Brothers with Opinions -B.W.O.
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Brothers with Opinions -B.W.O.
Chris Higgs is changing the culture at James Wood Basketball
From middle school sidelines to high school head coach, Chris Higgs is taking the reins at James Wood Basketball with a clear vision for building champions both on and off the court. His journey represents the passion and dedication needed to develop young athletes in today's competitive landscape.
"It's not how you do anything, it's how you do everything," Higgs shares, revealing his comprehensive approach to team building. This philosophy extends beyond basketball fundamentals to encompass communication, body language, and classroom performance—essential elements for creating a sustainable winning culture. The program stands on three key pillars: being a great teammate, striving for excellence, and enjoying the journey with those around you.
What sets Coach Higgs apart is his unwavering commitment to holding everyone accountable to the same standard. "Culture is what you allow," he emphasizes, making it clear that even star players must meet the same expectations as bench players. This approach has already shown promise, with summer workouts consistently drawing 20+ dedicated athletes eager to improve their game.
With four returning senior starters, including standout Michael Bell, the Colonels are poised for a competitive season. Higgs is working to reconnect current players with James Wood's rich basketball heritage, bringing back alumni from the program's most successful eras to share what being a Colonel meant to them. His dual focus on basketball excellence and academic achievement (targeting a team GPA between 3.2-3.5) demonstrates a commitment to developing complete student-athletes.
As basketball season approaches with tryouts beginning November 10th, excitement is building around the program. Whether you're a longtime Colonels fan or simply appreciate seeing young athletes develop under positive mentorship, this is a team and a coach worth watching. Come experience the renewed energy at James Wood basketball this season!
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Speaker 2:Hey, everybody welcome back to BWO. I'm here with Chris Tucker.
Speaker 3:What's up? What's up.
Speaker 2:About to have a special guest on today. We're missing a couple brothers, but we don't know what's up with them. But, chris, you're going to get us started with your high energy this morning.
Speaker 3:Yeah, my high energy.
Speaker 2:I know you've worked 12-hour shifts the past week or so.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm exhausted but I'm up, I'm ready to go Start season two with the new James Wood head coach, Mr Chris Higgs. And we've had him on as a guest in the past, but you know he was at Daniel Morgan, so moving up, glad to see him being successful, and you know the thing that he wants to do is coach, so going from middle school to high school as a head coach, that's a pretty big deal. So we're excited to have him on and hear how he's going to change James Wood's culture around over there.
Speaker 2:Hey, Mr Dixon did the same thing. He started at Daniel Morgan. A lot of people probably don't know he started out as a football coach for a few years and then moved to basketball.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I must have been a little kid.
Speaker 3:I don't even know when he coached over there. It had to be in the 80s. But yeah, he did. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So let's you know not wait anymore. Chris is sitting here waiting. I'll let Chris join us this morning. Hey, chris, you hear us, you there oh sorry, I was on mute. I was about to say I see him.
Speaker 3:What's up, Chris?
Speaker 4:What's up guys? Good morning. Unfortunately, I have to work at 20, so good to see you, chris.
Speaker 3:Yeah, good to see you, man, Been a while but excited to hear how things are going. Man, for you to be the new head coach at James Wood, that's pretty dope.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, I appreciate that we're very excited James Wood basketball. We've got a lot of good kids, a lot of good opportunities over there, just trying to really change and build on the culture that started last year, just keep growing and giving those kids opportunities to succeed on and off the court. So really excited to be there. A big opportunity, as you guys mentioned earlier, started at daniel morgan, so tony and I coached together there for a couple years. I transitioned, coached at hanley for a year, uh, and then was a dameswood jb coach last year so you were over there with my buddy, ben, and now you're taking over since he's gone and moved on to something else.
Speaker 4:Yep, I was over there with Coach Bates, worked with him for a year and then he left for whatever reasons he left for and then I took over and got the opportunity to take over this year. So really excited. I started earlier in the summer, actually probably towards the end of school, you know April and May, and then we went all summer together as a program for JV and varsity so gave the kids a lot of chances to play in some games, go to some camps. We were practicing two days a week at some points when we were allowed to, so certainly giving them as much chance to be in the gym to get better as players.
Speaker 2:Well, it sounds like you're taking the bull by the horns for us.
Speaker 4:Are you?
Speaker 2:putting your foot down on these kids.
Speaker 4:We're putting our foot down. We've got some pillars and some different things that we sort of want to live by as we change the culture and grow the culture. Things like discipline, communication, effort, you know, and the small things matter, like one of the phrases I'll tell them, or I told them very early on in the summer is is uh, it's not how you do anything, it's how you do everything right. And so you know how you talk on defense, you know your body language when you miss a shot. Those sort of things matter just as much as you know boxing out, rebound, being able to score, whether it's. You know jumpers, layups, et cetera. But those kind of things matter. But again, it all starts with things like discipline and communication.
Speaker 2:Right, so I guess that leads into my first question. So what's your coaching philosophy, right?
Speaker 4:So I guess that leads into my first question. So what's?
Speaker 2:your coaching philosophy.
Speaker 4:So probably, yeah, because it's evolved a little bit. You know, in middle school that philosophy was, you know, just make kids love basketball, enjoy the game, learn how to compete, you know, and build those fundamentals so that way, when they get to high school, that they still want to put in the work and they still really understand what they're trying to do. And so here, you know, it's really three things as far as our philosophy, which is be a great teammate, you know you want to be a good teammate on the court and off the court, and someone that you're, you know your teammates want to hang out with and be friends. Those are the kind of people that you're going to play well with together. If you don't like someone, it's going to be really hard to. You know, play as a cohesive unit and then strive for excellence. You know, put your signature in the work you do every day.
