A little mix of the old and new

Georgia College & State University has enjoyed an era of consistent performance from their men’s basketball program.

No matter how many players graduate and leave the program, the Bobcats are competitive year in and year out.

The main reason for this consistency is the coaching staff – especially Head Coach Terry Sellers.

Sellers is in the middle of his 10th season as GC&SU’s Head Basketball Coach. In his time with the school, he has already become the program’s all time leader in career victories. He has led the school to three Peach Belt Conference Championships (1997, 1999, 2000), two Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championships (1997, 1999) and three appearances in the NCAA Tournament (1997, 1999, 2000), advancing to the Elite Eight in 2000.

Add all of this to his two-time Peach Belt Coach of the Year awards, his four twenty-win seasons, and you have a very successful head coach.

“I think you win with good people, and players talented enough to get the job done,” said Sellers. “We’ve been fortunate to have enough of those guys to have quite a bit of success.”

Coach Sellers said his fear of losing is what keeps him going, year after year.

“I’ve always loved competition,” said Sellers. “I hope I’m improving each year. You always try to do a better job.”

The Bobcats have two new faces assisting Coach Sellers at courtside this year. Assistant Coach Audrey Wright comes from the California University of Pennsylvania program, and the new Graduate Assistant Coach Kyle Hill comes from Lyon College in Batesville, Arizona. Coach Wright is in his ninth season as a basketball coach, while Coach Hill is in the middle of his first season as a coach.

Coach Wright believes that a good coach is always prepared for anything.

“You learn to expect the unexpected, and be ready for whatever gets thrown at you,” said Wright.

Both coaches take pride in being able to help their players on a one-on-one basis. They are both very young men, and that helps them better understand what their players are going through.

“I’m still young enough to where a lot of the guys can relate to me,” said Hill.

“It’s always good for players to get a different perspective on things they’re doing wrong, and things they’re doing right,” said Wright.

Both assistant coaches hope to one day land that big head coaching job, but are very happy to be learning under Coach Sellers.

“I just want to learn as much as I possibly can,” said Hill.

“I knew GC&SU was a successful program, so I felt like there was a certain standard I would have to live up to,” said Wright.

Coach Sellers knows that the success of his team depends on the performance of his players, as well as the performance from his entire
staff.

“You cannot be successful at our level without good assistant coaches,” said Sellers. “They’re working really hard and doing a good job.”

All three of the coaches love to teach and love to see the development of their players, on and off the basketball court.

“We work extremely hard to have a program that the school could be proud of,” said Sellers.

With the Bobcats currently at 7-6 on the year (4-3 in the conference), the coaches know that the rush for another championship is now full steam ahead.

“We’ve been making progress,” said Sellers. “Now, it’s a matter of taking that next step and coming together.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 24 2003. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry