El Dorado boys’ basketball coach Jimmy Porter took over the program at an inopportune time last summer. In the midst of the pandemic, Porter was severely limited in preparation for his debut season with the Wildcats.
Going into his second year, the coach has tried to make up for lost time this off-season.
“When I was hired we were very limited on what we could do in the summer-off-season due to the pandemic. We were able to implement a full off season program around March 2021 and have seen some tremendous results. This includes an extensive weight room program that focuses on building the total athlete,” Porter explained.
“Kris Borosvskis is our strength and conditioning coordinator for the district. He does a phenomenal job in teaching the fundamentals in the weight room. We are blessed to have him.”
El Dorado’s basketball and football players in grades 7-12 lift together.
“Coach Jones and I agree that this is crucial to success. We both are big on multi-sport athletics and more than half of our guys play another sport. We are seeing gains in terms of overall strength, muscle mass, weight and quickness,” said Porter.
“As far as basketball skill development and basketball IQ, we are seeing growth.”
The Wildcats’ returning varsity players will include David Aryee, Mario Ganter, Laronte McHenry, Bryson Boulden and Torenzo Dunn, who played significant minutes.
Players moving up from junior varsity, junior high or from successful tryouts include Danquez Shelton, Jordan Daniels, Kamron Bibby, Mitchell Luther, Derrick Dixon, Deon James, Damario Buffert and Knolej White. Assistant coach Trusten DeSoto and freshman coach Andrew McDaniel have led their development.
“Each team creates its own story and the journey is always different. I’m excited to be apart of this team’s journey,” said Porter. “We have a lot of guys that could contribute at the varsity level. I would say that we could be 8-10 deep in terms of depth chart.”
This summer El Dorado competed in team camps at Hendrix, Texas High, Hot Springs Lakeside and the Wildcats also hosted a team camp.
“I have been impressed with how hard our kids have competed,” said Porter. “We beat some really well-coached teams that beat us in the previous season. If our boys continue to develop, I believe we have a chance to qualify for the state tournament.”
The Wildcats finished 7-7 in league play last year and missed qualifying for the state tournament by one victory.
“I truly believe this team is under the radar but will shock a lot of people this season,” Porter said.
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El Dorado has also set plans in motion for the future Wildcats. Porter said the program is, “expanding into our community to build the fundamentals of basketball.”
El Dorado recently held a three-day kids’ camp with 151 participants - boys and girls.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “It was cool to see our high school kids get a chance to give back to their community and coach up the younger kids that come to watch them play on Tuesday and Friday nights.”
Also in the works for the Fall 2021 school year will be a FIBA concept 3v3 elementary league.