Six year coach Eric Gwinn has stepped down as the head varsity basketball coach at Middletown Christian. Gwinn, who led the team to a 14-8 season last year, will continue to teach at the school. Stepping in to take over for Gwinn is 18 year coaching veteran Ed Davis. According to athletic director Ray Cox, "We had seven applicants for the position. After discussing things with our board and several other coaches. we decided Davis was the best fit for us." Davis has spent a good portion of his coaching career in Christian schools, coaching two seasons at Cincinnati Christian and three seasons at Landmark Christian. I love the Christian school environment" said Davis, "When this opportunity became available I decided to go for it."
Coach Davis had his first face-to-face meeting with his players for next season and their parents. Davis gave a brief testimony in his life and his coaching experience, which includes a sectional and district championship, an induction into the Lockland High School Hall of Fame for coaching, and numerous Coach of the Year awards. Coach Davis then gave a quick rundown of how he coached and how he wanted to play the game. Davis likes to play a more fast paced get-up-and-go style game.
The varsity squad graduated seven of its eight players this year, giving Davis a fresh start with the team. Next year's team will be made up of primarily sophomores. I asked coach Davis how he felt about the younger team, "I'm excited. I know we are young and with that inexperience comes some mistakes, but I feel that all the guys are hard workers and that if they work at it then we can do some great things this season." Another way the MCS team will differ from previous seasons is in its size. The past two seasons for MCS has yielded a strong post presence and having players with some good size about them. This years players are on the smaller size, being made up of primarily guards and shooters. When asked about the drop in size in the players, Davis was optimistic. "I think we are going to be o.k. MCS has had some good post players in the past but in my experience, some big guys have trouble getting up and down the floor. These smaller guys have a lot of speed and quickness, which goes along perfectly how I like to play. I plan on using that speed and quickness to our advantage."
Nate Cox, who is the only returning player from last year's varsity squad and who played under Gwinn for the last three seasons, is happy with the decision made in choosing coach Davis. "I like him, I think he's a good coach and that he is going to be good for our team. I look forward to playing with him." Cox said. When asked about the season, Cox was also optimistic. "I think we are going to have a good season. We have a lot of good players and we all seem to fit together pretty good and play well together."
It is going to be a different season for the Eagles next year. Players and fans have become accustomed to Gwinn and his style of coaching and it will be interesting to see how the season goes.
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