Speaker 4:So you know, when you come into gym and practice or we have a shoot around or just open the gym up and let guys come in and do anything they want to do is, are you putting your stamp on that day? Are you working as hard as you can, even though you may not want to. There may be something going on outside, uh, a basketball going on at home. You're at work or you know, you just don't feel like working out. It's the middle of the summer, you won't be hanging out to the beach or with your friends, but when you're in the gym, making use of that time and then the last one, I think, is really the most important it's like enjoy the journey and the people that you're with, and so you know you want to respect everyone that you're working with in every role coaches, teachers, administrators.
Speaker 4:We have a lot of guests and alumni that we're going to bring in throughout the year to really talk about what Jameswood culture and basketball was like in the late nineties and early 2000s, so having those guys come back in to reiterate that or build that up, but really just enjoy that journey of all the people that you're with, because it's not about the goal the goal for all high school programs to win a state championship. You have to be realistic. How close are we to doing that? We're not as close as some other programs, and so for us, the goal is more about the relationships and the journey than it is getting to that state title or something like that Right, Good, good. So how, how do you balance?
Speaker 4:discipline and accountability you mean like on the court or off the court.
Speaker 4:Yeah, on the world, I think you treat everyone the same right, and so it's player one who might be your best player, your star player for certain things, all the way down to player 12 or even the manager. You know we've got a great manager in Sammy Myers. We just hung out with him at the beach a couple of days ago and had a lot of guys show up and just support him and hang out. But it's really just how you treat everyone and making sure they're the same.
Speaker 4:There's no exception to the rule, because player A might be your best offensive player, your best defensive player, and you need him. If he's not doing the work he needs to do, either on the court or in the classroom, he's not as valuable to your team as someone else who is doing that work. And so, you know, it's about just finding that good balance, holding everyone accountable to the same standard. So what we say is like you know, culture is what you allow and we don't really allow anyone to cut corners or, you know, be the exception to the rule because they might have a different role or a different, you know, delivering to the school.
Speaker 2:Gotcha, gotcha, chris, you got anything.
Speaker 3:I know you do, yeah, so if I'm correct, then the young man that I know that I think probably one of the best players in the area and district. He's still with you, right, big Michael Bell.
Speaker 4:Big Michael Bell is there. He's still with you, right, Big Michael Bell. Big Michael Bell is there. He's been working hard this summer, you know, really trying to grow his game a little bit. He's actually going to Shepherd on the 13th, so a good opportunity there for him. Yeah, bringing Michael Bell back. We're bringing four seniors back that started last year.
Speaker 3:A lot of experience.
Speaker 4:Yeah, looking for those guys to contribute and really elevate their game and then provide that leadership that you would look for in those players.
Speaker 3:Yeah yeah, so you guys will be right there, hopefully, competing with the likes of Hanley and anybody else. That's pretty good right now.
Speaker 4:I would hope so. You know the guys come in and put in the work. Hopefully that ends up being our reward, but we're just going to go out and compete against the opponent we play every night and not worry about who they are or what their record is. As you know, everyone's 0-0 on that night. Whatever happens happens. But yeah, bring back really what looks like five starters, seven varsity guys who are returning, and then we'll bring some guys up for JV that have been in the program or that played in the system last year, and so it should give us some good continuity and a lot of depth. And then very excited about our JV program with the amount of freshmen and sophomores we've had at workouts. This summer it's been 20 plus in the gym almost every night, again two nights a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays. So as a 14-year-old 15-year-old kid there's probably a lot of other things I'd rather do than being in a hot, sweaty gym on a Monday or a Wednesday during my summertime, but having those kids there is just awesome, yeah.
Speaker 3:That shows the leadership that you have and the belief they have in you, and that they want to be better and they want to win.
Speaker 4:And that's what it takes. You know, yeah, absolutely, and it says a lot to their work ethic in the way that their parents raised them. And then you know, having our middle school programs. Do you know early morning workouts sorry tony five days a week out here at some of our middle schools they'll start the middle of october and go 6, 15 to 7 yeah.
Speaker 4:Hey, remember when we were that young the last thing we'd want to do or any opportunity we could get to get to when we would, but we never had those chances. So now getting these kids that opportunity, albeit early in the morning, it's just a very good opportunity to help them grow their skill. And it's a lot of individual-based work. You know working on microns and form shooting. You know working on finishing moves. We're really trying to emphasize to our guys playing off two feet, playing to our strengths, uh, and so having them have that opportunity to do that in the gym on their own, in addition to practicing and other things like that, is just great. It's really going to elevate the game of basketball, not just at Jameswood but hopefully in the area, because other schools do the same thing.
Speaker 2:And see, I think it's great that now, finally, it's trickled down to the middle school. You know all the middle schools, no matter county, city, whatever the kids are taking it, you still want them to have fun.
Speaker 4:But because some kids in middle school are like you do find out who's serious, who's not, at the same time that's true, 7 am workout and who really wants to be somebody yeah, I mean, you know, when you open the gym at 6 15 or 6 30, you know and daniel morgan, when we were there, I could think of just a handful of kids that will probably show up and come. And then, you know, we had a team one year that was begging us to practice Like Coach. We want to be in the gym every day.
Speaker 4:Could have been there on Sundays, we could. And then when you look at the numbers of tryouts, even last year, james Woodford, jv, we probably had 40 kids try out, 45 kids, which is a big number, especially in a school that's, you know, not traditionally known as a basketball school, right, right. And then you look at what we had at Daniel Morgan I mean we had 60 kids one time and it was over Halloween and we had kids in Halloween costumes. So a wide range of folks that are interested in playing basketball or learning about a team sport which you don't want to turn that down or turn those kind of kids away.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, like you said, dedication and work ethic, man, that goes a long way and it shows, but they need a good leader.
