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Bishop not finished with Basketball

By Jeff Yoder
Posted 7/7/20

When the Bulldog basketball team wrapped up its 27-2 season, Gavin Bishop thought he had played his final game of organized basketball.

New Franklin’s valedictorian was planning to spend his …

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Bishop not finished with Basketball

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When the Bulldog basketball team wrapped up its 27-2 season, Gavin Bishop thought he had played his final game of organized basketball.

New Franklin’s valedictorian was planning to spend his freshman year at Mizzou focusing on academics. But with an abrupt end to his senior year, he had a lot of time to second-guess that decision.

“I wanted to make myself think that I wasn’t on the fence, but I was,” Bishop said. “With everything ending and nothing happening, I was like, this wasn’t the right decision for me.”

Bishop reached out to Central Methodist head basketball coach Jeff Sherman to see if the Eagles had interest in an all-state guard.

They did. 

“We really hit a pretty nice little situation I think,” Sherman said.

“He’s local and all that, but he’s got good talent, an excellent role model on and off the court. If you watch him play, he brings a bit of everything.”

Bishop averaged nearly 19 points and eight rebounds per game for New Franklin in his final season. He shot well from every area of the floor: 56 percent from inside the arc, 33 percent from the 3-point line, and 76 percent at the free-throw line. Bishop was an excellent defender at the Class 2 level as well.

He almost walked away from the game, but was called back to answer an internal challenge.

“I guess it’s just the drive to just be as good as I can be,” Bishop said. “I just can’t stop. I thought I could, but I couldn’t.”

Bishop is undecided on a major, but plans to study in a health-related field.

“The nursing program (at CMU) is very nice and they have a very good academic base there,” Bishop said.

“I like Fayette’s campus and I think a smaller school will be better for me because I like to know everyone where I’m at.”

Central Methodist is coming off of an up and down 12-18 season, the Eagles’ worst since 2011. Bishop and the rest of the incoming class gives Sherman reasons for optimism, because of talent and a team-focused approach to the game.

“I think we just hit the jackpot with what we really wanted to do and what we wanted to create,” Sherman said in an earlier interview about the class.

“We just wanted to have good people, and we wanted to pick programs that were winners. All of the programs that these players are coming from are winning programs and I think that makes a big difference.”

During his senior season, Bishop and the Bulldogs won 27 games, three tournament titles, a share of the conference title, and a district championship.

“Getting one of the better players in this area is really a big boost for our program,” Sherman said.

“Plus I think we’re getting a better person to boot. You can’t beat that.”

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