News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Entering his third season as Warren County boys basketball head coach, Danny Fish said his players worked hard this off-season to move the program forward in 2024.
Following a 16-15 season, the Pioneers graduated three seniors, but brought in a class of 15 freshman. Fish said he is able to see an improvement in his returning players and noted keeping these young men in the program is important.
“The retention of players is something that you want, because players are developed over years, not over months” Fish said. “So, we’re hoping that depth this year and for years to come will really benefit our program.”
Fish said his players returned to team activities with a new level of maturity and some new found speed, strength and height. He said that due to injuries late last year, the Pioneers reached down the bench to give underclassmen legitimate playing time in important games.
“We’re hoping that those young guys that got those minutes, that it helped prepare them for this year,” Fish said. “I think we’ll have a little bit deeper team than we’ve had in the past because of that. We’re hoping that it will benefit us throughout the season this year.”
With the prospect of all 14 varsity players being worthy of playing quality minutes, Fish said playing time will need to be earned and can be lost. He said players that are focused on individual performances and stats will be benched for players putting the Pioneers before themselves.
He said with their first game in less than two weeks, practices have been focused on conditioning and finding which players will fit in the rotation.
“Every kid knows that when they come to practice they could move up or down the ladder, or rotation,” Fish said. “We really harp on energy and we really harp on being mentally and physically tough. Those are the two mainstays in our program.”
