Eagles improve in short time
If you haven't heard of the Augusta Eagles basketball program, you might want to take notice.
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The squad, in just its second year of existence, has posted 21 wins this season and leaves Tuesday for Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., to participate in the East Coast Homeschool Championship.
The Eagles are a group of players who are home schooled and their coach, Chad Cook, is blown away.
"The guys have improved so much since last season." said Cook.
And he should know. Cook, a Columbia County native, was a standout player at Westminster.
As a senior, he scored more than 32 points per game. He signed at South Carolina State before transferring to Augusta State, where he finished out his collegiate career.
During his high school days, the Amateur Athletic Union circuit was in the infancy stage, and Cook played for the Augusta Metros. While in college, Cook got a taste for coaching by helping out former Richmond Academy and Augusta State star Kennan Mann, who was the Metros head coach. So when he finished college, it was only natural for Cook to continue working with young athletes.
During the past 10 years he has coached various AAU and travel teams, but last season he took over as the head coach of the Augusta Eagles, which is based in Columbia County. In addition to the varsity boys team, the Eagles program also fields a varsity girls team, as well as middle school boys, middle school girls, JV boys and JV girls.
Cook is quick to point out that the Eagles are no "one man" operation. He had glowing comments about his assistant coaches.
Brandon Jones assists Cook with varsity and also serves as the head JV coach. He has spent six seasons as a student manager for the highly successful ASU teams under Dip Metress. When Cook was looking for some coaches, Metress gave Jones his endorsement, which was good enough for Cook.
Another assistant, Gabriel Robinson, assists with the varsity and coaches the middle school boys. Robinson's name may be familiar. He was a star player at Josey High School before earning scholarships at Aiken Tech, and then Armstrong Atlantic State, where he was a starter.
Parents also are a huge part of the program.
"Everything we do is a result of our parent volunteers," Cook said. "They manage the gate and concessions at home games, they get the gym ready for games, and clean up after games and practices. They have really been great."
Most of the team's funding comes from one very generous benefactor, but the parents will tell you that Cook has done plenty of things on his own.
As for their play on the court, the team currently is 21-13. They are the 23rd-ranked homeschool team in the nation by hslive365.com, and have grown by leaps and bounds from a year ago.
Last season, the Eagles finished 16-9. Early on that season, things were tough. The Eagles played in the Garden City Classic, an early season tournament at Augusta Prep, and struggled, losing by 10 points to Augusta Prep and were routed by Curtis Baptist.
However, as the season went on, the team got better. They wound up winning the South Carolina Home School Championship Tournament.
The improvement carried over this season.
In their second appearance in the Garden City Classic, the Eagles made it all the way to the championship game. They have also beaten Augusta Prep, Westminster twice and Curtis Baptist twice. They lost in the South Carolina Home School Championship game, but went on to the Home School Southeast Regional, and despite losing their first game, came back to win the tournament's consolation bracket.
The team now prepares to face squads from all over the east coast, including Virginia and New York, and as far west as Iowa.
Now to the players: The team is guard-oriented and led by a dynamic scoring duo. Point guard Austin Crown, a 5-foot-11 sophomore, averages 21.1 points per game and has nailed 68 3-pointers this season. His running mate is 6-foot-1 sophomore Matt Miller, who leads the Eagles in scoring with an impressive 24.7 points per game. He can also shoot from long range, knocking down 52 3-pointers.
While the team does not have a lot of size, 6-foot-3 senior Joe Calkins does most of the dirty work inside. Calkins averages 10 rebounds per game. Rounding out the starting five are guards Joseph Jessee (senior, 5.5 points per game) and Paul Jones (sophomore, 4.7 points per game).
While Miller and Crown carry much of the scoring load, Cook says Jessee and Jones have each hit several big 3-pointers this season, and sixth man Dominic Brown (sophomore, 4.6 points per game) has made a key contribution.
Good luck to the Eagles as they head to Virginia.
Augusta Eagles
2010-11 roster
#2 Austin Crown G - sophomore
#5 Joseph Jessee G - senior
#14 Matt Miller G - sophomore
#31 Paul Jones G - sophomore
#12 Joe Calkins C - senior
#25 Dominic Brown G - sophomore -
#4 Zach Miller G - eighth Grade
#21 Jacob Greenway F - eighth Grade
#10 Jonathan Pye F - freshman
#20 Jordan Pye F - freshman
#42 Ben Jessee C - freshman
#22 Zach Ozwald C - junior
#32 Jonathan Yourchak F - sophomore
#14 Luke Jones F - freshman