New boys basketball head coach Jordan George has a rich background in FHC basketball; he hopes his familiarity with the program will lead his team to success.
“It’s a crazy, full-circle moment,” George said. “I was a ball boy starting when I was four years old, then played here [FHC] for a couple of years, and when I was in college, I came back here and helped my dad [former coach Ken George] coach a little bit. Then I got the JV coaching job, then varsity assistant [coach], then varsity head coach. I think I’ve done pretty much any role you can think of in the program. That’s really cool to have covered all those bases and now get a chance to do this.”
By filling the role of head coach, George is following his family legacy. As Ken George was wildly successful in coaching boys basketball, George has amassed great knowledge on coaching—and has already implemented new strategies to the team’s gameplay.
“This year, we’re going try to play fast and with a lot of pace,” George said. “[Senior] Brady Miller, our point guard, we’re trying to get him to push the ball up the court really quickly. Once we get into the half court on offense, we’re trying to create quite a bit of space with motion offense, where we get guys driving to the basket. Defensively, we’re changing some things up; we aren’t going to pressure off the ball as much this year.”
Last year’s team concluded its season with a 12-11 record. After a slow beginning to the regular season, they were able to rack up wins against key foes such as Forest Hills Northern, Byron Center, and East Grand Rapids. Later on, however, they fell in the first round of playoffs to Lowell—a heartbreaking loss by two points.
Last season, the roster was an especially young one, with a plethora of juniors seeing playing time. This season, however, the team is projected to be older. Rangerball’s key players, seniors Brady Miller, Jonas VanderWoude, and Ty Hudkins are expected to play important roles. Hudkins and several other players are coming off a state championship football season.
“The football guys lead with their winning mentality,” Miller said. “[They] just have that confidence going into every game. With our new offense and coach, [it’s important] to just not let the team get overwhelmed, calm down, and run through the plays.”
Miller and VanderWoude are team captains, and this will be VanderWoude’s third year on varsity as a shooting guard. He has very specific goals for the season.
“I’m hoping to be consistent for the whole year,” VanderWoude said. “And do whatever I can to help us win every single game.”
The team has 21 games ahead of them, the first being on Saturday, December 2, where they play Traverse City Central in Traverse City. The team plays Reeths-Puffer on Tuesday, December 5 for their home opener game. That game is crucial to establishing a strong beginning to the season.
“They’re supposed to be good,” Miller said. “I know that they’ve got a good big man and a good guard. So, it’s mostly a two-man team—we gotta shut them down. [It] should be good.”
VanderWoude is already looking forward to the state playoffs at the end of the season.
“As a team our biggest goal is to win districts,” VanderWoude said. “[That’s] something we haven’t been able to do for a while.”
