Warriors ready to tip off summer hoops schedule

Things are about to get busy for the White County Warriors basketball team.

After getting a few days off thanks to the Georgia High School Association's first Dead Week of the summer, the Warriors will dive into their summer schedule next week.

WCHS head coach Robbie Bailey and the Warriors have a busy month planned, playing a boatload of games over the next three weeks. Due to Covid, high school basketball teams were limited last summer, but things wile be back to normal starting June 7.

“I'm definitely happy to have the chance to be out here with the guys,” Bailey said. “They (GHSA) added an extra dead week to the summer calendar, but we're excited about every opportunity we get to back on the court. It's going to be a busy summer for us. Over the next three weeks, we want to get a barometer of where we are and what we need to work on. It won't end for us when June is over. We won't play games in July, but we'll be back in the gym, working on skill development. We have a large group of kids that don't play a fall sport, so we'll continue to work during July and August, and then into the fall. We just won't be playing games.”

The Warriors will get on the court next Monday for the first of three days of practice. 

On Thursday, June 10, the Warriors will host Landmark Christian and Towns County for a series of varsity and junior varsity games, and on Friday, June 11, the WCHS teams head to Stephens County for games with the Indians and Banks County.

From June 14-23, the Warriors will travel to Fannin County (2), Towns County, and North Murray for more summer games, and then cap off the June work by competing in the Georgia Basketball Coaches Association Live Camp June 25-27.

The team camp, which will be held at the LakePoint Sports campus in Bartow County, will feature 144 teams from around the state, as well as teams from other states including North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida.

The camp will be held during an NCAA Live Period, which means college coaches will be able to attend and evaluate players. The Warriors will play on Friday and Sunday during the camp, with games against Westside-Augusta, South Paulding, Lambert, and Newnan.

“We are playing some teams that we don't normally get a chance to play, and all of them are going to be good athletic teams,” Bailey said. “This is a great opportunity for our kids. It's one of the best facilities in the state. They have 12 courts in the building, so you'll have 12 games on at the same time. It will be an eye opener for some of our kids. It's a long trip, but it's worth it. It will give our kids a chance to be seen by a lot of college coaches. They will be 50-100 coaches there, from all levels, so it's a great chance for our guys to get some exposure. It will also be a great way to end this part of the summer.”

Bailey enters the summer with a new team as the Warriors said goodbye to five seniors from last year's regular season region champions. Reece Dockery, Cooper Turner, and Jimmy King were starters on the Sweet 16 team, with Riley Egerton and Caleb Reddy serving a key reserves off the bench.

But the cupboard isn't bare thanks to the return of Jadon Yeh, Silas Mulligan and Kenny Simpson. 

Yeh heads into the summer as one of the top point guards in the 2023 class after earning Region 7-AAA honors last season. Mulligan was also an All-Region selection last year, while Simpson earned honorable mention honors.

“We've got three kids that played a ton last year, so we know what we have in them,” Bailey said. “We've got a group of other kids that have been in the program that we are looking to step up and play a lot next season. We've also got a big group of rising ninth graders that will need to step up and help the junior varsity team.”

With June stocked full of games, Bailey is excited to get a look at all the players in the program.

“The varsity has around 20-21 games over the next three weeks, and the JV has about 15; so all of the kids are going to be playing a lot,” Bailey said. “We got some kids involved in other sports, football and baseball, so we are asking a lot from out guys. We've only got about seven or eight guys that only play basketball. I'm not worried about wins and losses in June; it's about player development, skill development. We want to see our kids play and compete, and then evaluate things at the end of the summer and see where we are.”

The strength of the Warriors' roster heading into the summer is definitely in the backcourt with Yeh, Mulligan, and Simpson. Tavi Simmons is another guard who earned some varsity minutes last year, Dylan Sargent has played some varsity minutes in his career, and Dawson Bailey is looking to make the move from the JV team to earning some rotation minutes.

“We were guard heavy last year, and we'll definitely be guard heavy this year,” Bailey said. “There may be times when we will have five guards on the floor. Our first priority is always going to be defense, but we also have to find a way to rebound. The guards are going to have to factor into our rebounding. If we have five kids out there that are all 5-10, we still have to be able to rebound.”

One of the biggest questions heading into the summer will be replacing guys like King, Turner, and Dockery, who all played huge roles in the Warriors' defensive plans. Turner was a three-year starter, while Dockery was a two-year starter. King, who was plagued with injuries until his senior year, may have been the team's most important player last year due to his defensive presence and play on the glass.

Finding a new set of players to replace the senior trio is a key to the 2021-22 season, Bailey is looking to develop a couple of inside players from a group that includes rising senior Josh Brooks, rising junior Chad West, rising sophomore Noah Futch, and rising freshman Dawson Oliver. 

“We won't have a true big like Jimmy was last year,” Bailey said. “He's 6-4, 6-5, and we just don't have anyone that size. Noah has improved a lot since the season ended. He's put in a lot of work and he's getting better and better. Josh is very athletic, he runs well, he can jump, so he can do some things to help us. Chad has gotten better too, and he's one of our bigger kids, and Dawson has some size and skill, so we'll throw him out there in some varsity games this summer and see how he does. It's a big summer for all these kids.”

Kiddie Camp

Bailey and the Warrior staff will host a youth basketball camp next week at the high school. The camp runs June 7-9 from 9 a.m.-noon, and is open to rising second through eighth grade players. The cost for the boy's camp is $60 per player. 

Registration is available online at wchs.white.k12.ga.us or players can register in person on the opening day of camp.

“We'd love to have a huge group of young kids come out for our camp,” Bailey said. “Our players will be here, working  the camp, so the kids will be getting some get instruction and having a lot of fun. We want to get kids excited about Warrior Basketball.”