Echols, Lasker transition to new roles at Hot Springs
After six years at the helm of Hot Springs’ basketball team, Rodney Echols will become the new athletic director for the school district, replacing Tony Hines, who will be the assistant principal at the Hot Springs Junior Academy middle school.
The Trojans will still have a familiar face leading them next season however, as Antoni Lasker takes over as the head coach. Lasker has been the assistant coach for the Trojans for two years after working as an assistant coach for two years at Little Rock McClellan, where he helped lead the Crimson Lions to the 2015 state title.
“Of course, I’m excited,” Lasker said about being named the new head coach. “This is my first head coaching job. I’m very excited, eager. I’m ready to get to work with the kids.
“It’s a little bittersweet, too, because now I won’t have the opportunity to work directly with coach Echols the way I have the last two years. With that part, I’m sad to see him transition and happy for him at the same time. I’m also happy for myself and the program, and I’m just looking to continue what he’s done and build on that.”
Hot Springs has won 20 or more games in each of the last four seasons under Echols, making the Class 5A state semifinals each year. Echols was selected as the The Sentinel-Record’s All-Garland County 2018 Winter Sports Boys Coach of the Year after the Trojans finished 24-12 this season with their fourth 5A-South conference championship in five years.
The success seemed uncertain early in the year after the team started the season 9-9 before winning its first six games in the 5A/6A-6 blended conference. Hot Springs was 15-2 in conference play despite graduating seven seniors, including all five starters, from the previous seasons.
While their promotions become effective on July 1, both have started to take on their new roles for a seamless transition.
“I’ve been talking with coaches, working with coaches and making the transition for coach Lasker a lot smoother than it was when I came in,” Echols said. “He’s been here two years now, and some of the things that have been laid out in front of him, he’s done over the last two years.
“The transition has been fairly easy, and (superintendent) Dr. (Stephanie) Nehus has made that easier. I’ve been working with Tony Hines with some things that’s going to help make that tran-
sition easier.”
Echols said Lasker’s transition has been smooth.
“I finished the schedule for him and got his summer schedule lined out for him,” he said. “He’s been around these guys, and he’s been around me and caught on to what we’ve done in the past during this time. He’s been practicing the kids; he’s been in the weight room. They’ve had 8 a.m. practices the last two mornings, and he’s off to a fast start. I wanted to help him transition to getting off to a fast start and working out these guys.
“These guys, not only did they look up to me and do everything I asked them to do, but they also have that same respect for coach Lasker. I think that is going to make this transition easy. These guys know what coach Lasker expects, and I think he’s an extension of Rodney Echols. He believes in discipline and hard work and making sure these individuals are great people of society when they leave Hot Springs World Class High School.”
The Trojan basketball team had some mixed thoughts on the coaching change as many of them had been working with Echols since they were in middle school.
“They were happy for me,” Lasker said. “They know the amount of work I put in with them — on and off the floor, so I think they were excited. I don’t think they knew fully what to expect with the transition, and neither did either one of us, but for the most part, they were excited and eager. So far, since I’ve been in this position over the last few weeks, they’ve been very receptive to the weight room and on-court work that we’ve done.”
The players even asked for Echols to be the assistant coach.
“When I broke the news to them, it was kind of funny,” Echols said. “When I told them, I think Santiair Thomas — me and Santiair have a real close relationship, along with J.J. (Walker). When I said I’m ‘stepping down’ as the head coach, Santi busts out and says, ‘I hope you’re stepping off a ledge or stepping off a step or something.’ I said, ‘One thing I know is that coach Lasker is going to replace me and do a heck of a job, but you guys know what he expects.’
“He’s been in the culture. We’ve created a culture of discipline, created a culture of winning. We’ve kind of restored the basketball program as it was in the ’90s with how we do things, how we play, our playing style and the success of winning ball games. When I mentioned coach Lasker as the head coach to the team, J.J. said, ‘If he’s the head coach, who’s the assistant?’ ‘We don’t have one right now.’ ‘Well, that means you have to be the assistant. Nobody else can come in.’ That’s just the family-like atmosphere that we’ve created.”
While Lasker is taking his first head coaching position, he feels he is ready for the transition, but he is still glad that Echols will be available for him to ask questions.
“Over the last two years, I’ve worked hand-in-hand with coach Echols on everything,” Lasker said. “This was probably my first year actually paying real close attention to him doing the scheduling because going into the season following this upcoming season, that responsibility will fall on me. Besides that, we work so closely together it was hard for anything to catch me off-guard. He prepared me for pretty much every situation or scenario that I could possibly face, I feel.
“There may be some things that come up in the future where I may have to reach out to him and ask for his guidance, but it’s a good thing because he’s still here. I told him when I first got this job, it would be harder for me to do if he took an athletic director’s job somewhere else. With him still being here, that makes the transition for me a lot easier because I can still call him. He’s here, I have access to him, and any questions I have, he’ll be able to help out.”