Wilmington basketball coach plays waiting game
Dec 06, 2007
By JOHN D'ABRUZZO
New Castle News
Will Harris should be used to this by now.
For the third straight year, Harris must start the basketball season with a lot of question marks.
Unsure exactly what type of team he will have during the 2007-08 campaign, the Wilmington High boys coach is working with a little more than half of his roster.
Currently Harris has only 10 players. Eight others are still playing football. The Greyhounds’ football team will play Jeannette Saturday in the PIAA Class AA semifinals.
Of the eight players missing, five are expected to be among the team’s top seven.
“This is nothing new here,” Harris said. “My first year here they went to the (District 10) championship and then the western finals last year. I guess I’m used to it. If I got them back early I don’t know what I would do because it’s never happened to me before.”
A victory over Jeannette would put the football team in the state title game and the basketball team another week behind schedule.
“I’ve talked to (football coach Terry Verrelli) and I asked him to get me these guys back healthy,” Harris said. “I don’t care when I get them back as long as I get them back healthy.”
Harris doesn’t want to take anything away from the football team’s success.
“Football has put Wilmington on the map,” Harris said. “You want what’s best for the players. Right now what’s best for them is football. How many people can say they played in the western final for football and I’m happy for them.
“It’s an achievement and I want them to continue to do well. And, at the same time, I want my players back.”
Despite missing a significant portion of its team, Wilmington competed in the Jamestown Tipoff Tournament last weekend. The ’Hounds (1-1) lost a first-round game to Villa Maria, but defeated Tidoutte Prep Charter in the consolation game.
Still, because of Saturday’s football game at Slippery Rock University, Harris was forced to postpone the basketball team’s first region game. The ’Hounds were to play at Sharpsville on Friday.
“If we can make it until Christmas break, we’ll be fine,” Harris said. “It’s going to be tough. We’re stuck, but there’s nothing we can do. You have to deal with the cards you are given and make the best of it. That’s what we plan to do.”
Chris Burns and Shane Wagner are the only two returning starters playing football. Although Burns hasn’t thought much about basketball yet, he doesn’t think it will take long for the football players to adjust when they return.
“It’s going to be weird and take some time to knock the rust off,” said Burns, who averaged 9.1 points last season. “But it will just take a few practices to get back into it.”
Harris has had to make adjustments during practices.
“It’s hard to get a good scrimmage,” said Harris, who has used his two assistant coaches, his father Richard Harris and Jeff Gibson during scrimmages. “There’s the first five and then there’s a big drop off with the second five.
“They are all going hard and that’s all I can ask right now, but it does affect trying to get a look as far as what other teams are going to do to us. That’s the toughest part of practice.”
At least Harris has some players. Jeannette’s entire basketball team plays football and has postponed its first three games.
Last season, the day after the Jayhawks lost to Wilson Area in the state football championship, the basketball players boarded a plane bound for California to play in a tournament. Jeannette went 24-5 last basketball season, losing to Aliquippa in both the WPIAL championship game and PIAA semifinals.
“If I didn’t have any players I don’t know what I’d be doing,” Harris said. “If I weren’t in the gym I’d be going nuts. At least I have 10 guys in the gym who I know want to be there. As a coach you have to love that.”