Broom looking to raise bar for Warriors in first season
Team Capsule
Over the past few seasons, the Gordon Central boys have been in a constant learning cycle under coaching great Ray Tucker. This season, as Derrick Broom takes the reins for Tucker, who retired following last year, the Warriors will look to take the lessons they’ve been taught and build on them in search of success under their new head coach.
Broom enters his first season at the helm after serving as Tucker’s assistant last year and with previous head-coaching experience, and he will try to mold this group into a team that plays consistently and with full effort.
The Warriors were up and down last season and will have to replace some key senior starters off last year’s roster, but players like Quan Curtis, Gabe Ross, Dawson Lackey and Corey Dixon are looking to take that next step to be guys their coach and teammates can count on in crunch time as Gordon Central attempts to get back in the state playoff discussion in Region 7-AA.
Recently, the Calhoun Times caught up with Broom to discuss going into his first season leading the Warriors after serving under Tucker, the valuable experience the younger players got on last year’s team, players that are expected to fill big roles this season, keys to success and his goals for the Warriors in 2017-18.
Here’s what he had to say:
CT:
Going into your first season as head coach at Gordon Central, how much of this offseason and preseason has been about getting the players to buy in to your coaching style and expectations and how far along is that process? How much did serving as an assistant under Ray Tucker last season help with that?
BROOM:
Going into the off season there are a lot of unknowns. For the players that attended the offseason workouts, they had to buy into the system quickly. We performed well at team camp, and I saw a lot of improvements. These group of guys are hungry to win. With a new system, it’s going to take time to learn everything, especially for the ones that are new and did not attend offseason workouts. I believe we have a special group here and once they learn everything and start getting a feel for others on the team, I believe we can have a successful season. The biggest thing for them to understand is that there are going to be growing pains, but they have a lot of heart and play hard.
CT:
The team was very young last season with several players getting their first varsity experience. How much will that experience help those guys going into this season and how big of a step forward do you think they will take?
Anytime you’re able to get varsity experience as a freshman or sophomore, it helps tremendously. That sophomore class last year can really help with leadership and the understanding of our region and help out our younger and new guys. We’re going to depend on several sophomores this year, and so far they have stepped up to the challenge.
BROOM: CT:
Who are the guys that you Serving Gordon County For Over 50 Years think your team will lean on heavily and are ready to step up as leaders on and off the court this season?
Quan Curtis and Gabe Ross are our biggest leaders on this team. They both have been through a lot and are trying to lead this team and make everyone better. This is Quan’s last year, and he’s really been working hard to improve his development on and off the court.
BROOM: CT:
What are the keys to your team reaching its full potential and how would you describe the way your team is going to play this season?
BROOM:
The biggest key to this team reaching its full potential is continuing to have faith in each other. We’re going to have growing pains, and it’s a learning experience for everyone. We would like to play fast-paced, but we’re not ready for that yet. We have to start with the basics on defense because we’re going to run several different sets. The great thing about basketball is that you want to be playing your best come region tournament time.
CT:
What are your goals and expectations for what this team can accomplish in the 2017-18 season?
Our goal for this 2017-2018 season is to be competitive. If you’re competitive, you’re going to win ball games. In our first three games, we’ve been competitive, but had key moments where we couldn’t score. This team has the potential to make a run at the end of the season. Once we learn the system and learn each other, I feel confident that come region tournament time, we will be able to win key games.
BROOM: