A slight wave of confusion rolls through the court as a 5-foot 7-inch figure muscles past the defense and up to the free throw line, trailed by his opposition. 

From there, with moving arms covering his eyes and aggressive hands pushing him when out of the referee’s line of sight, he manages a shot straight into the basket.

That was unexpected – particularly as it came from one of the smallest players on the team, often regarded as only a backcourt shooter. His opponent’s coaching staff shake their heads, then make a note on their papers, remembering not to make the mistake of underestimating Coppell junior guard Devank Rane again.

D4S Hidden Gemz tweeted: “Devank Rane is a cyanide pill. He’s small, easily concealable but deadly when used. This kid has a lethal jumper, strong handle, and confidence on court. We will hear more about him soon.”

For all that is said about his top tier shooting, even among a team of comparative giants, there’s more to Rane than his statistics suggest. His defensive capabilities and ball handling especially, are aspects of his play that go unnoticed.

“Sometimes people look at him and go ‘he’s just a shooter’ and that’s just not giving him enough credit for all the other things he does too,” Coppell coach Clint Schnell said. “Despite his size, he can get inside, score inside and he’s a tough person to guard because he can do both of those things. They look at his lack of size and don’t worry about him as much but they only do that because they don’t realize all the things he does.”

Standing 5-foot 7-inches, an average height in most areas except the basketball court, Rane typically ends up being one of the smallest players on the court. Still, measuring up to his teammates has never been a problem.

“People see me as like, not the tallest kid, not the biggest kid, not the baddest kid and  I’ll never go on to a court in a game this year where I’m going to be one of those things,” Rane said. “But that’s something I really can’t control. So I put all my effort into things I can control.” 

What Rane can control is the effort he puts into basketball and how much he’s willing to give up for the team. Termed a “gym rat” by Schnell, Rane also practices with an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) group over the summer and during off season, practicing skills and getting ready to demonstrate them with Coppell once the season begins. When a play needs to be made, whether it’s a hustle play of diving on the floor for a loose ball or taking a charge, Rane is unselfish and unafraid of sacrificing his body for the team. 

Involved in basketball since age 5, it became clear Rane had talent early on. At Coppell Middle School North, alongside current teammate Coppell junior small forward Ryan Agarwal, he was a District 6-6A champion twice. Entering the high school scene, there was some concern of whether Rane would be able to adapt his play to use his height to fit the team’s needs.

“When I first met [Rane] as a freshman, I could see the skillset and the talent and the mindset,” Schnell said. “I didn’t think he couldn’t do [adapt]. It was more of ‘would he be willing to?’And he absolutely was.”

Crafting his game around his height, Rane finds ways to use it to his advantage and other ways to work around it when he cannot. Particularly, his game is shaped around shooting, giving him an edge over taller players.

“He plays bigger than he is, and it starts with the attitude he takes with it,” Agarwal said. “He knows he’s small, so he does the little things that a lot of people won’t do. Size would help, but he doesn’t use it as a disadvantage; he sometimes uses it as an advantage by being quicker and being able to see things from a different angle.”

Though many players struggle to stay in their own lane, especially if their own role has been determined to be one that doesn’t put them in a position to be the highest scorer, Rane lacks the ego to be one of them.

“I accept the fact that I’m probably going to be one of the smallest – if not the smallest player – on the court at all times,” Rane said. “I go out and play how I do. I have the ability to contribute to my team to help them win games so I don’t try to do what I’m not capable of. I care about the team, more than my individual goals so whatever I can do to help our team win and get as far as we can in the season, that’s what I’m going to do.” 

Follow Anjali(@anjalikrishna_) and @SidekickSports on Twitter.