With their third head coach in three seasons, the Greyhounds find themselves in a mode of transition. That load is made much easier for new head coach Dylan Dupree with three seniors aboard that have a wealth of experience in Rudy Bowden, Sheldon Jackson and Justin Ray.
“We’re leaning on Ray, Rudy and Sheldon to be vocal leaders,” Dupree said. “They’re leading the charge. We’ll figure out how to win with those three.”
Bowden and Ray are not only Jones County’s top two returning scorers from a season ago, but both were also second and third last season in points per game with nine and eight points.
Bowden is also the top returning rebounder with an average of four per game.
If the Greyhounds have their way, they won’t be a team that prefers to stay stagnant on the court.
Instead, they aim to be one that relies on its athleticism.
“I think we’re going to be an exciting and athletic team. We’re not in midseason form by any means, but I am confident that we’ll get there,” Dupree said.” I think we’ll try to be a track team.
As the season goes on, we’ll get better in the half-court. Initially, we’ll try to run on offense and defense. As soon as we inbound the ball, we want to be ready to go. As soon as we make a basket, we want to be guarding.”
That strategy will come back to the Greyhounds’ core of three seniors, part of a lineup where positions listed by a player may be a designator in name only.
“You’ll see some postionless basketball.
There’ll be times when Rudy is our ballhandler, there’ll be times when Sheldon is,” Dupree said.
“We’re going to be very motivated to get Rudy and Justin some scoring opportunities. Sheldon is assuming the role of having to guard their best player. He is capable of guarding most any body type.”
The Greyhounds were 7-18 overall last year and 7-11 in the region, finishing the regular season sixth and just one game shy of fifth. JCHS will have a home-court advantage early this season with its first four region contests at home.
“Our ultimate goal is to be in the top four of the region,” Dupree said. “I think they’re not expecting much from us, but I’m huge on our three seniors. We’re excited to be the underdog.”
