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closeGrow up playing the sport your father played in college. You’ve seen his college jersey, his trophies, his championship ring. You want that. People expect you to achieve it, too. Then, before your first day of high school, you see someone who has taken the same path. That’s what happened to Ravenscroft juniors Isaac Copeland and Anton Gill.
Before becoming friends, the two always had something in common: Their fathers – Ike Copeland and Anton Gill – formed a bond playing basketball together at East Carolina.
“He sees things the way I see them,” the younger Gill said of Copeland. “He’s one of the best friends I have.”
Copeland agrees. For the past three years, the two have spent more time together.
The fathers also have enjoyed watching their sons build the type of relationship they had 20 years ago in Greenville. Before the Ravens played Cary Academy on the road Tuesday night, Ike Copeland and Anton Gill met to talk about their past and their sons’ future. And this happens before almost every game.
“I think us playing together has brought them a lot closer because now they have somewhere to meet to enjoy something together,” said Isaac Copeland, 16.
Before their first classes at Ravenscroft, Anton Gill, 17, and Copeland had lunch and set a goal that would make their fathers proud.
Although it’s not the collegiate level, Copeland and Gill talked about winning a championship together, the NCISAA 3-A title.
A chance reunion
Ask any of the four, and the answer remains the same: This wasn’t planned.
Gill met Copeland at age 11, when they played on the same AAU team. During one practice, Gill noticed his father couldn’t stop talking to the tallest man in the gym.
“My dad doesn’t really socialize,” Gill said. “I just remember them smiling and laughing.”
That’s when Gill learned his father had played with Ike Copeland for two seasons at ECU. In 1993, the two led the Pirates to the Colonial Athletic Association title and the second NCAA Tournament berth in school history.
In eighth grade, Gill planned on attending Ravenscroft and Isaac Copeland was preparing to go to a public school. But that year at the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational, Copeland watched Ravenscroft play.
“They were running plays I didn’t understand,” he said. “I knew I would learn more about basketball if I went to this school.”
Ike Copeland felt comfortable with Ravenscroft because coach Kevin Billerman, who coached at UNC-Charlotte for 10 years, recruited him in the late 1980s. The fathers had no idea they were enrolling their sons at the same school.
“You never know how life is going to go,” father Anton Gill said.
Similar, but quicker
The similarities between the two generations are easy to see.
Anton Gill, a guard, dribbles and shoots in a manner almost identical to his father; Isaac Copeland, a forward, can rebound and block shots the same way Ike Copeland did. Plus, both sons have the same facial features and haircuts as their fathers.
There are some differences. Gill is shorter than his father, doesn’t have a beard and smiles with braces; Isaac Copeland is taller, is lanky rather than stocky and can make a 3-pointer.
Anton Gill on his son: “He’s a whole lot quicker, a whole lot faster and can jump a whole lot higher.”
Ike Copeland on Isaac: “Isaac wants to shoot. He wants to be on the perimeter. I want him to get down in the post.”
Work ethic rubs off
The sons know the story well – the tale of how their fathers’ friendship led to a title.
Anton Gill remembers his first practice as a freshman at ECU to start the 1991-92 season. As a flashy shooter, he learned from Ike Copeland how tough college basketball can be.
Copeland, a junior at the time, took pride in defense. In a scrimmage, the two went for a loose ball. Copeland came away with it. Gill left with a bloody nose from Copeland’s elbow.
“As the only center, you get stuck doing all the dirty work,” said Copeland, who lived with Gill on campus at Scott Hall. “If we could get Anton to do some other things besides shooting, I knew we’d be a good team.”
That first year shocked Gill. But Copeland’s work ethic stayed with him. Inspired, Gill created a routine in the offseason to get better: lift weights, run three times a day and play ball every day.
By the end of the 1992-93 season, Gill played better defense, rebounded more and found Copeland in the post. When the CAA Tournament came, the Pirates surprised the conference by winning three games in three days.
“Nobody expected us to win,” Gill said. “The expectations here – at Ravenscroft – are a whole lot higher than they were for us.”
Whenever the four visit ECU, which the group has done multiple times, the story of 1993 is always retold. “It’s fun for us to go,” the younger Anton Gill said, “but I think they enjoy it a little bit more.”
At Ravenscroft, Gill has motivated Isaac Copeland. Gill, averaging 18 points a game, became the example for Copeland, who switched positions after growing 14 inches in 18 months. He saw Gill never jog in practice and become a vocal leader.
Copeland played his best this past summer with his AAU team and was projected to be a starter for the Ravens – a major accomplishment after he worried about making the varsity team a year ago. But in October, he fractured the growth plate in his left knee. Gill didn’t let Copeland complain.
Copeland stayed focused and gave even more effort to return to the court Jan. 20 in a win over North Raleigh Christian – because he knew Gill would have done the same.
“Anton is very focused,” Ike Copeland said. “That has been good for Isaac to see.”
‘We have the pieces’
Both sons know they have about a year left before their paths diverge.
Gill has committed to play at Louisville. Copeland, who has seen his recruitment slow down because of his injury, has scholarship offers from ECU and American University. Florida State, Wake Forest and William and Mary are also recruiting him.
The pair has next year, but they want to win Ravenscroft’s first state title since 1980 this season. The team will lose eight seniors after this year.
“There are no other goals,” Gill said. “We have the pieces to do it. We want to be playing in the last game.”
Copeland added: “It’s not even about scoring. It’s about playing hard and solid defense.”
The two realize how fortunate their fathers were to win in their final year together. After Ike Copeland graduated, Anton Gill didn’t win another conference title in his last two seasons.
“I tell my son all the time, ‘I have a ring, and you need to get yours and you can start now,’” Copeland said.
The Ravens (16-3) have a good opportunity to win the NCISAA 3-A crown.
After all, Ravenscroft will host the state championship game. Maybe Copeland and Gill will hoist the trophy inside their gym, just 100 yards from the cafeteria where they met as freshmen and first set that championship goal.
