New season. New coach. New style of play.

With this series of ‘new’s, Head Coach Josh Cook plans on bringing back past successes to GRC basketball.

Coaching since the age of 19, Cook has expressed a passion for the sport he loves. “Just
being around the game, I feel like that’s what I’m supposed to do,” he says. “I like having the chance to teach kids to learn to work together and achieve a common goal.”

From past experiences in coaching around the state, Cook hopes to bring a new outlook to his varsity players. “I think kids are a part of the team to say ‘we want to win,’” he says, “but
I really want to teach the
philosophy to put the team first, find your role, and try to put in our system that we want to play and make it effective.”

This year’s program, comprised of juniors and sophomores, makes up one of the youngest teams in GRC’s history, but Cook doesn’t see this as a setback. “Leadership is a role that is taken by players and it doesn’t really involve age,” he states. “It’s just a standpoint of kids who believe in the program and team members who just believe in themselves.”

Junior Will Philpot is just one of those players who has proven the age barrier to be misguided.

Philpot first started playing in fourth grade, but wasn’t as invested in the sport as he is now. “I had always loved the game,” he says, “but I got really serious playing it at the start of freshman year because I started believing in myself.”

Philpot had to fight his own inner demons to get where he is today. “My lack of confidence before freshman year was simply because I was overweight,” he says. “I couldn’t compete with everyone equally, so I got it in my head to be better than average.”

The junior believes this inner focus has motivated him to compete this season. “I know that I’ve already made such a huge change within myself,” Philpot says. “It grinds my mind to work harder every day.”

Philpot, as one of the older members of his team, said he thinks having a young group of guys on Varsity is actually a good thing. “We’ve all played together since middle school, so our minds automatically click with each other,” he says. “There will be pressure on us altogether, but as far as seniority goes, we will be fine.”

With a new coach to look over him, Will finds himself being a more flexible player than in past seasons. “Coach is giving us a lot of freedom,” Philpot says. “It’s not the normal post offense where you sit on the block. He knows my abilities and he lets me use them.”

Coach Cook sees this change as an opportunity to get his players out of their comfort zones. “We’re going to play a fast, up-pace tempo, and I think it’s a good fit for our kids,” he says.

As the offseason comes to a close, Philpot has high hopes for a “strong and competitive” team this year. “We have very high expectations,” he says, “but now, we just have to prove our ability to play with some of the best teams in the state.”

The players hope to meet these expectations and show off their skills in their first home game on Dec. 3.