In any sport, each season can be drastically different from the last. But this year for Wakeland girls’ basketball, the changes just keep coming. 

After many years of coaching girls’ basketball, Coach Martin has said farewell to Wakeland and left room for a new head coach to step up. As the new head of the girls’ basketball program, Coach Hurst plans to take his team all the way to the playoffs for the first time since the 2016-17 season. 

“I think Coach Hurst is a really positive coach, and he wants us to do well this season,” junior Kendall Garbrecht said. 

Coach Hurst has seen these girls work day after day last year with not much payoff in the long run. But now that he is in control, he plans to make sure that the hard work pays off in full. 

“There are a lot of new freshmen this season, and some really talented ones too,” Assistant Varsity Coach Mainord, said. 

It’s no secret that the incoming class of freshmen is larger than most, but that only means good things for basketball. Still, in preparation for the new season, there is already a larger group of athletes ready to work and stay in the program for as long as possible.

 “Our bracket and the teams we’ll be playing are different this year, so we get to see some new teams and better competition,” Junior, Clay Smith said. 

It seems like this season has had so many positive changes, but it doesn’t end there. Even the bracket created for this season has changed.

“We are in the process of building a strong, competitive, and fun environment where we focus on being the hardest working team in the district. I believe as a coach it is highly important to have positivity and energy, and I hope to bring both of those to the gym every day,” Coach Hurst said. 

It is evident that Coach Hurst is determined to make the most of this new coaching opportunity. With all of these new opportunities, the program is going to flourish this season in a way it never has before.