With two key pieces from the historic final four team of two years ago having departed by way of Kaden Douglas and Jayden Stanley graduating, this season already figured to be one of the new-look variety for the Greyhounds.
That now extends to the realm of the coaching staff, as Willie Reese takes over after Buck Harris departed for the same job at Northside.
Reese, who played for Georgia Tech before being on staff for the Yellow Jackets, has since coached in the high school ranks at places including Lovejoy and Sandy Creek.
Now, the coach who played under the legendary Bobby Cremins takes the helm for the Greyhounds team eager to carve out their own legacy.
“As long as they play hard and worry about the small things, we have a chance to be alright,” Reese said.
Between Douglas, Stanley and Jaleel Jordan, 890 of last year’s 1,520 minutes played graduated. That’s where Tyler Wold and Rudy Bowden come into the picture as they are the two returners with extensive time played on the hardwood for the Greyhounds.
“We only have two with a lot of experience; we’ll be leaning on them a lot,” Reese said.
With last year’s leaders having graduated, Bowden figures to be the leader in the backcourt, where plans are to have him take on the role of point guard.
“That’s a lot more responsibility, so it’s an adjustment for him,” Reese said.
In Wold, The Greyhounds have the return of a player who averaged seven points per game a season ago.
He and Bowden both averaged around five rebounds a game last year, leading the team.
That experience should help build in a level of grit on a team with players looking to make their mark. Jaden Tolbert, Justin Ray and Jakeylan Wilburn are among them, with Ray already showing an ability to be a long-range shooting threat.
That youth, Reese says, frames how a new playbook on both ends of the floor is installed.
“We are going slower than I normally would,” Reese said. “You have to go simple, because guys do not have game experience.”
In the midst of younger players working their way into the fray, there is the element of on-the-job-training when region play begins Dec. 3 at McDonough. The Greyhounds region already includes perennial state powers in Eagles Landing and Union Grove. Region realignment adds McDonough, a quarterfinalist two years ago and second-round team last year.
“We have some really good teams; they’re athletic,” Reese said. “How hard we play, that will be important for us to offset a lot of stuff.”
