Good Time Charlie & co.
January 29, 2015Police: Girl, 2, killed by truck in Thibodaux
January 30, 2015
The game of basketball is ruled by statistics and advanced metrics that are used to chart performance and quantify which players are better than others.
Through advanced technologies, coaches and scouts can use computer software to analyze data on just about anything – from the most basic stats like points, rebounds and steals to more advanced numbers like efficiency ratings and plus/minus ratios.
But for all of the numbers within the sport, there is one thing they still can’t chart or quantify: heart.
Galliano native and South Lafourche High School graduate Caden Cheramie has that in abundance. And that innate, unquanti-fiable thing is probably the biggest detail driving his now-highly successful basketball journey.
An unwanted commodity out of high school, Cheramie is now a senior standout at Centenary College in Shreveport – one of the top defensive players in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Cheramie was an All-SCAC last year for the second-straight time, playing in 28 games for the Gents and averaging 10.6 points per game.
This year, he’s likely to get all-conference recognition again, as he’s averaging 9.1 points per game, while serving as a lockdown defensive player for the Gents, who are 10-8 on the season and 6-2 in conference play.
“It’s been a great ride,” Cheramie said. “Starting from the bayou with no (scholarship) offers from any colleges to play ball to now being one of only a handful of guys to come out of South Lafourche and play all four years of college basketball is a great and humbling experience – one that I will never take for granted.”
LOVE FOR THE GAME NEVER WANES
Caden Cheramie lives for this stuff.
The son of Kevin and Leslie Cheramie, Caden said he always played sports as a kid. Through those early, youth battles on the hardwood and gridiron, he learned to love competition and the unity and team-building that goes on within the world of sports.
As Cheramie got older, he be-
came a two-sport standout for the Tarpons, lettering and serving as a captain on both the basketball and football teams.
In basketball, he was a hustle-driven player that won the Team MVP award after averaging 15 points per game his senior year. He also earned the distinction of being the Tarpons’ best defender, routinely locking up the opponent’s best player – regardless of if he was a guard or post player.
In football, Cheramie was a contributor on South Lafourche’s dominant 2009 squad that won 10 games and a playoff game.
Tarpons Coach Terry Farmer was the head of the football program at the time of Cheramie’s playing career.
Now coaching in Arkansas, Farmer said he wishes he had 50 players like Cheramie in his locker room every season.
South Lafourche boys’ basketball coach Brian Callais surely agrees, touting Cheramie’s toughness and determination throughout his career.
“Sometimes a kid isn’t the most talented, but he finds a way to have an impact because he doesn’t know how to take no for an answer,” Farmer said. “To me, that’s Caden Cheramie. To me, you’re looking at a young man who wasn’t the biggest, fastest or whatever. But he was just a winner. And if you have enough winners, you can always find a way to get by.
“I take a kid who works like a champion, but doesn’t have all of the athletic tools over a kid who has all of the athletic tools, but who hardly works at all – any day.”
Despite his successful prep playing career, it surely looked for a while like Cheramie would enter college without a team to call his own.
He had a few nibbles for both football and basketball, but no formal scholarship offer on paper.
Because of the lack of interest, Cheramie enrolled at Nicholls with plans to be a regular student. He had a brief flirtation as a walk-on on the Colonels’ men’s basketball team, but he said that didn’t last because he didn’t fit the program’s style.
The dream of competition appeared over, but the love never waned. Cheramie played as much basketball as humanly possible in his freshman year in Thibodaux.
“I was still competitive in every men’s league and every pick-up game I played in,” he said. “I just didn’t know if I’d get another chance to play college ball again.”
A few months later, Cheramie got his chance – a couple hundred miles to the northwest in Shreveport.
BECOMING A GENT
While Cheramie was contemplating his future, Centenary College in Shreveport was undergoing radical changes in its athletic department.
The school dropped from Division I to Division III in athletics – a move that allowed all of its men’s basketball players to transfer freely to other schools without risk of penalty. All but two of the Gents’ players took up that offer and got out of town, meaning that Centenary had about 10 roster spots to fill.
Through a few mutual connections, including South Lafourche graduate and Centenary assistant coach Justin LeBlanc, Cheramie got one of the spots.
He played in every game for the Gents in the 2011-12 season, averaging 5.5 points as a freshman. Cheramie said he’ll remember his first collegiate game for the rest of his life. He started that game for Centenary College – a 79-66 loss against UT-Dallas.
Cheramie had 10 points in the game, one of eight starts he made as a freshman.
“That was a thrill,” he recalled.
