An Interview With Coach Jenkins

STORY BY ERIC KING. PHOTO BY MICHAEL WOOD.

Tech Prep hasn’t won a high school basketball game in 2 years. It was time for a change in culture. So we brought in former coach James Jenkins to do just that. With the season approaching, we asked him a few questions about his plan for this season.

How do you plan to get more shots than your opponent?

Having a fast-paced conditioned team will get the team more transition lay-ups. Our goal is to have 80% of our points coming from fast break lay-ups. The team doesn’t really have players who excel at scoring in a half-court set.

How can you lower your opponents shooting percentage?

To lower an opponents shooting percentage, we have to limit their fast break points. We do this by getting back on defense when the opponent grabs rebounds. We need to be aware of the fast break and communicate with each other.

How can you motivate your players?

I believe my players should be self motivated. The job of the coach is to feed the players as much information as they can handle. The players in the end are the ones who play on the court and won't play the best just because the coach gives a motivating speech.

The future's looking bright for Tech Prep sports as we get another year of experience under our belt. We will work further to update news about the team in the near future, but as for now there is nowhere for the team to go but up.

Eric King is a sophomore and Michael Wood is a junior at Friendship Tech Prep Academy.