Speaker 3:They need somebody who's going to stick with them and, like you said, have realistic goals that you know not everybody's going to make it to States or even win it, but you start with baby steps and hopefully you guys be one of the best teams in the district, get to the districts and do well in that, get to Regents and then go from there. But I'm excited to see how you guys do, man, hopefully I can get down there and watch a game or two because I'd like to support Mike when I definitely want to support you.
Speaker 4:Yep, we'd love that.
Speaker 2:And Yep, we love that and you know all of our games, at least home games are on Huddle Live, so they're streamed Now, as your own schedule came out. Nobody's basketball schedule came out yet, right?
Speaker 4:It hasn't been released to the public yet, but I do have it, so I do know our first game is I'm looking at now it's December.
Speaker 3:I was going to ask that next, when the season starts.
Speaker 4:So nice. So tryouts for the area start November the 10th, right after that last dead period, election day. So you get three days of tryouts and then we have our first scrimmage. I'm looking at it now the 17th. So we'll have Two or three you know really solid practices before that scrimmage, right To implement some of the new offense and make some of the other changes that we're going to make. We've started doing it this summer, so we're a little bit ahead, but we'll finish putting in all that game plan, get our new JV coach integrated in plenty of times.
Speaker 2:Can you name your coaching staff? I can name my coaching staff. You want to give them a shout out?
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah. So Coach H Paul Hojdovic is our varsity assistant coach. He's the marketing teacher at James Wood. He played baseball at Shepherd. He bounced around, did some things at Shepherd, did some things at Elon and some different sports, so really excited to have him on board. He was on Coach H's staff last year, so a huge asset for us.
Speaker 4:And then Quentin Jones, who played at Millbrook, played at Shenandoah will be our JV coach, and so my goal when I was looking for a JV coach was can I get someone who can elevate our players' skills and knowledge and then be someone who can not only relate to them? Because you know Quentin played at Millbrook. You know he had a successful career. It could have been more successful in high school. He had a successful career in college, and I say it could have been more successful in high school because I believe, if I remember correctly, his senior year or his junior year oh, covid, he was a little bit here. That's a lot of kids though he was cut short. You know he's still got an opportunity to go play at Shenandoah and further his basketball career. But I really wanted someone else who had positive energy and positive experiences, and Quentin is a great personality that will be able to connect and relate to our kids and our program.
Speaker 3:That's awesome man.
Speaker 2:I didn't know Quentin was over there with you. Hey, Chris, look, I didn't even spill the beans, chris, surprise, surprise yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, he just graduated from Dean College up in Massachusetts. He did yeah.
Speaker 4:And he's working at Fast Basketball, you know, with James Frisbee and Coach Blue from Shenandoah and those guys. So we'll have a good opportunity to, you know, grow his teaching skill. At the same time he's at FAST, same time he's over with us at Joneswood. So really excited to bring him on board. And then he was a one-year Rodsville Stars player. He played for Wink City and some other AAU programs here in the area. So we bring a lot of good experience on and off the court that I'm excited about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, nice, that's like me. Go out and get that young blood, that's good stuff. Yeah, because you've got BJ.
Speaker 4:Him and BJ both played one year for Stars for me. So again, great kids who really love the game and they want to give back and, you know, help younger kids in the area get those opportunities and get better. So these guys both played in college, right? Bj played football in college, Quentin played basketball. It gives them an opportunity to say, hey, this is what worked for me, or this is what I was taught when I got to college. That will make you more successful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's just their experiences go a long way. Plus, they're young and they can relate to these kids. I'm like that's getting old.
Speaker 4:I'm old as dirt. They want to look at my stats or pictures. They're going to be in black and white. They're not going to believe it because I can't do it in gym, but Quentin can dunk and out-shoot most of those guys in the gym all day long. Right, I bet I was in the gym all day long, so I had that Right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I had even better after he left Shenandoah, so he's worked on his game?
Speaker 4:Yeah, absolutely. And if you follow him on social media, you know he puts out a lot of good videos and a lot of good messages about the kind of work that you really have to do. And then again, you know, plug in fast basketball a little bit. Those guys are great working with kids and really further their game when it gives them an opportunity to work on things just outside of practice. Tony, as you know, if you have kids who just show up for just practice, they're not getting as good as they could or can't. You've got kids in the gym five days a week at a number of different places, whether it's fast or other trainers in the area. There's a lot of choices, a lot of good choices, so having that opportunity for kids to go there is just phenomenal, yeah.
Speaker 2:And adding on that it's what you do outside of practice on your own. That's right, and it's not hard to tell. Even if you can be the most talented athlete in the world, but a kid who outworks you in the gym three, four, five times a day, they're going to surpass it, and you see it especially once we get to the high school level, being at the middle, and then he keeps putting in the work and they'll surpass people.
Speaker 4:They're the most talented, but it's all about putting that work in, that hard work and that effort, having discipline to do that every day or on your own, is just going to make you a much better player and a much better person than somebody who just tries to do it. You know the once or twice a week that you're practicing during the season, Yep yep, totally agree.
Speaker 3:James Wood.
Speaker 4:Sorry.
Speaker 3:Did you ever go to James Wood like as a high school student?
Speaker 4:No, I am a Hanley graduate, so I graduated in 97, and I saw Coach Dixon at Family Day last weekend. He gave me a hard time because I was carrying a James Wood basketball respect either my former coaches or colleagues that I've worked with. You know the past 15, 20 years and you know taking something from them that I've learned along the way. It's just a huge value add.
Speaker 2:Now see Chris putting on James Wood stuff. Would be like me putting on Washington Commander stuff. Being a Cowboy fan Like that, that would be hard.
Speaker 4:It's not as hard as what you think. We've got a great administration, We've got a great facility over there, and so you know the kids really make it. What's the?
Speaker 2:battle. That's right. I don't think a lot of people know y'all built a new gym Just what Last year? Right, Well?
