Nick Mayo is 6-foot-8, 225 pounds and the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference hasn’t seen anything like him in quite some time, if ever.

“He’s a stud. He’s as talented physically as any kid I’ve seen in central Maine in a long, long time,” Cony High School boys basketball coach T.J. Maines said. “Off the top of my head, I can’t think of somebody in central Maine who has had the physical ability that he has.”

A senior at Messalonskee High School, Mayo challenged opposing coaches to get creative with their defensive schemes. Not much worked. Mayo averaged 24.4 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3 blocks per game, earning KVAC Class A Player of the Year and a spot as a finalist for Mr. Basketball.

“(Mayo’s) a really tough matchup. He doesn’t change his expression. He could get whacked in the head or have an awesome slam, and it’s just business as usual,” Brunswick head coach Todd Hanson said.

Mayo is the state’s best big man since Thomas Knight graduated from Dirigo of Dixfield in 2009, or even Nik Caner-Medley, who graduated from Portland’s Deering High in 2002. Mayo made 50.2 percent of his shots, including 40 percent (22 of 55) from 3-point range. That 22nd triple also happened to be the final make of his high school career,, which came in the final seconds of the Eastern Class A semifinals against eventual Class A state champion Hampden.

For all of that, Nick Mayo is the 2014-15 Morning Sentinel Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

Last fall, Mayo accepted a scholarship from Eastern Kentucky University. If Mayo attends Eastern Kentucky, however, became a question last week when Jeff Neubauer, the head coach who recruited Mayo to the Colonels, left the Richmond, Ky. school to become head men’s basketball coach at Fordham University.

Jen Mayo, Nick’s mother, said in an email that the family is giving the Eastern Kentucky situation more time to develop before any decision is made. Once there has been time to assess all options, Nick will make a decision that is best for his academic and athletic goals, Jen Mayo said.

While Mayo’s future may be in flux, there’s no denying his dominant senior season. It started with a 41-point, 16-rebound performance in Messalonskee’s 67-65 overtime win in the season opener at Mt. Ararat.

“It was an OT win, which was really big. Nobody wants to start the season with a loss,” Mayo said.

That was also the game in which Mayo and the Eagles saw that many opponents were going to try all sorts of defensive looks in an effort to slow the Messalonskee big man down. Mt. Ararat used a variety of zones to no avail.

“We saw triple teams, quadruple teams. Against Hampden in the playoffs, they had five guys in the paint, pretty much the entire time,” Messalonskee head coach Peter McLaughlin said. “Coming into the season, we knew we were going to see just about anything. It came down to preparation, just being ready for anything. Any time you’re 6-8 and playing in central Maine, you’re going to have an advantage over just about everybody.

“Averaging 24.4 points per game, I can’t say anybody had a lot of success. The teams that did the best against him were probably Hampden and EL (Edward Little of Auburn). They had a variety of length, with a majority of their team being over 6-2, 6-3. Trying to fluster him as much as possible.”

Edward Little held Mayo to a season-low 13 points in a 64-57 win for the Red Eddies in mid-December.

There were even times Mayo saw attention from all five defenders on the same possession.

“I’m just trying to find my teammates when that happens, because I’m not going to be able to do anything except pass,” Mayo said.

While McLaughlin and opposing coaches call Mayo’s composure one of his strengths, there were times when Mayo did get frustrated, he said. They were infrequent, however, and he tried not to let his focus waver when it happened.

“I think that happens to all players, though. It’s just part of the game. Sometimes you expect yourself to do better than you are. That will frustrate anyone,” Mayo said.

“He’s a very calm and collected young man, and I think that’s one of the reasons he’s going to be really successful at the next level. He knows what success feels like. He knows what it takes to be successful. He really applies himself every single time he steps on that court,” McLaughlin said.

When Brunswick played Messalonskee, Hanson tried to contain Mayo with an aggressive approach.

“You don’t know how they’re going to call games, so we went with the physical approach. We had Alex Bandouveres, who’s a football guy, and he tried to be physical with (Mayo). Not let him catch the ball in spots he’s comfortable with, which for Nick is inside or out. We tried to limit his touches,” Hanson said.

Mayo scored 20 points against Hanson’s Dragons, in a 52-48 come from behind win for the Eagles.

Three of Messalonskee’s six losses came to Hampden. One of the other losses was a 66-61 defeat to Cony. That night, the Rams tried to make things as difficult as they could for Messalonskee’s other players to even get Mayo the ball. While Mayo scored 28 points, the strategy worked in that Cony got the win.

“We felt like you had to put pressure on the ball, even as much or more so than worrying about Nick. We made sure we fronted him as much as we could. On any catch, try to go to a double (team). Just be a pain in the butt the whole time,” Maines said. “We did really well the first quarter and a half. I think he had two points. Then he scored eight in the last couple minutes (of the first half) and in the second half, he killed us in transition and rebounding. If felt like at times, if he wanted to score he was going to score. You had to hold on and make sure you could finish at the other end.”

What would be considered normal in most high school basketball games, straight up man-to-man defense, became the exception for Messalonskee’s opponents.

“There wasn’t any that were completely off the wall. If anything was off the wall, it was when they let him be one-on-one with a guy on the blocks. Then it turned into a thunder dunk. When he got open looks, it was a pleasure to watch,” McLaughlin said.

In Mayo, McLaughlin saw a player coming off a successful AAU season and playing with a ton of confidence.

“Dunking on guys and having fun in practice is one thing, but when you’re in a game and you’re doing those things and you have that body control, that’s freakish things we don’t see — freakish in a good way,” McLaughlin said.

Mayo finished his high school career with 962 points, 710 rebounds and 128 blocks. Mayo also had 108 assists. In his four years, Messalonskee went 37-20. In the three seasons prior to Mayo’s arrival, the Eagles were 9-45.

“He’s a great kid. I thought he was unbelievably unselfish with his teammates. That kind of sets him apart to me. A lot of great players, it’s me, me, me. He’s not that way at all,” Maines said.

With a promising college basketball career to come, Mayo looks like one of those athletes who becomes a better player at the next level.

“I can’t wait to see what he turns into, because I think we’re just scratching the surface right now. It’s going to be a pleasure to watch,” McLaughlin said.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM