New coach says young players working hard
For the first time in 15 seasons, the Cabot Panthers basketball team will have a new head coach. Chris Meseke was hired to replace Jerry Bridges, who coached the Panthers for 14 seasons and led them to 11 consecutive state-tournament appearances, highlighted by winning the 2016 Class 7A state championship. Meseke previously coached at Greenwood, Magnolia, Fountain Lake and Malvern, where he was head coach for five years before coming to Cabot. “I thought it was a good thing, having two little kids. … I thought it was a good opportunity for my family and a good balance between the job for me, personally, and a good place for our family to live and a good school system for our kids,” Meseke said. The Panthers have no seniors on this year’s squad as of yet — possibly, T.J. Rogers, if he comes to basketball following the football season, the coach said. “Things have been good,” Meseke said. “It’s been really busy, as it is with any transition. We’re just trying to learn the way things work here within this school culture and climate. Everybody has been really helpful and really nice. The kids are very good kids, and they are working hard. “Coach Bridges had high expectations. Things we do are similar. As far as the outcome we’re looking for, it’s been a pretty easy transition to this point.” Meseke said he has 16 players in the gym practicing every day. “I think we have about four in football who will come over once that’s done,” he said. “Transition is a tough deal sometimes. Currently, on our roster, there are no seniors. A lot of these guys last year were sophomores, and many of them weren’t in the fire, so to speak. “It’s really going to be a learning curve and sometimes more like a roller-coaster ride, with just the ups and the downs that may come with this year.” Meseke said some of the players who saw playing time under Bridges include junior Jacob Hudson (6-3), junior Jackson Muse (5-10), junior Seth Vance (5-10) and junior Weston Vaught (6-3). “These will be the ones we look to the most,” Meseke said. “They are currently in the gym and have separated themselves in some areas from the rest of the pack.” Cabot remains in the 6A-Central, formerly the 7A-Central, with Bryant, Little Rock Catholic, Little Rock Central, Conway, North Little Rock, Fort Smith Northside and Fort Smith Southside. “There is no doubt it’s going to be a challenge, as it has been in the previous years,” Meseke said, “even more so this year because we’ve got limited experience and limited guys in leadership positions because we have no seniors. We might take some lumps on that roller-coaster ride this year. Hopefully, we’ll grow and develop and next year have a senior-laden team so it won’t be such a bumpy ride, possibly.”