Speaker 4:we don't have a new gym. The school went over a full remodel so the gym got a makeover, but it's not a brand new gym. Oh, okay, yeah, so there's a new. It looks very similar to Frederick County. There's a window wall on the backside which you can see into the school and see the cafeteria and some different things. The secondary gym has been upgraded a little bit. The bleachers. We just, you know, refinished the floor again, so there's a lot of upgrades around the building to really make it a much better experience. Yeah, a new gym would be great, though, but not right now. Yeah, who's the gym named after? It's named after Don Shirley, okay.
Speaker 4:Do you know who that is. Sorry, I'll take that back. Wendell Dick, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:Oh, and no way I was like got it, yeah, I've been looking for it because he passed away a few years ago.
Speaker 3:Mr Dick passed away a few years ago, but when I was little he was always over there. He was just, he was a great man and he really cared about people. So Absolutely Yep, and we have that he passed away, definitely when I was. When I was told about it, I was like oh man it's big loss. Just such a culture builder over there and really you know he loved the community.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we have the Wendell Dick Hall of Fame there. So when you guys do come to a game and come in the entrance, there on the right-hand side we've got the Hall of Fame which mentions all the folks that have been inducted and when, and it just looks really good when you come up there Gotcha.
Speaker 2:Okay, chris, a couple more questions or a few more, fire away. This is good stuff. So how do you stay updated on coaching techniques and the latest trends in basketball? That's a good start. So how do you stay updated on coaching techniques and the latest trends in basketball?
Speaker 4:That's a tough one, because there's a bunch of different ways, but you are, hey, I always tell people you're a basketball mind, though I can say that there's a bunch of different ways to do it.
Speaker 4:I work from home, I'm in IT, I watch a lot of obscure basketball and film. So I watch a lot of D2 and D3 and NAIA games, whether it's this year or last year. I watch a lot of European basketball, some WNBA, you know, because those kind of plays and sets and the things that they're doing really relate to the kind of kids that we've got at. James Wood from an athletic standpoint, you know, if you try to watch what they're doing in the NBA James Wood from an athletic standpoint, you know, if you try to watch what they're doing in the NBA, it's a lot more. One, it's a lot more complex. And two, you're looking at guys that are, you know, 6'3 to 6'8 in athleticism that we just don't have, and so trying to get us to emulate what they're doing is just not going to work out.
Speaker 4:I watch a lot of obscure basketball. I follow a lot of coaches on social media, and then you know there's a coaching association here in Virginia that has now really done a lot over the last 12 months or so to get information out to us, and so they're having an in-person session in September in Charlottesville, and so that will be a good experience to go to and see what those guys are talking about and deliver some good messages to us. So it's a lot of obscure basketball, a lot of trainers and a lot of social media. The good thing is about coaching in basketball is you know you can steal it from someone else because it's probably been done already before. If you're inventing it the first time, then maybe it's not the most successful thing.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, I always say, chris, as a coach, you've got to be a student as well. A lot of coaches, they think they know it all, but it's like you always got to be willing to learn and adapt to the times as well.
Speaker 4:Yep, you got to look at it with an open mind and say, okay, if it's working for those guys and it's successful there, then maybe we should try it here and see how it is. You know, I know last year at some of our workouts with Coach Bates we were trying some different things defensively the way we move our hands and how we pivot and stuff like that and you know we tried it a couple of practices and didn't work out the way we wanted to. So then we switched back and did something else. So it's always good to go in there and experiment some, see how it adapts to the kids and the personnel you got and then if it works, great. If it doesn't work, you really haven't lost anything because you're, like you said, going into it with an open mind to try something different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so how would you? Because I know you're a big film guy, you just tapped on it film guy.
Speaker 4:You just tapped on it. How do you assess opposing teams? So spend a lot of time watching film. But I also like to go watch in person and so the one thing that you can watch for on film and I was talking about this with coach green from millbrook the other day when he and I were talking is, you know, you can watch and understand their plays and calls on film. But all that's going to change when you play each other. You know you're you may run the same set. You're going to call it something different, you know, or you may not run the same sets at all.
Speaker 4:I know last year when we played Millbrook the first time they ran one set of plays. The second time they ran something totally different that they hadn't run before in a game. So it was kind of a unique experience. That's good coaching. You should expect that. But the thing I like about in-person scouting is that you can really see how big a kid is, how athletic a kid is. On film it's hard to really see that. So you can see the quickness and the size and their depth perception and a whole bunch of different things by just watching in person, like, for example, watching Christian. In person is way different than watching on film, because he doesn't allow anyone to speed him up or slow him down. He plays at his pace and then his athleticism. The way that it stands out in person is a little bit different in film, just because a lot of teams that they play are physically about the same size. So I really love the in-person scouting, though it helped us a lot last year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can agree with that and you can sense body language, bad habits, what they do, right wrong, that's right.
Speaker 4:They react to different things that the crowd is doing. You know all that stuff, how their teammates react to them when they do something good or bad, so you can really pick up on all those little cues that, if the game is on the line or you need a shot here or you're getting ready to drop a, you know, uh, after timeout play, you're like all right, I want to go with this kid because in this situation these things always happen gotcha yeah, you got to have a lot of things in common with hanley then, as far as like returning so many seniors now, well, upcoming seniors and and a lot of people that's been together for, you know, since they were in little league or middle school.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, it's exciting. I mean there should be a lot of good competition. And when you think about all your rivalries you know Milbrook, sharando, hanley, like you mentioned when you play those teams night in and night out, you're going to get their best effort, regardless of what you know. Your regular season record is going into that Again, every night we look at it, we're 0-0 and the opponent is 0-0. But when you have a, you know, a senior-leading team, like Hanley does, millbrook is returning a lot of experience, sharando's got some experience, and then us, you know all those local games are going to become very, very good. And then when you look at outside the region, how some teams are rebuilding, some teams have gotten some transfers in, it's going to be a very good region.
