Filipowski caps off another impressive season with GPOY
WILBRAHAM, Mass. (BVM) — Coming off a sophomore season that ended with a 2020 NEPSAC AA championship and a tournament MVP award, Kyle Filipowski would have a tough time outdoing himself heading into his junior year at Wilbraham and Monson Academy. Even with a list of accomplishments to live up to, Filipowski still found a way.
The junior forward averaged 20.1 points and 10.5 rebounds as a sophomore, helping lead the Titans to their championship season. Improving those marks wouldn’t be easy, but Filipowski would go on to top those stats in 2021, with the stretch forward averaging 21.0 points and 13.2 rebounds. The dominant season from the Titans’ junior wouldn’t go unnoticed as Filipowski was named Gatorade Massachusetts Boys Basketball Player of the Year, a first for a Wilbraham & Monson basketball player.
“The recognition and the award itself wasn’t lost on us here at school,” Wilbraham and Monson coach Mike Mannix said. “To realize how special that was, and also, it’s nothing new to us here that he’s not just a basketball player. He’s a straight A-student and he likes to volunteer in the community so that was great for us to see that.
“He knew how competitive the race was for that award this year and to be able to win it over some players that were older than him, already going to college, and are great players in their own right, he definitely took all that in and realized how special it was.”
The rare skill set that the Titans’ star forward brings at 6-foot-10 makes it a nightmare for his competition in the NEPSAC. It also makes it difficult for his coach to fit him into one particular category when it comes to describing just what makes him so special.
“He rebounds the ball as well as any 6-foot-10 guy you are going to find, so he probably rebounds the ball better than any stretch four that you find,” Mannix said. “When you average 13 rebounds and you’re thought of as a stretch four, that’s a lot of rebounds.
“His ability to finish around the rim in traffic, kind of finish at all different angles, whether he’s putting the ball on the floor or he’s posting up. Then the fact that he shoots almost 40% from three. He just checks so many boxes, I don’t think there’s any one thing that stands out about him except his versatility. Just doing it all.”
The development on the floor from Filipowski allowed the Titans to pick up right where they left off, as the team made the best of its shortened season going 5-0. With the bump in points and rebounds, his coach believes his improvement on the floor between his first two seasons came with just getting more experience out there.
“I think probably playing with a little bit more composure, slowing himself down when he needed to,” Mannix said of Filipowski’s biggest improvement on the basketball court. “He was able to slow the game down and kind of see what was in front of him and see what was coming at him and make better decisions. That basketball IQ and maturity has grown leaps and bounds, it’s really high-level.”
After coming over from his hometown of Westtown, N.Y. back in 2019, the Titans’ head coach has seen just where Filipowski can take his game on the court throughout his time at Wilbraham and Monson. Up next for his development in his senior year is taking a larger leadership role.
“He’s always had a good voice in terms of speaking up and talking to his teammates and talking to me, so doing a little bit more of that [his senior season],” Mannix said. “Now, he’s going to be one of the oldest guys on the team so now, [his] role changes even more as a leader. Now you’re one of the two or three oldest guys on the team and you’re going to have some guys on the team maybe three or four years younger than you. You’re really going to have to take those guys in as a big brother/little brother on the court.”
Becoming a big brother to his younger teammates shouldn’t be hard for Filipowski who experiences playing with his twin on an everyday basis. His brother, Matt, also plays for the team and has become quite the player himself.
“There’s definitely a brother-to-brother competitiveness there going on,” Mannix said of the brothers’ relationship. “There’s a lot of competitiveness when they play against each other and when they find themselves on the same team in practice or during games, [they’re] very connected. I mean that like basketball wise, almost literally where it’s finding each other with high-low passes, maybe one back cuts and the other one is getting the assist. It’s something that you don’t find too often.”
As Kyle prepares for his senior season, the No. 33 player in the Class of 2022 has been in the heat of college recruiting. The Titans’ forward currently holds offers from the likes of; Duke, Michigan, Ohio State, Syracuse, and UConn. He is currently in the middle of taking his official and unofficial visits to different colleges after the pandemic affected that aspect last year.
