get serious about basketball. I played both sports my freshman year, but I got Covid that winter and was out of basketball for a couple of weeks and it took a while to get better. I’ve taken the last two years off from football but think I might go back again for my senior year.”

Javian credits Dawkins for believing in him and some wisdom from his dad and grandpa for helping him have a successful sophomore season.

“When I started my sophomore year I figured I would probably have to start out playing JV, but coach Dawkins believed in me and had me play varsity right away. I think there were some doubters, but my dad, grandpa and coach just told me to let all the negative go in one ear and out the other.”

Muskogee struggled last year but Webber believes they will be improved this year.

“I think we’re more together this year and have a good mix of ages on the team and we know each other a lot better.”