Parkers Chapel boys’ basketball coach Josh Langley has watched his players perform over the summer and is excited about what he’s seen. The Trojans participated in team camps at Harding University and Hot Springs Lakeside. They also spent a day at the El Dorado Team Camp.
“Overall I was very pleased with the summer. Participation has been awesome,” said Langley. “Even on open gym days, the gym has been full of kids. Over 30 kids show up on open gym days when you count our girls.”
Parkers Chapel will return several key players from last year’s squad that went 18-14 and advanced to the 2A State Tournament. Based on the summer, Langley believes those players have sharpened their skills.
“Player-wise, Terrell Malone has picked up right where he left off last season, which is great for us moving forward. Caleb Jacobs has shot the ball much better so far this summer and you’re not going to find a kid that plays harder than him. Preston Stivender has played extremely well this summer and is a guy that can go for 20-plus on any given night for us during the season,” Langley said. “Tyler Killingsworth has been a completely different kid this summer. If he continues to work and play like he has this summer, he is going to have a great year for us. Evan Younger is coming off an injury but did get to play this past week at Lakeside and looked like he hasn’t missed a day all summer so he will continue to get better as he shakes the rest of the rust off. Nik Garcia has really improved this summer. He has always had a good shot, but he has added some confidence and has played on another level from where he was this past season. J.T. Phelps has had a very solid summer. Smart kid who plays hard and doesn’t make mistakes. John Gathright is a kid who we have added that didn’t play last season, who has also shot the ball very well for us this summer. Lancer Clark and Braydon McGoogan are sophomores who have done some really good things this summer and will push some of the upper classmen for minutes this season.”
Langley also pointed out some younger Trojans, who played up a level this summer.
“We had four freshmen that stepped up for us at Harding Camp,” he said of Chris Greer, Clay Evers, Jalen Gray and Payton Willeford. “We had some spots open up for camp last minute and they came and played and really held their own, which has gotten me really excited about our junior high team, also.
“Take those four guys and then add Elijah Brown, who is immovable on the block and Brody Goodwin, who has attended some individual camps, we can be dangerous.”
A lot of the PC players are two-sport athletes who will narrow their focus to football for the rest of the summer. But Langley believes the groundwork has been laid for the upcoming basketball campaign.
“I’m looking for us to be competitive at all levels after this summer,” he said. “It should be an exciting year for PC basketball.”