Paul VI High School boys basketball coach Tony Devlin knew Cairo Rivera’s time would come.
Devlin had a sneak peek several years before Rivera even wore an Eagles’ uniform. Rivera’s middle school team – Sacred Heart in Camden – played a showcase in the Paul VI gymnasium in front of Devlin. It became his destiny to wear royal blue and white.
Devlin and Rivera talked about Paul VI basketball and how Rivera would eventually fit into the Eagles’ plans. A little bit of patience was involved.
“He told me I would come in and play [junior varsity],” Rivera recalled. “And if I worked hard enough, I would have the opportunity to play varsity.”
Rivera put in the work. Devlin made good on his promise. Both are now being rewarded as Rivera is a key contributor to a Paul VI team that has been playing well above expectations this year. After losing several key players to graduation, it was supposed to be somewhat of a rebuilding season for Paul VI. But don’t tell that to Rivera and the rest of a hungry group of Eagles.
“I think we’re very young and still learning how to play, especially in certain situations, with our possessions and using the clock,” Devlin said. “But we have our moments. I tell them as long as we get a little better with each practice and each game, we’ll be OK. Anytime we walk on the floor, we can win or we can lose. But it’s starting to come together.”
The Eagles graduated five key seniors including three of their top four scorers from last year’s team, which went 12-3 in a shortened season. Young guys stepped up into new roles, including Rivera.
“It’s been a lot of scrappy games,” Rivera said. “But we’re not the team that most people look at due to all our seniors leaving last year. We’re a bunch of new guys so people don’t expect much from us. But we’re coming out and showing what we got and getting things done.”
This year’s Paul VI team was also 12-3 after 15 games and got their lucky thirteenth win at the Holy Cross Boys Basketball Showcase on Feb. 5 by defeating Pemberton, 56-52. Rivera scored 11 points in that game and has been one of the team’s top scorers midway through the season, averaging about a dozen points per game.
“He’s a really good shooter,” Devlin said. “We tell him to keep shooting even when he’s off. He really sees the floor well and plays the point but he can play any position except inside.”
He’s got plenty of talent around him as Jaden Arline, Emmanuel Joe-Samuel, Chase Murray, Logan Clark and Judah Hidalgo can all fill the basket. Rivera prefers to put the ball in the hands of the hot player when he can. But he can also become the hot scorer.
“I like to do everything,” Rivera said. “There’s nothing specifically that I’m really forced to do. I can pass, rebound, shoot, and I can score when I need to. I just like to be patient and take my time and make sure I get the right things done.”
It’s been something he’s been ready for since he turned in his Sacred Heart uniform after eighth grade.
“I’ve looked forward to this a lot,” said Rivera, who also excels academically in the classroom. “I’ve done a lot of thinking and a lot of preparation and planning has gone into it.”
And also patience.
“Cairo has put his time in,” Devlin said. “He played some significant minutes last year but now he has a full-time role. And that’s difficult. But he’s had some really good games. He’s a great kid and works hard. He’s the kind of kid you want in your program.”
He’s not the first gem Devlin unearthed at Sacred Heart.
“We’ve had quite a few players from Sacred Heart,” Devlin said. “We had some 2,000-point scorers prior to him.”
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