For the basketball season this year 28 freshmen showed up to play. This was a surprise to many and has helped stir hope for the remaking of the basketball program at CHS.

Freshman basketball player Will Brown describes his initial reaction as being scared.

“I was surprised, so didn’t know what to think,” Brown said. “I didn’t know there would this many [players].”

To account for large amount of freshmen coming out to play Freshman A and Freshman B basketball teams have been formed.

“We have had to add ten more games to schedule for the season so everyone has a chance to play,” freshman basketball Coach Mike Sankey said.

This is just one example of how the incoming freshman basketball players are changing the basketball program.

“It is good to have as many players as possible because everyone has potential to be good,” said sophomore Jack Elliot, who is playing JV basketball this year and played freshman basketball last year. “If you don’t play, you don’t know.”

Sankey feels that the surge of freshmen playing basketball is the result of the Young Greyhound Program. The Young Basketball Program helps basketball players at the elementary and middle school levels. The program’s goal is to develop the basketball fundamentals and skills to make the transition to playing at the high school level.

“With the guys starting to play younger it will be natural for them to play basketball in high school,” said Sankey. “We had a great year last year, and it brought a lot of new excitement with the Young Greyhound Program. There is a new buzz about basketball.”

Brown played in the Greyhound program in elementary school and feels that the program has added to his basketball experience. Many others currently in the Clayton basketball program participated in the Young Greyhound Program. This shows the growing importance of basketball players getting ready for the high school level.

At the freshman level, the team work works mainly on the basics of basketball and helping players learn more basketball skills.

“The focus is on the fundamentals and the teaching the game,” Sankey said. “We have eight on nine guys who have never play basketball before. We are getting guys ready for the varsity level.”

Elliot tells that though some of season has had to be spent on having the new freshman JV basketball players learning the plays, they have learned them quickly.
“There are a lot of good athletes, if work hard, they will become good basketball players,” Elliot said.

Sankey believes that in order to have a successful basketball program, one needs to have a lot of kids in the basketball program.

“We will raise the level of basketball,” Sankey said. “It helps in the long run on the development of each player.”

Sankey points out that all the new freshman basketball players will help change the basketball program, as the class is playing more together than in the past,. This year, no freshman has had to play varsity, and only a couple of the freshman are playing JV basketball this year.

“By the time the freshman class are juniors, they were will be a lot of depth, since they have been playing together all that time,” said Sankey. In the last three or four years, we have always had a freshman play varsity, but we didn’t have to have this happen this year. Hopefully, eventually we will not even have to have any sophomores playing at the varsity level.”

The extraordinary amount of new basketball players this year will make a difference in the coming years, as the basketball program adjusts to the amount of the new basketball players coming in to play.

“We hope that this is a beginning of a natural occurrence,” said Sankey. “We hope that eventually 20 to 25 new guys will be coming to play every year.”