After key departures from the 2023 squad, the Social Circle Redskins boys basketball team is ready to reload with new faces at the forefront.

The man leading the change is new head coach Norman Jones, who was previously an assistant coach on the Redskins’ staff. Though he plans on keeping many of the same fundamentals that led Social Circle to state in previous years, Jones does plan on molding the team into his own.

“This year we just wanted to learn how to play with more of a college style,” Jones said. “Playing with pace, reading the defense.” 

Jones will look to build off a 17-11 record last season that saw the Redskins fall in the first round of the Class A-Division I playoffs. The year prior, Social Circle made it to the Final Four.

One challenge for Jones going into his first offseason as head coach was replacing the starting five from a year ago. 

Despite waiting on a few players to join the team at the conclusion of the Redskins’ football season, Jones has liked what he has seen from his team ahead of their season opener.

“We look solid, they’re sharing the ball, talking and working together,” Jones said. “I knew it was going to take them a little bit to gel so I told them, ‘It is not about how we start, by the time region play comes around we will be clicking on all cylinders’. Right now, we have to be a defensive minded team first.”

Senior Justin Russell knows how new the team is and how important team building will be for the Redskins if they want to have another deep playoff run.

“Our mindset is based on our chemistry,” Russell said. “We are a fresh team, so we just have to keep building our chemistry and get better with each other.”

Russell and Ethan Brown serve as the two seniors on a Redskins team that is filled with primarily underclassmen.

With the youth on the team, Jones knows exactly the style of ball he expects to see from Social Circle going forward.

“We are going to be physical. We are going to play with effort, play with pace and we are not going to turn the ball over,” Jones said. “That is what I believe in, we are going to share the ball. The saying is, ‘Everyone got to eat.’ No one is going to be starving, we play high intensity basketball.

The expectations do not just stop with the coach. 

Redskins players, such as Derrick White, share the same mindset.

“We have to go out there and be aggressive, and for everyone to play their role to try to win the game,” White said. “Every practice, we have been there to compete. Our energy is up — we are trying to start out the first three games with wins.”