The Shadow
The DSLCC Roadrunners third basketball season is upon us.
In 2019 the team went 15-10, and in it’s second season in 2020, the team did not play due to COVID-19.
COVID-19 still remains a big issue all around, but for sports teams it can be derailing to ones season.
Head Coach Brandon Garrett talks about the protocol for his team, “It’s different at every level. With us being a commuter school they (the players) don’t have to be vaccinated, but at the same time we talk to our guys and monitor it. If COVID gets on our team it’s going to wipe us out for three weeks. We tell them, we’re going to have quarantine, we’re going to miss games, and practices.
Despite COVID-19 looming over all of sports, the team has been practicing for a little more than two months now.
“I feel good about what we have going on. We have a good mixture of experience, height, quickness. Overall, I’m pleased (with practices). I do know we have a long way to from where we want to be as a team and a program, but right now, I feel pretty good”, said Coach Garrett on the teams practices heading into the season.
With no season last year, the recruiting process has changed a bit for the team. “In the past, you could walk in the gym and say hey I’m here, but I remember me specifically, I went down to North Carolina to look at a kid, whom unfortunately went somewhere else, but we had to call the coach, who then had to call the A.D., who had to call the principal, who had to call the superintendent, just to get me up in the corner of the gym, so it has changed. But for us and a lot of other schools, we rely on the internet, social media and finding guys and making contact and starting that relationship”, said Coach Garrett on recruiting since COVID started.
Coach Garrett though is looking forward to the season starting, “I’m excited for the guys, especially the guys returning to get back in the gym. Some of them have put things on hold because they want to have this opportunity to see where this game will take them.”
On the roster, you can see a lot of these players are coming from all over the state of Virginia and some from outside of the states.
One player, freshman Samuel Stroupe is several hours away from his home of Jonesbourgh, TN and is getting his first looks at college basketball, “So far it’s been going good. I think this team is going to have success and in the long run go far. With being a point guard, I had to learn adjust and to adjust to score different ways. In high school, it was easier to score, but now playing against taller players everyday, it makes you better and it teaches me knew ways to have to score. You have to expand your game, and listen to the coaches and that’s what helped me so far.”
While some are traveling hours away to come DSLCC, one other player takes 81 to 64 to get to campus, and sometimes route 11, Elijah Harvey of Harrisonburg, VA, has noticed some differences in high school to college basketball, “The pace is much faster than regular high school ball. There’s quicker, athletic kids, and a lot of talent. It’s not a major difference, but it is more of an athleticism that’s different”.
Meanwhile, Noryen Lasley of Fredericksburg, VA, is ready for some wins. “We’re ready to come out with a statement.
Be on the lookout in our next edition for the full schedule for the DSLCC Roadrunners.
