PLAINSBORO — Blake Amos-Whitfield may be quiet vocally, but West Windsor-Plainsboro North boys basketball coach Luke Beesley swears that his actions paint a different picture behind the scenes in practice. “Blake is a great kid. Blake does everything that we ask,” Beesley said this week after his Knights improved to 15-2 with a 60-21 win against Princeton. “When we run sprints, he’s in the front if not second to the front every single time.” That is what has made Amos-Whitfield a special addition to the program as a transfer this school year from WW-P South. Despite starting for the Pirates last winter as a talented sophomore, the 6-foot junior guard didn’t carry himself with any entitlement when he joined the Knights’ senior-laden squad. He earned a spot in the starting lineup through his work ethic. “I didn’t expect to run the show or anything,” said Amos-Whitfield, who moved over to North for academic reasons. “I expected to come and help out as much as I can. Starting is nice, but that’s more of a side effect. I really came here to work hard and show why I belong here.” Amos-Whitfield has been the second-leading scorer (12.2 points per game) on arguably the best team in the CVC. He also leads North with 29 3-pointers and has been a strong perimeter defender who does all the little things right, whether it be trapping an opposing player with ball pressure or closing out to contest a shot. “I think if you asked anyone on our team they would say, ‘Yeah, Blake 100 percent deserved to be in that starting spot,” Beesley said. “Plays hard, comes to practice every day, works hard, dives on the floor, gets loose balls — everything that we ask — and he wants to get better. And I think that’s a big part of him as well.” Amos-Whitfield came to love basketball at a young age thanks to his family. His father played college basketball at UTSA, and his older brother currently plays at Franklin & Marshall. They trained together when the brothers were growing up, and the younger Amos-Whitfield started playing team basketball in elementary school. Logistically, the transition from South to North was smooth. He didn’t have to sit out any basketball games because he wasn’t a senior and his transfer came before the start of practice. But Beesley didn’t find out until the start of the school year, so they had to get him acclimated to their veteran team relatively quickly. “At the beginning I really had to adapt to it,” Amos-Whitfield said. “They welcomed me very well. I really am beginning to fit into the program. I’m learning the new coaching style and how they run the team over here.” West Windsor-Plainsboro North’s Blake Amos-Whitfield looks to move the ball against Delran during a Knights Holiday Classic game on Friday afternoon at West Windsor-Plainsboro North in Plainsboro. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Beesley jokes that during a recent game against Steinert, Amos-Whitfield asked him a question and he told his player that it was the first time he made an inquiry in about two months. “He’s just so quiet and plays hard and knows the game and does what we say, and I think that’s why he fits in so well with our guys,” said Beesley, who played collegiately for Southern Connecticut State. “I think it’s also a credit to our guys that have been with this program to accept a transfer. I’ve been a part of that before where sometimes it’s not accepted. These guys, they’re great friends already. They went out to eat, they’re doing all that.” Amos-Whitfield starts alongside four seniors: Malachi Jeffers-Viera, Ryan Jean-Baptiste, Ronit Joneja and Aaryan Dadan. It’s a special senior class for a few reasons. These players are on pace to set a program record for wins. Jeffers-Viera is poised to become the first CVC Player of the Year in program history. And they were Beesley’s first group of freshmen when he took over the program in 2021. With 15 wins already, North is focused on making history with a chance to be the top seed in the CVC Tournament and near the top of Central Jersey Group IV as well. “I think we knew that this group had what it takes, and they’ve shown that throughout the four years that they’ve been here,” Beesley said. “The time they can come in in the summer, the trips away, the weightlifting, all the stuff when we were down, winning two games (in 2021), four games (in 2022) — they were here. Maybe we didn’t think that we would be at this level already, but we knew deep down that we were capable of doing this. It was just about getting on the floor and playing hard.” It helps to add glue to the project with a player like Amos-Whitfield. In terms of schemes, Beesley values his ability to play off the ball and space the floor offensively. He believes the Knights are at their best defensively when Amos-Whitfield is getting after the other team. And on both ends, the newcomer’s high IQ makes everyone around him better. Amos-Whitfield and his teammates are learning to handle adversity as well. Their only two losses so far came last week against Lawrence in double overtime, then at Hunterdon Central after letting a 10-point lead slip away in the final three minutes. That’s part of the rollercoaster in high school basketball. And as the Knights build toward postseason play next month, they simply want to show why they belong — just like Amos-Whitfield. “I definitely think coming into this season we weren’t viewed as much of a threat, but moving forward and how we’re progressing as a team, I feel like we’re definitely building up some confidence,” Amos-Whitfield said. “But we still don’t want to be too egotistical or cocky. We still want to be humble moving forward. We still want to have a hard work ethic.”