Speaker 3:Is Garland Williams still at Sherando? Garland is still there, yep, he's been coaching there since we were little.
Speaker 4:I know, yeah, right, coach hints me in high school. Yep, absolutely Remember Garland, he's still there. Coach Simons is still there. So again they've got a very experienced staff that's been together for a while. The systems they run, you know there's a lot of continuity there. So again it's a good sort of yeah, I guess I'll say difference, whereas you know we're a fresher and newer coaching staff, even though, like Tony said, I'm getting old. I'm an experienced coaching staff, so all these rivalry games will be very good.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Earlier, about like the late 90s, early 2000s, and trying to bring people in and reiterate like how they did things and approached the game and built a culture. So you're talking about like probably the best big three I remember seeing and playing when we grew up, which was Chris Boone, john Tickney and Mike Crawford.
Speaker 4:Absolutely so. Yep, going to have two of those guys come to the gym, talk to the guys about I'll call it old school James Wood culture and what sort of being a Colonel means to them. And then, when you bring in, you know, can bring in a guy like Brad Parks, you know, and some different guys in the in the you know 2010 to you know 2020, who were record wise, may not have been as successful as it was in the early 2000s, late nineties, like you said, but still being able to have those guys talk about what it means to be a Colonel to them, to these guys, so that when we put our Jersey on every night, that there's a little more sense of pride.
Speaker 3:Yeah, brad was played the year too.
Speaker 4:He was? Yep, he was a four year varsity guy. You know, mike was a four year varsity guy, I believe.
Speaker 3:Is Brad the all time leading scorer?
Speaker 4:I think so. He's real close, he. I think so he's real close. He's almost 2,000 points. I'll have to look. That's one of the things that we don't have in the gym. I'd like to get put up. Hanley's got one, millbrook's got one. Who are 1,000-point-plus scores.
Speaker 2:They don't even have that up in the gym.
Speaker 4:We don't have that up. We have a lot of state banners up there. Yeah, we have a lot of state banners up there, so still which?
Speaker 3:programs want to stay tight. They have the Nessarot brothers, they have Ben and John Kane, like they have a lot of legends. I can't remember James Wood.
Speaker 4:We've got a long list of great players that have come through there that you know. My goal was to get something like that put up in the gym, whether it's you know, just guys that are in the Hall of Fame that play basketball, guys and gals, or if it's you know thousand point scores plus, get those names put up there so people can recognize them. We do have a lot of great sports programs who have won some titles. You know volleyball. You know it's going for a four-peat this year. They've won the last three. Yeah, shout out to them.
Speaker 4:So when you come in there, you see those banners, you know we'll be hanging a basketball in there, knock on wood one day. That's the goal. Right, it doesn't have to be this year, it could be 20 years from now, you know. But that's every program's goal, going into it. But just being able to recognize some of that talent that we've had the past 20 or 30 years and have them come in and, you know, again, remind our guys, this is what James should be about. And then when you guys come into the gym, be able to recognize those names and say, okay, you know, like you said, joe and Larry King played here. A lot of people might not remember that.
Speaker 2:Right right.
Speaker 3:But John King was the first and only three-time player of the year. Yeah, he won 10th, 11th and 12th grade and until Zach Diggs came along.
Speaker 2:I was buried in sales Nobody else ever did it.
Speaker 3:So all the greats we've had from all, like Hanley, millbrook, sharando, clark County, nobody did it until Zach Diggs came along. But Ben Kane did it in the early 80s and dominated over at James Wood. And then Larry Kane might be one of the greatest ever, but he played in the 70s so obviously I never got to see him play, but everybody knows all about him.
Speaker 4:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, chris, bring back that rivalry, that James Wood-Haley rivalry, when we was in school. I remember that round 40.
Speaker 3:Oh, my God. If it wasn't a rivalry, chris and Mike Crawford, crushed.
Speaker 2:Well.
Speaker 3:When they came to play, I was excited to watch them.
Speaker 2:I remember the game. They were good. It was an exciting time. It seemed like the gyms were just packed. Back then, even with them games, oh yeah, the atmosphere and the culture, yeah, the atmosphere was yeah, and that's what we want to get back then, you know, even with them games, oh yeah, the atmosphere and the culture.
Speaker 4:Yeah, the atmosphere was yeah, and that's what we want to get back to. You know we want to pack the stands over there, have a great student section and put a good on-court you know product or experience for the fans that do you know. Come to see us. That's what we want to do and whether it's win or lose, we want to be in every game. We'll know what our game plan is and what our strategy is and what we want to hold teams to, because we want to be a defensive first team. What we want to hold teams to to give us the best opportunity to win Right.
Speaker 2:So, Chris, a couple more questions. So you pretty much answered most of them. So what is your short-term goal and long-term goal for your program?
Speaker 4:That's a good one. So short-term goal is just getting the culture moving in the right direction. Again, focus on discipline, communication, effort. We want to have a team GPA between 3.2 and 3.5. So not only are they athletes, they're student athletes, as you guys know, first being in high school. So we want them all to get their GPA where it needs to be. We want 100% graduation rate. Geez, can't talk right now.
Speaker 4:And so that's a short-term and a long-term goal. A couple of long-term goals would be last year we hosted our first playoff game. I'd love to host another regional playoff game. We'd love to win a regional playoff game, both short-term and long-term, and we'd love to long-term qualify for the midterm. So both have off-the-court goals and on-the-court goals. And then every workout we want 20 or 30-plus kids in the gym. We've got plenty of opportunity for them to get better. The times are out there. We publish all of our times about two to three weeks in advance from a practice schedule, and so we want all these kids in the gym to get them that opportunity.
Speaker 2:Nice. So can you touch on any games on the schedule.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean it's not public, but I can certainly talk about some. Will you want to circle the James Wood-Hanley date, tony?
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm not, hey, I didn't say it.
