The Grind, presented by Bank of Clarendon: Crestwood's Vaughn ready to make last push as a senior

If you find yourself in The Castle during basketball season, one Lady Knight will almost certainly catch your eye.

London Vaughn has been holding down the point at Crestwood for the last four years, and she doesn't do it quietly. She expresses her passion for the game every time she steps on the court, whether she's diving for a loose ball or the loudest player on the court as the Lady Knights celebrate a big bucket.

She's seen a little bit of everything during her time at Crestwood, including three head coaches. There have been two constants during her tenure: success and the player handling the ball. Now she's looking to make one final push before her time with the Lady Knights comes to a close.

"The legacy I want to leave is that everyone knows No. 13 was a dog," she said, "that I came out and killed everyone in front of me."

QUIET BEGINNINGS

Basketball is in London's blood. Her family has been hooping for generations. Her dad, Walter, starred at Crestwood before playing college ball at Queens University in Charlotte. London's older brother, Christion Bowser, came through The Castle a few years ahead of her. When she got to CHS, she wanted to make a name for herself.

"I really just wanted to come to the program and show what I can do," she said.

Long before London suited up in black and purple, she was playing hoops with her family. Walter was coaching church league ball when London first showed interest in playing competitively around the age of six or seven, but her early attempts didn't last long.

"She was real shy," Walter recalled. "She would say, 'Dad, I'm going to play ball,' but she would quit because she was nervous."

But one year, she shook off that fear and decided to play. Parents came up to Walter after the game to praise him for the way he trained his daughter, and he was taken aback.

"I had not worked with her," he said. "She surprised me because that's the first time I saw her play. Over the summer, she was playing with her cousin and brother; that's where she developed her game.

"To see her grow from where she was that day to where she is now, I'm proud of her."

PASSION COMES OUT

After a middle-school career that was nearly erased by COVID-19, London immediately jumped to varsity as a freshman. She was playing around upperclassmen like Tashiana Farmer, taking over the point for a team that already had playoff aspirations despite a wealth of young players entering the fold. CHS won 16 games London's freshman year and opened the postseason with a victory against Battery Creek.

That offseason, Walter saw something click for his daughter. Their workouts intensified as her passion for the game grew after her first taste of varsity action.

"I told her that being the point guard, she had to have a voice," Walter said. "That summer we really put in a lot of work, getting up at 6 a.m. and going to the gym. She was just dedicated, and it started to click."

With a basketball coach as a father, that work came naturally to London.

"Just working hard, coming to practice every day, getting a little bit of extra work and staying on top of our game," London said of her mentality. "There's always going to be someone stronger than you, faster than you; you just have to work hard no matter what."

As London was starting out in varsity basketball, Crestwood's current head coach was still playing professional hoops overseas. Shaquanda Miller-McCray kept her eyes on the Lady Knights whenever she could, and London always stuck out because of that passion and work ethic. Those qualities only grew as London developed during the last few years.

"I see her passion and her drive for it, always wanting to stay extra at practice, getting her teammates involved, asking them to come work out with her in the gym," Shaq said. "She just has that leadership character because of her passion, how much she cares about basketball. Everyone kinda gravitates to what she has going. When you walk in the gym, there's no question that's our leader, that's the person that's dedicated to it."

Through that passion, London finds freedom. That's why she loves the game.

"It really gives me peace of mind," she said. "I can play basketball any day, my best day or my worst day, I can just come out and compete. I'm a competitor. I don't like to lose. I like to do anything to win."

NEW LEVELS OF SUCCESS

London became a captain as a sophomore and helped guide a still-young team to 20 wins and a trip to the third round of the SCHSL 3A playoffs. Their season ended with a loss to Lower Richland, but London was ready to make a push as a junior.

Expectations grew throughout the season last year. London and the Lady Knights climbed through the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association rankings as they won 16 games and finished as runners-up in Region VI-3A behind the dynastic Bulldogs from Camden and current South Carolina star Joyce Edwards. They earned a home playoff game and cruised by Gilbert before going on the road to defeat Dillon, setting up their third matchup against region foe Darlington.

The night before the Lady Knights were set to face Darlington, whom they defeated twice during the regular season, London and her teammates were at Lower Richland supporting the boys team in their third-round game. The Knights suffered a heartbreaking 55-52 loss in overtime. A day later, the Lady Knights lost by the exact same score in their home gym.

"It was tragic," London said. "We didn't get the outcome that we wanted, so it's just giving us fuel for this year. We're making sure we stay in the gym working twice as hard so we don't come up short like we did last year."

