STM boys basketball coach Danny Broussard discusses the Cougars' triple-overtime victory over Comeaux James Bewers/The Advertiser
Jonathan Cisse drained his second of two free throws and turned toward his team’s bench after Comeaux called a timeout last Wednesday night.
The St. Thomas More senior guard pointed to his forearm. He wanted his teammates to know he has ice in his veins when these moments arise – tied at 60, under five seconds to go, third overtime period, on the road.
“I got this,” he said confidently.
His confidence is never higher than when he’s called upon in the clutch. It’s been that way since he was freshman. The All-State performer can rattle off every time he’s provided game-winning points for his team.
During his freshman year, he hit 3-pointer to beat McDonogh 35 in the Country Day tournament. His sophomore year, he sank a layup to win another game in New Orleans. Last year, he drew a foul and made two free throws to down De La Salle in the championship game of the Sunkist Shootout. Then earlier this month, he drained two freebies to help STM outlast Notre Dame.
At this point, there’s no reason for him to be nervous.
“I’ve missed some too,” Cisse admits. “Some good, some bad, but you just got to trust and believe that you put in the work.”
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And here he was again against the Spartans, having a chance to win a wild game that saw the Cougars’ overcome a 10-point deficit in third quarter. To get to the line, he did what he does best – attack the basket.
“I looked at the clock and I was like, ‘I have to make a move,’” said Cisse, who finished with 18 points. “I was thinking about shooting the 3, but coach (Danny Broussard) always tells me to attack. So I just tried to get to the line. I’ve been in tough, close situations before. It’s not the first time I’ve hit free throws to win a game, so I trust in myself that I can hit free throws and I can make the big play when it needs to be made.”
Broussard can’t stand to think about life without Cisse. He’s one of those players that, despite Broussard’s three decades with the program, hasn’t coached very often.
From the moment Broussard asked him to join the varsity team, Cisse was a sponge, soaking up everything coaches threw at him.
“What’s amazing about him is I saw him play in the eighth grade, and, don’t get me wrong, I thought he was a good player,” the Cougars’ coach said. “But never in my wildest dreams did I see him (being) this good. I said, ‘Yeah, he’d be nice to get, but I didn’t see him being that great a player. When he got in his freshman year, I started seeing things. I’m like, ‘Man, this kid…’”
It took him time to get adjust to the speed of the high school game, but he ended up contributing early. He took a backseat when football players joined the basketball team, but his role increased when a key player was dismissed from the squad.
Cisse tried to keep things simple in his first year.
“My mindset freshman year was to come in and do a lot of the dirty work – get rebounds, spot up (and) hit 3s, handle the ball when needed,” Cisse said. “So when I got in, I just tried not to do too much.”
“We could tell after the freshman year that, man, this guy is something else,” Broussard said. “His sophomore year, he just took off. He was averaging 15-16 a game his sophomore year.”
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Leading STM to the semifinals for the second year in a row, Cisse averaged 23 points per game during his junior year. He was named the Most Valuable Player for District 4-4A and landed on the All-State first team.
As a senior, through Wednesday’s win against Comeaux, Cisse is averaging 20.8 points per game on 46.3 percent shooting, while pulling in 6.1 rebounds per game and dishing 2.7 assist per contest.
Cisse stands 6-feet-2 and has a slender build, but he plays much bigger than his size. His long arms allow him to disrupt passing lanes, especially at the top of STM 1-2-2 half-court trap, and his long legs make him dangerous in transition.
“In the open court, he’s almost unstoppable,” Broussard. “He’s so fluid. He’s effortless, and he just has a way of slithering.”
He has a knack for the chase-down block, too. He trails behind players before letting his instincts kick in.
“It’s just all about timing,” Cisse said. “I don’t want to say I practice it. I just got a feel for it.”
Despite his prolific high school career, Cisse has only one solid scholarship offer, which he received from Stephen F. Austin last year. He’s received interest from in-state schools like UL, Northwestern State and Southeastern. Schools like Wisconsin, Cal State Fullerton and Stanford have previously been in contact with him, but they’ve backed off, he said.
“It’s just been a lot of ups and downs,” Cisse said. “That’s how it is in the recruiting system.”
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Cisse feels he’s underrecruited, but he guesses his recruitment dipped somewhat last summer because he decided not to play with his AAU team in Shreveport, Louisiana Select-Team Millsap. But he also understands his slight frame may turn some recruiters away.
His lack of size has rarely hindered him, though, and he believes he’ll be able to bulk up over time.
“I still think I bring a lot to the table,” Cisse said. “I can always get bigger. I’m just going to continue to keep working and show that them that, whatever my weakness is, I can make it into a strength. I’m not really worried about size. I know I can play with the best.”
Cisse, however, remains positive, and he hasn’t let his college future consume him either. He tries to let his game speak for itself, which is how ended up on Baylor’s radar.
Cisse torched Riverside, considered to be one of the best basketball programs in the country, in both meetings this season, including scoring a game-high 32 points in the Sunkist finals. Rebels coach Timmy Byrd was so impressed by Cisse that he referred him to the Baylor coaching staff, which Byrd has a solid relationship with.
“Timmy Byrd told me he’s the best guard he’s played against this year,” Broussard said.
“Before that game, I was telling myself, ‘This is the game you need to show everybody that you can play with the best of them,’ Cisse said. “I just came out focused and locked in from the opening tip. … I just wanted to show I can play with the best and that my team can play with the best. I feel we can do that.”
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