Streamwood's late bloomer

Tem Esikiel didn't play a second of organized basketball until the summer prior to his freshman year.

That's when a friend encouraged him to sign up for a Chicago Park District summer league.

Two and a half years later the Streamwood junior has not only established himself as one of the top guards in the Upstate Eight Conference -- averaging 20.2 points per game this season -- he has become the central figure around whom first-year head coach Tim Jones is attempting to rebuild a basketball program that won just 27 games combined the last five seasons.

"My mom said I should have started playing a long time ago," Esikiel said of his late-blooming skills. "I'd probably be much better if I had picked up the sport a long time ago."

Esikiel's first sporting experience, however, was with soccer.

That was the sport he played as a boy in Nigeria until parents Sinbad and Margaret emigrated to the north side of Chicago in 1996 with their daughter and two sons, including six-year-old Temidayo. "My teachers couldn't say the name, so my mom shortened it to Tem," he explained.

After Esikiel's parents split up, Margaret, a nurse, moved the family to the suburbs as Tem was set to begin high school. Had they remained in the city, Esikiel likely would have attended Whitney Young.

Instead, he enrolled at Streamwood, where the relative newcomer to the sport was quickly recognized as a basketball savant.

By the time Esikiel was a sophomore, former Streamwood coach Rich French had elevated him to the varsity level. He performed like a veteran, not a player still learning to play the game.

In his debut varsity season as a sophomore, Esikiel led the Sabres in minutes (560), field-goal attempts (392), field goals (153), points (402), 3-pointers (47), assists (79) and steals (48).

He shot 39 percent from the floor and accounted for 27 percent of Streamwood's total offense -- not bad for a player in his second year of organized basketball.

"Tem just has a natural ability for the game," French said after last season.

Much of that ability, Eskikiel claims, comes from copying what he sees NCAA players doing on television. "I watch a lot of basketball," he says.

However, most of his success is the result of practice, practice, practice.

"He has a great work ethic," Jones said. "He works hard and he has a lot of ability. As some young guys try to do, he takes it upon himself to do a lot more than he has to at times. He obviously wants to score and he does handle the ball 95 percent of the time, but he has to trust everyone else around him, too, which is a tough thing to do at times because he sees things on the floor that a lot of other kids don't."

His vision makes Esikiel a great fit for Jones' up-tempo, push-the-ball-up-the-floor offense. A good ballhandler, the 6-foot-tall guard excels in the open court.

"I wouldn't say we work the offense around him, but it is geared toward things he can do," Jones said. "I think it's a little different than in the past. It used to be a more methodical offense. Now we're trying to get up and down and trying to get as many good shots as we can.

"We've got some guys who can shoot it, so that's what we keep practicing, getting the ball up the floor to give ourselves an opportunity to score. I think Tem likes this style. I think all the kids do, but they're learning it has to be 32 minutes of that style. There's no time off."

Esikiel nearly missed playing for Jones. To be closer to her job, Tem's mother moved the family to Huntley last year. Esikiel considered transferring to Huntley after French was let go after last season, but his heart was with his teammates at Streamwood.

In order to remain eligible under IHSA standards, Esikiel moved in with close friend Joey Hanover's family in Streamwood, and Vickie Hanover assumed legal guardianship of Temidayo.

"It's been working out great so far," Vickie Hanover said. "Joey and Tem were good friends before this and everything has been going great. He's a very nice person and we enjoy having him here."

Sabres fans have enjoyed seeing Esikiel back in the lineup. This season he leads Streamwood in points (163), steals (21), assists (23) free throws made (41), free throws attempted (61) and 3-pointers (18).

"He's a great player and a great teammate," said senior teammate T.J. Enno. "He always hustles. He still has a lot of potential yet."

Enno and Kyle Holder are among a handful of senior holdovers who played with Esikiel last season, but most of this team is still adjusting to being on the court with the junior playmaker. The Streamwood varsity roster consists of five seniors, 10 juniors (including Esikiel) and Hanover, a sophomore shooting guard.

So far the mixture is paying early dividends. The Sabres (3-5) are already well ahead of last season's pace. Streamwood didn't win its first game last year until Dec. 30, when it topped Niles North.

How far can this team go with Esikiel and the rest of the Sabres improving month to month in Jones' scheme?

"Right now the goal is to get at least to .500," Esikiel said. "Then we'll see."