The J.Z. George girls and boys basketball teams will swing into action Tuesday as both teams play host to Senatobia High School.
The Lady Jaguars will be under the direction of first-year coach DeJuan Clark, and the Jaguars will be led into battle by third-year coach Ahmad Alexander.
Here’s a preview of each team:
J.Z. George Girls
Clark is looking to build the program from the ground up with some young players this season.
“My expectations for this group are very high. I expect this group to grow tremendously during the season with hopes of making the playoffs this year,” said Clark, who was at J.Z. George for the 2021-2022 school year as the boys basketball coach. The Jags went 7-17 in his one season in North Carrollton.
He left J.Z. George after his one-year stint and took on a variety of coaching positions at Lake Cormorant Middle School in Desoto County for the last two years. He was the head boys basketball coach, the assistant girls basketball coach and the assistant athletic director at the middle school.
Clark is a graduate of Gentry High School in Indianola, where he played on the boys basketball team. He played his first three years of college ball at Blue Mountain College in Holly Springs and finished his last season at MUW in Columbus. Clark also played one year of pro ball in Portugal before the season was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lone returning starter is 5-foot-9 sophomore forward Makylah Banks. Other key players this season are Kyndale Edwards, a 5-foot-6 sophomore guard; Tysalyn Meeks, a 5-foot-4 sophomore guard; and Leah Franklin, a 6-foot-2 junior forward.
“The girls have made big strides individually and as a whole since starting with them this summer,” Clark added. “I feel like this team will catch a lot of people off guard this year, because the style of basketball we’re going to play will be different from what they have seen from J.Z. George in the past.
“Our biggest strength will be our ability to get out and run the floor, as well as put pressure on opposing teams with our athletic abilities. My biggest concern is our youth and guard play early in the season.”
J.Z. George Boys
Alexander will get to focus his attention on the boys team this season after serving as girls coach also last season.
The Jaguars only went 2-15 overall, but Alexander believes this team could be poised for a breakout campaign.
“This is the most confident I’ve felt going into the season in my three-year tenure here at J.Z. George,” said Alexander. “We might start the season off slow because the majority of our players are on the football team, and it’s going to take a little time for them to get their rhythm back. I feel good about peaking at the right time and making a push for a district championship.”
Alexander has three returning starters on this year’s team. They are junior guard Terrence Whitcomb, junior guard Nehemiah Williams, and senior forward Martavis Banks. One other player who is expected to contribute is junior guard Brodrick Green.
“One of the biggest strengths we have this season is experience,” said Alexander. “A majority of the key players have played a lot of ball games. They have been playing valuable minutes since they were freshmen. Now that they are upperclassmen, processing the game has become a lot easier for them.
“My biggest concern is consistency. In our summer league games this summer, that was the biggest problem for us. We proved to ourselves that we were able to compete at a high level, although we never displayed it consistently. We have to keep working toward putting four complete quarters on both ends of the court.”
J.Z. George competes in Region 4-2A with Eupora, Philadelphia, Sebastopol and Union.
