By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
There will not be a lot of fanfare surrounding today's opening day of practice for the Jefferson Davis Community College Warhawks basketball team.
No midnight madness. No full house of spectators. No laser light show.
Despite the lack of sideshow activities that one finds at many Division I programs, it does not mean it is of any less importance to JDCC coach Allen Gainer and his crew.
JDCC's roster has a more balanced fixture between sophomores and freshmen than it has had in recent years with six sophomores and eight freshmen.
Although the Warhawks lost their top three scorers from a year ago, Kedric Wilson, Arthur Richardson and Jairus Jackson, they return five sophomores. That list includes Chad Martin, Tim Rodgers, Lyndon Butler, Micah McKinney and Thomas Tunberg. Alabama Southern transfer Jake Nelson is also in the sophomore class.
The eight freshmen include Norman Griffin, Tyler Hammond, Quintereal Kelley, Donald Smith, Brandon Stewart, Tay Weathers, Justin Owens and Maurice Edmonson.
JDCC players have been involved in a conditioning program prior to the start of practice.
An added emphasis during the preseason workouts has been the weight room.
Injuries saddled the Warhawks throughout last season when they went 11-19 overall, 6-10 in the Alabama Community College Conference south division.
The Warhawks will participate in an exhibition jamboree at L.B.
Wallace College Oct. 28 prior to their regular season opener at Gadsden State Nov. 11.
The JDCC coach said he will probably install his offensive and defensive schemes at a slower pace than last year.
pretty much knew what we were going to do at the start so we threw everything at the freshmen at once, which was a hard adjustment for them make.
This year with us having a lot more freshmen, we'll go at it a little slower pace. Some pick things up a lot faster than others. A lot of that depends on what kind of program they come from. If players come from a high school program where they have been coached well, they tend to pick things up a lot faster than those who haven't,” Gainer said.