Speaker 4:I didn't say it either.
Speaker 2:Some people might be curious what kind of big games do you see?
Speaker 3:Well, because Coach Zach at Hanley might want to punch me in the face, but you didn't listen. I'm like man. You should send Christian over there to help. That's probably like man. He better not come to Winchester, yeah.
Speaker 4:All we're worried about over there, james was kids who live in our school district, so it's one thing I've told some other parents. You know you always get those chirps of rumors about transferring or moving here or moving there. Look, all I care about.
Speaker 2:Chris, do I know Rumors, rumors, rumors. That's not going to present what it is.
Speaker 4:A lot of it's envy and you know a lot of it is. People are bored and need something to talk about. But, like I say, I'm only worried about kids that live in our school district that are enrolled in our school. So I make sure they're enrolled, I make sure they got a physical from the last 14 months and so that they're able to practice or participate in workouts.
Speaker 2:Well, that leads to a great question, Chris how do you handle criticism?
Speaker 4:I mean I think I'll steal a line from Nick Saban. You know, one of my favorite coaches, regardless of sport, all time, if you want to make everyone happy, go sell ice cream. So there's always going to be criticism. There's always going to be. You know people are going to think, hey, we could do it better. We could do this. I'll tell you.
Speaker 4:You know, I've been coaching for a long time. A lot of it's been volunteer hours. It's never about the money, it's always about the kids, and so there's plenty of opportunity for those folks who you know want to offer their opinion or provide some expertise. We could always use health coaching. You know always, whether it's on any level, whether it's a parking rec, whether it's AAU, whether it's a middle school or the high school level, in any sport, you can always use more help coaching. You can always use extra referees. So come on out. But yeah, criticism is going to happen. It's the nature of the game. You've just got to have thick skin and move on. You know your kids better than anyone else and you know what you stand for and what you're working on in practice. And else, and you know what you stand for and what you're working on in practice. If you fall short, obviously it starts at the top of coaching. I'll always be responsible for that. But there's blame to go up and down the program. But again it's going to start with me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, good, take accountability, chris, that's right you got to. Unlike you did with me at Daniel Morgan. Oh, we took accountability, we had some good years.
Speaker 4:We, oh, we took accountability. We had some good years. We had some good years Come up short in a championship game on the road, but then we pulled it out the next year. So I would say all of our big games are rivalry games. You know, yeah, millbrook at Millbrook, and then they come to you or Sharando, or Hanley, and then vice versa, like those are going to be the biggest crowd, the most intense crowd and really just an intense game Like we play. I'm looking now we play Sharando in early December and that is going to be a packed house. Yeah, yeah, of course it's a good game. Yeah. And I would say another game is we've got Central on our schedule.
Speaker 2:Okay. They're pretty good, they're up and coming, they are Yep, they've got some talent, they do.
Speaker 3:They've got keys and all of it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, they've got a lot of good kids, great coaching staff down there and Coach Whittle, yeah, you know, we played them in the summer. They're a very good team but they're a team that will contend on their. You know their level for us. You know, hopefully for a state title. From talking to their coach, you know class two yeah they're two.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're class two.
Speaker 4:So class two is undergoing some changes, obviously with Ty White leaving, john Marshall and going to Petersburg, and so it gives really central. Who is the well-coached, well-played team. They run their system well and they can execute. It's going to give them a good opportunity to, you know, step up and play.
Speaker 3:But didn't they get knocked out by John Marshall?
Speaker 4:They did. Yeah, that's sort of like fortunate or unfortunate. Yeah, some of our brackets right. They would have beat anybody in the state if they were 6A.
Speaker 2:So what's your thoughts on that? Chris, you know all this, like your John Marshalls, which is probably going to be Petersburg now because we know they could. But what's your thoughts on this? Like teams like that that are just loaded Because what's unfair is? I get it, because in what Richmond and Enrico County a kid can go to select a?
Speaker 4:school they want to go to. Yeah, with some choice and some different things down there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but here we can't do that.
Speaker 4:No, at the end of the day, it's all about just, you know, coaching and providing for the kids that are in your school district, that go to your school. And so, as a coach, you want to make those guys better, and that's where it really starts in elementary and middle schools. Get those guys to love basketball, love putting in the work or love another sport, but still participating and putting in that work, Then progressing as you get older. Sure, not everyone is going to be 6'5 to 6'10, which I think. I looked at John Marshall's roster last year and they had seven or eight guys that size.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you can't compete with that as a public. That's my point. Does VHSL?
Speaker 2:need to change something to keep it.
Speaker 4:They're trying to limit the transfer rule now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what I said, the transfer and all that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, some stuff like that.
Speaker 4:But I think if you could just level the playing field for the whole state so either the whole state has school choice in every county or each county doesn't.
Speaker 4:I know it's a very hard decision to do and you're jumping through a lot of political red tape because then it starts at the state level, then it goes down to the local and the school district level, but at the end of the day, you know those guys are playing within the rules and that's great, for that's what works for their county and our county has these rules and this is what works for up here. You know, and then we're getting a fourth high school in 2029, so the county will have three high schools to four. And how will that affect things? Will there be any redistricting or anything like that that they've started to talk about a little bit? So you know a lot of that plays into it. But again, you know, like most coaches or what all coaches should be just worry about the kids that are in your school district, that are enrolled in your school, and then we're all good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's all you can worry about right now.
Speaker 3:That can be exciting to have a new high school but if you guys can remember, when we were little like elementary just started middle school, it was only James Wood, which is right there with the middle school is now, and now there's Sarando and Millbrook and, like you said, there's another school coming.
Speaker 4:So, yeah, it can take a while, because if they take away from your schools, then it will water down some of what you guys have and that makes it rough. Yeah, and then you got to look at OK, do you stay in class four, do you drop down student-wise to go to class three? You know, maybe you know a school like Newbrook or Sharanda then becomes class three and other schools stay class four. So a lot of different things go into play, like, for example, lared, which we got to know those guys pretty well. You know they're coaches from Clark County and so they moved down to class one this year from class two.