A year later, Cheramie blossomed and became a member of the All-SCAC team for the first time, averaging 8.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game as a sophomore, while leading the team in assists (50) and steals (47) for the season.
Last season as a junior, Cheramie really became one of the team’s leaders. He started 27 of 28 games, averaging more than 10 points per game. He also tallied a career-high 22 points and 11 rebounds in a Dec. 31, 2013, game against Hendrix. Again, Cheramie was an all-conference pick.
Now a senior, he’s doing much of the same to help his team.
“God opened a door for me to go to Centenary,” Cheramie said. “They had just moved down to D-III and basically lost all of their guys but two, so it was a fresh start to everything.
“Four years and three All-Conference selections later, here I am in my senior year. It’s been a great ride.”
PASSION FOR DEFENSE MAKES A LEADER
Cheramie’s offensive statistics have clearly made him a Gent standout.
But his impact on basketball games run far deeper. Like he did at South Lafourche, Cheramie is one of the top defensive players for the Gents. Statistically, he’s one of the best defenders in his entire conference.
The Galliano native gets really serious when asked about his passion for defense. He takes a ton of pride in being a two-way player, touting that several players are overly concerned with their ability to score points.
“Defense takes guts – period!” Cheramie said emphatically. “You can score the ball all day long, but if you can’t stop the guy in front of you, then it doesn’t matter because it ends up canceling your points out. Defense takes a mindset that you’ll be as legally – and sometimes illegally – physical and tenacious as possible – all while being in the right positions that don’t hurt the team.”
He believes his stance in a way that shows his mindset toward the sport.
“Some of the greatest time is not scoring 30 points in a game or dunking, but instead making a clutch steal or getting a key defensive rebound that your team needs in order to seal a win. Defense is certainly for everybody, but not everyone wants to answer that call. I take pride in my defense. I led our conference in steals my sophomore year, and I’m currently tied for first right now.”
That ability to walk the walk to match his words is why Cheramie is one of the Gents’ senior leaders.
Leadership is something that’s never been hard for Cheramie, who fit into the same role in his high school days. As a Tarpon, he earned the school’s Honesty and Integrity Award, while also serving as a class representative.
At Centenary, his voice has helped the Gents battle adversity in the 2014-15 season. This year’s Centenary squad has endured a slew of injuries, but has fought through the negativity to rattle off several straight wins to ascend toward the top of their conference standings with a few weeks left in the regular season.
Cheramie told his teammates that his entire senior season is for the team.
“I told my guys the other day that if I quit now, I’d be at peace personally with what I’ve done on the court,” he said. “But I wouldn’t be at peace in regards to the team. By that, I mean, we still haven’t tapped into our full potential yet…. But my guys are fighters. And no one has ever questioned our fight.”
ONE LAST RUN AT THE CHAMPIONSHIP
Cheramie knows in the next few weeks his basketball career will come to a close, so he’s savoring his entire senior season while it lasts.
After graduation, he plans to use a degree in new media design to secure a job in the real world.
Away from the basketball floor, Cheramie is engaged to marry longtime sweetheart Amy Lynn Gelpi on July 11, 2015
“2015 is going to be a huge year for me and my fiancee, but we look forward to the future God has for us,” Cheramie said with a smile.
But for the time being, it’s this last push for a conference championship that has his full and undivided attention – the final times he’ll get to showcase his heart and intensity on a basketball floor at the collegiate level.
The final games he’ll be able to prove yet again that statistics do matter to a degree, but can’t measure the inner drive that is within a person.
“God has blessed me with an unbelievably healthy body over my career, and I’m just thankful that I can make this last run the best one yet,” Cheramie said. “I want to watch our team come out on top as champions.” E3
‘Sometimes a kid isn’t the most talented, but he finds a way to have an impact because he doesn’t know how to take no for an answer. To me, that’s Caden Cheramie.’
Terry Farmer
Former South Lafourche football coach
Galliano native Caden Cheramle didn’t receive a single scholarship offer to continue his basketball career after a decorated career at South Lafourche High School. After being given an opportunity at Centenary, Cheramle has shlned, becoming a four-year contributor for the Gents. Now a multi-time All-Conference performer, Cheramle said he wants to finish his senior season with a bang.
Caden Cheramie leads a pretty busy life. Pictured left with his fiancee Amy Lynn Gelpi, the two are set to be married In July. When not aiming to be a loving man, Cheramie Is a fierce standout guard on the basketball floor. Now three and a half seasons Into his collegiate career, Cheramie hopes to finish strong.
