Edwin Suarez’s young game is still on the way up

Edwin Suarez was a terror on the glass as a junior at Muhlenberg.

He snared 21 rebounds in a win over Executive Education. Grabbed 15 against Exeter, 13 in postseason games against Gov. Mifflin and Wilson.

He was 6-5 with the ability to get off his feet quickly, and then again a second and third time.

“Before guys are getting back (down) he’s already in the air again,” said Wilson coach Matt Coldren.

Suarez entered his senior season as the premier post man in Berks. So what was he doing the other evening out in the middle of the court, running the Muhls’ late-game spread and showing off his handle?

Twice in a row in a 76-53 win over Exeter he beat his defender off the dribble and streaked into the lane; he finished the second with a dunk.

Where did that move come from?

“We hadn’t seen that, ever,” admitted Muhls coach Matt Flowers. “That’s what we’ve been waiting for him to do, and he finally did it, and it looked really good.”

No big deal, says Suarez. He contends that’s been part of his game for a while; he just never got to show it off.

Last season the Muhls had an array of guards and outside shooters. His role was to stay in the paint, retrieve errant shots and give the guards a target on the low post.

“I’ve been working on my handle since I was 12,” Suarez says casually. “I could’ve done that (last year).”

That handle is just part of a young and blossoming game, one coaches feel has a big upside.

Suarez almost never shot from outside last season — he had one 3-pointer — but has added a little of that to his game, too.

He knocked four 3’s in a December game against Red Lion and is confident he can do it on a regular basis. But not right now.

“If I can go to the rim, I’m not shooting the ball (from outside),” he said.

Makes sense. He’s 6-6 (and headed to 6-8, he says) and has expanded his game to the point that now he can create his own shots.

He’s no longer hanging on the blocks waiting for the game to come to him. He’s making it happen. He’ll start with the ball at the top of the key, make a move, shoot past a defender and launch his lean frame toward to rim.

He’s only now, at 17, starting to come into his own. He never played organized basketball until he was 12. Like his dad, Edwin, he grew up playing baseball, the sport of choice in his native Puerto Rico. He quickly grew in love with basketball and found the gym to be a sanctuary.

“When I get to the court, everything changes,” he said.

He began to learn about the NBA, set his sights on that, and knew he had to grow up in the United States for that dream to have any chance.

“In the ‘PR,’ the basketball is nowhere,” he said of his homeland. “There was no way I was going to go to the NBA (staying there), so I told my Mom we’ve gotta go. We’ve gotta go. We’ve gotta go.”

His mother, Damaris, finally relented. Late in the summer of 2018 Suarez arrived in Reading and started playing with the Red Knights. He had always played guard but Flowers — then the Red Knights’ JV coach — took a look at the 6-1 freshman, saw his ability to get off his feet and the aggressive way he went after the ball and pointed him toward the post.

Tashiro Alexis, a ninth-grader at Reading at the time and now a teammate at Muhlenberg, saw Saurez dunk and had the same feeling as Flowers.

“We finally got a big,” he thought.

Suarez transferred to Muhlenberg before his junior year. The opportunities turned out to be better for him there. Tyrone Nesby had gads of guards but no one to play the post. Suarez fit the bill perfectly. He averaged 12.1 points and 9.4 rebounds and earned All-Berks honors.

He helped the Muhls go 15-4, win Division II of the Berks Conference and qualify for the District 3 Class 6A Tournament. The postseason was a rough one for him. A few days before the tournament opener against Cedar Cliff he learned he was ineligible for postseason play (because his transfer came following his 10th-grade year). He was devastated.

He sat on the bench and watched the Muhls’ season end with a 75-55 loss to his former team, Reading High. A few weeks later his former teammates were celebrating a PIAA championship.

He set his sights on getting stronger and better. For the first time he began training with weights and tacked on 15 points. He spent the spring and summer seasons doing guard drills.

“(Making All-Berks) was good,” he said, “but it’s not enough. I’m trying to be the best player in the county.”

He’s wearing No. 1 this season (instead of No. 20); that should give you an idea of his mindset.

“If he wants to play at the next level,” said Muhls assistant coach Nelson Leon, “he needs to keep working on his handle and his ability to shoot the basketball. If he can do that, he’s got tremendous upside.”