2002 Newton County

From 9-4-14

In 2001, we had just finished a successful basketball season at Pt. St. Joe H.S. (Florida), with a 27-7 record, when I received a phone call. It was a former player on my teams at Newton High school, J.W.Rutledge, who had returned as principal. It was his wife, Becky, & Darrell Huckaby, whose encouragement led to my opportunity to return to the position I had previously held over 25 years before.

Many people said there was "no way" we could have the type of program (or success) that we had experienced years before. I knew that I was not going back to the school which I knew in the "50s & '60s, but I felt that there still were some young boys there that still wanted to play basketball! After talking to my main assistant coach, Rick Rasmussen, & the football coach, Ben Reeves,

I felt confident that I would have their support in building a successful basketball program once again. In our first team meeting as I explained what they could expect in our teaching of fundamentals, one of the players sidled up to Coach Rasmussen & said "Why are we wasting our time with this?--we already know how to play basketball!" He really didn't, but that is the reason why he never made our team, as he wasn't willing to learn to play the correct way--(& found out he really didn't know how to play)---& left the team! That 1st summer the Newton gym was being refinished, & we had to practice at Turner Lake Recreation Complex, in a gym which had my name in big, bold letters, above the entrance. After practicing there for a week, we were coming out of the gym one day & one of the seniors looked up & said, "Is that your name up there, Coach?" It was obvious the players did not know me at that point, and it was up to me to "sell myself" to them. We spent most of that 1st year working on fundamentals, and the 2002 team finished with a 13-13 record. The 2003 season returned 3 talented seniors, with Legal Floyd, Antwone Smith, & Quint Middleton, & we felt like we should have a strong team. When we played Eastside H.S. at home, we had a turn-away crowd, as we defeated our cross-town opponents 41-37. But later, when we were scheduled to go to Eastside, the game became a major story that the newspapers & TV publicized that, with a win, I would become the "winningest high school coach in Georgia history!" We defeated Eastside 66-43 for my 1,255th varsity basketball win. GPTV did a special program on the game,& there were several articles published about it in statewide newspapers. We finished the regular-season with a 19-6 record, seeded behind unbeaten (& top-ranked in the state) Cedar Shoals.---to be continued.