Shaq was on the bench as an assistant coach for that game and felt like the Lady Knights may have taken the Falcons for granted after earning two wins over their region rivals during the regular season. While it was a tough lesson to learn in the moment, Shaq hopes her team was able to grow after a loss like that. London was already doing a lot of the little things to be great, but she stepped it up a notch leading into her senior year.

"She uses it as motivation," Shaq said. "When we're running at practice and everyone is gassed and I tell everyone to go get water, she doesn't get water; she goes straight to the free throw line. For the past couple of years, free throws have been tough for us, so she's making sure she can knock them down when she's tired, so it becomes muscle memory.

"She knows what it takes, and she doesn't want to feel that any more. It's her last year, and she wants everyone to feel her. She knows we're capable of making it far. It's just going to take a little extra work, and she doesn't mind doing that."

Shaq also isn't afraid to be hard on her star point guard, which London appreciates.

"She stays on me maybe a little bit harder than the rest of the team, and that's OK because I know I want to make it to the next level, I want to be successful, so I'm OK with that," London said. "She lets me know that I'm the point guard, so I have to take a little criticism sometimes. And things might not go my way one night, but to stay confident, keep working, and it's going to pay off in the end."

ROLE OF THE POINT GUARD

London was thrust into a leadership role quickly because of her role as the point guard. It's her job to direct the offense and find the balance between scoring herself and finding opportunities for her teammates.

"Being a point guard is kinda tough. You've got to be mentally prepared, work twice as hard as anybody else," she said. "You are the leader on the team; you have to provide for everyone and also make sure you get your own at the end of the day."

When you're winning, the point guard gets all the praise. When things go wrong, they can often take the brunt of the blame. Shaq tries to make sure London doesn't let that outside noise sway her too much one way or the other.

"I have to remind her that heavy is the head that wears the crown," Shaq said. "She had to carry the weight early, and people don't realize how much weight is on a point guard. The point guard has to take all the backlash, has to carry everything. I think she's adjusting to that now. She asks why she has to do everything, why she has to be the bad guy, and I have to keep reminding her that no one is picking on her, it's what comes with being a point guard and being a leader."

FAMILY SUPPORT

Basketball has an important role in London's family. They're able to bond over watching the game together and constant conversations built around the sport, but it's much more than that.

The world of sports can be overwhelming, especially when it feels like you have the weight of the team on your shoulders as a captain and point guard. London is thankful to have a dad who understands that struggle and is there to find that right balance of teaching and encouraging.

"He's been here every step of the way," she said. "I really appreciate him."

Walter learned the importance of that support system when he was a player. He remembers taking a 17-hour bus ride to Mississippi for a camp because his father instilled that level of dedication to the sport and because his family always had his back. He wanted to make sure London always had a team in her corner.

"Just having a family that loves the game of basketball, having that support (is important). If you don't have that support, it can get hard at times when you don't perform as well as you think you should and the drive that you've got to have. It's different when you're playing and you can look on the sideline and see your granddaddy, your momma, your auntie, your dad, your brother, that's a different kind of support."

FUTURE IN BASKETBALL

For now, London is focused on making the most of her final season at Crestwood. The year got out to a rocky start, as the Lady Knights fell to 0-2 without fellow senior Saniya Williams in the lineup, but London is ready to push past that. She knows this team is capable of pushing beyond the third round of the playoffs, and she's willing to do whatever it takes to get there.

"I'm ready to show everyone what I can do my senior year and just showing how hard I worked in the offseason," she said.

The Crestwood senior has dreams of playing at the next level as she continues to follow the path her father set at Crestwood. Seeing other CHS stars like Shaq and Ja Morant thrive at the next level and beyond gives her the confidence that she can shine there, too.

"If they can do it, you feel like you can do it, too, just work hard. I really do like how they come back and teach us little things about what helped them get to where they're at now," London said. "(Their success has) opened up a lot of college coaches coming down, and there's some players here that really want it, too."

Shaq went through this process before starring at Georgia State. She's using all of her connections and knowledge of the college game to help London find the right home. There will be some college coaches watching from the stands throughout the season, and Shaq is excited to see London show off her skills to the right one.

"I won't tell her when they're coming out because I don't want her to get nervous, but a lot are coming out to these games because they like what they see in the highlights, and they want to see her in person," Shaq said. "I'm sure she's going to prove herself."

No matter what happens next, Walter is confident his daughter will succeed.

"I think her passion for the game is going to help her a lot because you really have to love it," he said. "Whatever you put in, you'll get back out. She's got that effort and drive to push her to the next level."