Standing at six feet six inches, he’s pretty hard to miss. You can see him warming up before his games, wearing his black Nike Kobe 6s. His headphones are on, and tracks from his favorite artists, like ‘Migos’ and ‘Playboi Carti,’ are playing. He’s quiet, focused and in a zone no one can break. When tipoff rolls around, junior Beau Prophete becomes a different animal. Described by his coach, Aaron Shaw, as a “vocal leader on the court,” Prophete has become a force to be reckoned with. He showcases and blends different skills all over the court, tearing apart defenses en route to his first Coastal Canyon League MVP award.
While spectators only see his showmanship, they don’t see the countless hours of work Prophete puts in behind the scenes.
Prophete is taller than most, but he doesn’t automatically resort to the post on every play. Prophete is a shooting guard, and he scores from all over the court. Many of his moves come from watching film of his favorite players. His favorite move is the mid-range pullup.
“My favorite basketball player is Anthony Edwards,” Prophete said. “I also watched a lot of Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and Donovan Mitchell film and learned a lot from watching them play.”
Prophete shares a lot in common with his favorite players. He specifically tries to mimic Bryant’s work ethic. Bryant once said he woke up every morning at three to go shoot around, and Prophete isn’t far off.
“I think the biggest contribution to my improvement this season was my time spent in the gym getting ready for the season,” Prophete said. “I would wake up at four in the morning to go shoot before school with my dad.”
Prophete’s hours in the gym shine on the court. He’s had large scoring games, putting up 37 in just one game, and huge highlights as well. Through his MVP season, one moment stood out.
“The best part of the season was winning the league,” Prophete said. “It was a very fun experience and my first ever league title.”
On their path to the championship, one challenge the team faced this year was losing eight seniors, who graduated the previous year. While this was a struggle, it gave way for players like Prophete to take charge.
“I’ve had to step up and be more of a leader this year, which has made me more vocal, both in practices and in games,” Prophete said. “I also had to learn how to work in the post, and I wasn’t used to it. Our team needed someone able to post up so I just kept working on it and trying new moves to get better.”
This season, Prophete has clearly stepped up in more ways than one. His leadership skills and basketball skills all culminated to create his best season yet.
“Beau has had a breakout year this season,” Shaw said. “He is a three level scorer who makes big shots. He helped lead us to a Coastal Canyon League Championship.”
As a leader
on the court, Prophete was bound to face pressure. He had to deal with the responsibility of being the team’s top scorer and protecting the paint on the defensive end.
“Honestly, the pressure’s going to happen and I just try to stay calm,” Prophete said. “I just focus on the present, breathe and trust the work I’ve put in.”
As with any athlete, Prophete has dealt with his fair share of setbacks.
“In eighth grade, I hurt my knee and was out for that whole year,” Prophete said. “It was very annoying and a rough time not being able to play basketball, but I didn’t let it discourage me and I kept working.”
Prophete’s perseverance paid off in full. The continual work that he puts in can be represented by his favorite mantra by Kevin Durant: “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” Even with the success he has experienced, Prophete still wants to continue growing as a player. He wants to play for a collegiate program after graduating.
“I really want to play at the next level, and hopefully with my hard work I can get on some coaches’ radars,” Prophete said. “I want to play at a program where I can get shots up whenever so I can always work on my game.”
Off of the court, Prophete is an All Academic Player, an award given to students who excel both on the court and in the classroom. He also has a twin brother, Bryson Prophete, who plays face-off for the Calabasas High School’s boys lacrosse team.
“Watching Beau grow as a player is really cool. Seeing how he gets more work every year to get better and better and it is paying off is really outstanding,” Bryson Prophete said. “My favorite memory with Beau was probably when we used to play basketball together as kids. It was nice to know one person on the team and have a good connection with them off the jump.”
Beau also loves to hang out with his teammates.
“Me and Beau would hang out after school in Mr. Onwudachi’s classroom before our games,” junior and varsity teammate Ryan Niazi said. “It was a lot of fun listening to him lecture us about Michael Jordan.”
Overall, if Prophete had one message to leave people with, it would be this.
“Everyone should work hard and not compare themselves to others,” Prophete said. “And everyone should be coachable and listen to anyone trying to help them.”