Speaker 3:You know they're coaches from Clark County, and so they moved down to Class 1 this year from.
Speaker 4:Class 2. Matt Huff's still over there. Yeah, huffie's still there doing a great job, played them also this summer. They've got a great senior, matt Owens, a player to watch out for. Oh, he's a beast, yeah, yeah, and he's grown. He's a lot taller than Stevie. But you look on the Class 1 level, you know. So they're going to move down there, but that doesn't change their rivalry with schools like Page or even Central. So you know those guys will still play each other, still have that great rivalry, but they're just on a different level from the state side now.
Speaker 3:And you're going from Daniel Morgan Middle School a few years ago, but you were there for a while and now to James Wood, You're about to coach against some of the kids you coached in middle school.
Speaker 4:That's right Was that exciting.
Speaker 4:I did that last year, yeah, yeah, that's exciting. And those guys are seniors and so I'm really excited, not only for the opportunity to coach against them but then to watch them play, whether it be in person or on film. And you know, even though they're former players now not in that program anymore still wish those guys nothing but the best of luck and succeed. You know, and seeing some of those guys going to look at colleges or what they're doing on the, on the au or the travel circuit, it's just exciting, not only for them as as people and players, but for the area just to bring some of the attention back that. You know we have a lot of great players here in the area and it's really starting to be highlighted. But again, it's a great job of the kids, their parents, the coaching staffs at other schools, and you know I was lucky to be a part of that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you've been a part of like you know those guys and building up like Tony is at Daniel Morgan. It starts there, that's right. And building up, like Tony is at Daniel Morgan. It starts there. That's right For you guys to be a part of that development before they even get to high school. And now that you're at the high school level, though, that's definitely exciting and you should be proud of yourself, man, because you guys do a lot with the kids and you know that.
Speaker 2:You don't get enough credit as a middle school coach but, like you said, that's where it starts. Developing them from there, getting them ready to take off in high school and hit the ground running, you know if you have a great program.
Speaker 4:Yep, just teaching them good habits and really making sure they love the game right, because the game is not all about the trophy or the accolades or the wins and the losses. The game, the love, is all the work that you put into it grinding and practice, you know, going against your teammates, compete for playing time and spots, and just enjoying that journey and that's what we really want to teach in middle school is okay. How can you enjoy this or what will make you enjoy this? So when you get to high school and it becomes way more competitive and the coaching is a lot more direct or harder, how they're going to be able to respond to that? Being able to prepare them for that, it's just great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I can't agree more. Coach Mankins is he still at?
Speaker 3:Millbrook.
Speaker 4:No, Coach Mankins retired so he's no longer at Millbrook. He was the DSA or the athletic director over there. He's no longer in that role, but he's still involved with Millbrook.
Speaker 3:Okay, he was a coach of Boone and Tickney and all of them when we were in school, but then he went to Millbrook and I think he led them to the state championship, right.
Speaker 4:He did yep, yep, when Eric was a junior, before he transferred out his senior year. But yep, he led them to a state title. They had a lot of good players on that team, not just Eric, so I don't want to talk, just about him.
Speaker 3:They had the Clayton brothers.
Speaker 4:Yep, Jordan Sugars Jordan.
Speaker 3:Sugars, yeah, and he went to play college ball, so they had a squad over there actually. Yep.
Speaker 4:Andrew Oates, who's on the Millborough coaching staff now, was also on that team Right so right, you know still a lot of players coming back to coach here in the area.
Speaker 3:Well, all the stuff that they've done not to be funny, tony, because christian's there I wish them the best and like I would love for our high school to finally win this championship, but we never have. Milbrook came and did it like real quick, so hopefully, chris you'll get there too, because nobody else in our area has won a state championship in basketball Not for the local boys.
Speaker 4:No, yeah, Hanley is very, very close. They had a great playoff game. I was at last year to watch A great atmosphere there. They just came up short. But obviously we wish all of our local high schools the best once you get to the state tournament. But when we play each other at zero and zero, we're just. We're just hoping to compete and be the better team that night.
Speaker 2:Right. So, Chris, could you highlight, I guess, any upcoming stars on James Wood? Yeah?
Speaker 4:So I'll talk about a couple of our seniors. So Chris already alluded to Mike Bell. Yeah, mike has a lot of length. He's, you know, 6'5". He's really athletic. You know Mike has a lot of length, he's 6'5". He's really athletic. His game has grown a lot, I believe. Going back and look, he was on JV as both a freshman and a sophomore.
Speaker 4:Last year was the first year honorable mention player. He's going to give you everything night in and night out defensively and his offensive game has really grown. I'm really excited to watch him. He's one of those guys who's going to leave it all on the line every night for his team. And then we've got Ashby Copenhaver. Also is an all-district type of player. Last year's a first-year player in James Wood. Offensively he brings a lot to the table. Defensively, as you know, tony, from coaching him in middle school, he's going to give you a lot of effort but he's still about to be a part of the game.
Speaker 4:I've got Ronnie Barrett. Ronnie is a junior. He's a unique post type of player who sees the court very well. And so we're hoping that, you know, ronnie continues to grow his game because this will actually be his third year on varsity, because he was on varsity freshman Right. He started on JV his freshman year and they moved him up after five or six games. So you know those guys are sort of the core of what we've got but we're returning seven total players. Another player I'm excited about Ethan Tran. So Ethan, again, you know, was a James Wood middle player, you know, a JV player, his sophomore year, varsity player last year. He spends a lot of time in the gym, you know, whether it be with Fast Bastard Ball or with some of the former Shenandoah players really trying to grow his individual game and he's one of the more athletic or explosive kids that he's got.
Speaker 3:Nice. Did you guys see the news Speaking of Shenandoah, and that's a great thing, I think, to tell people. Like you know, people don't even think about going to Shenandoah from the area it, except for quentin. But most people are like, oh, I don't want to go to shenandoah and it's local, but they have a kid that's transferred to jmu to play yeah christian just told me that, yeah, and I said see, it's not how you start, it's how you finish.
Speaker 2:That's right. There's plenty of examples that's a great story, yeah, so that's exciting it's these and what these kids got to understand, and Chris knows this too. Mr Hitt, it's like man the transfer portal and kids coming out of high school. You're at the low end of the totem pole now, absolutely. You know, like the average age of a player in college is what? 23, 24 now, yeah, yeah. 23, 24 now, yeah, yep 24, you've got to.
Speaker 4:You know there's a lot of kids who or a lot of coaches, I should say who you know they're getting a new job. It's their first year, second year, you know they're on the line and so it's a lot easier for them to win and grow their program with instant results. If you go to the transfer portal and get a player who's already been through that college experience. If you go to the transfer portal and get a player who's already been through that college experience and really understands what it's like to live on your own or be away from home and have to be responsible for things, versus an 18 or 17 or 18-year-old high school student who's really going through it for the first time. But they're trying to change those rules. Going to JUCO now and some different things like that. Or, like you said, like Shenandoah and some other division two or division three schools that players should not overlook.
Speaker 4:You know it's an opportunity to get a free education for a sport. Uh, you know, obviously division three doesn't give you athletic scholarships, but if you can qualify academically you can get, you know, plenty of money to pay education there. Use sports as that vehicle to get that education. Not everybody, or a very small percentage of players will either go play overseas, will play semi-pro play in the NBA. How can I use this sport that I've played and grown in to get that free education or get part of my education for free? So I'm set up for success after college, exactly.
Speaker 2:Yep, use that athleticism, everybody Go get an education.
Speaker 4:That's right.
Speaker 2:We just had written like that was it? That's about it. But athleticism, we got the short end of the stick. That's right Anything. In closing you'd like to say this is great having you on.
Speaker 4:I appreciate the opportunity to come on here. I've been very low-key as far as social media or different things like that. I'm not a big social media guy anyway. Or talking to the paper, those things, if they reach out to that, I'm not a big social media guy anyway. Or talking to the paper, those things. If they reach out to me, I'm happy to do it.
Speaker 4:I'm glad to be on here for you guys kicking off Season 2. Looking forward to you guys talking about the Hanley Football Team Championship state title oh yeah, our big episode.
Speaker 2:I know that one.
Speaker 4:But very excited again to be able to come on here and not just talk about me, but Jameswood basketball and how. You know how valuable and good of an opportunity it is for our kids and I really hope the community comes out and catches a game because it'll be a very good experience.
Speaker 3:One of our guests that was an All-State player and Hall of Famer from that team. His kid is at James Wood. Oh yeah, Andrew.
Speaker 4:Yeah, Jason LaRue is there.
Speaker 1:Heston yeah, two of them are there.
Speaker 2:There's two there.
Speaker 4:Chris, there's two there, andrew and Partlow.
Speaker 3:Partlow goes to James Wood also. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I told you that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, Chris, I told you that. Yeah, Chris, I told you that we have two from there and Andrew, you know, was.
Speaker 2:Now, what's up with that?
Speaker 4:You've got all the Haley alumni over at James Wood, no, but I guess property values in the county are a little bit better than the city.
Speaker 2:I don't know.
Speaker 4:But yeah, andrew was in the program last year Heston was a kid ran. Last year Heston was a kid we sort of talked about hey, you want to play basketball? Remember, tony played at Daniel Morgan for a year but he's a heck of a football player though. He is a great football player Like his dad, and he's a great thrower on the track team. We don't need basketball to get in the way of those two sports. So he's got some time to train and decompress for both Gotcha of those two sports. So he's got some time to train and decompress for both.
Speaker 2:Gotcha All right. Mr Higgs, it was great having you on. Hey, I wish you future success, man, I wish you well, except against Hanley.
Speaker 4:You know why Zero, no matter the team.
Speaker 2:But hey, I'm proud of you, man. We came up together and you're doing your thing man?
Speaker 4:Yeah, for sure, tony, you're a good assistant coach. Chris, you have to catch some games, but again, I appreciate you guys having me on and wish you guys the best of luck.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's been great having you, man. I wish you the best as well. Man, let's go. Colonels.
Speaker 2:All right, chris, all right, chris, all right, man, see you. Well, everyone, that wraps up the show. Chris, that was fun. And what? Next week we're going to have Emerus Morel, rylan Stribling and Hassan Akambi on. That should be Three young superstar athletes.
Speaker 3:Two already going off to college in about a week or two and, uh, one that's might go straight to the olympics yeah, ryan's a beast, ryan's a beast, so that's our next episode.
Speaker 2:Everyone, we got a nice young local talent on athletes and they're doing big thing going off the school. You know guys well for Ryland, he's going into his what senior year, I believe.
Speaker 1:Yeah, senior year.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, we'll have those young athletes on and talk about their successes and trials and tribulations, all that stuff. So good stuff, chris. So we'll end this. Everybody, thanks for joining us and we'll see everybody, hopefully Thursday night.
Speaker 1:We should be back on with those young athletes, all right, everybody.
Speaker 1:Later, later, brothers with opinion, let the convo begin. You know, communication key. But then you must comprehend. Preach B-W-O, let your voices be heard. We enlightened by the truth, and now we spreading the word. How do we learn to live when we conditioned to die? Most people fail before they start because they don't ever try. Man, they told us we was worthless. We believed in a lie. We took it way too literal when Big said ready to die. You know, the KKK turned the cops in disguise. Outro Music.
