Opp basketball coach Sterling Driver will take the driver’s seat as coach of the Bobcats this season.
Driver said he knows that this is going to be a challenging season both for his team and himself.
OHS will be a young team with only three seniors for 2012-13, the first-year head coach said.
“We’re definitely going to have a focus on defense this year,” Driver said. “Defense definitely wins games. You’re going to have off nights on offense it doesn’t matter who you are, but you can always counter act that with defense.”
Driver wouldn’t say what type of defense the Bobcats will run this season, only that they’ll run a mix between man-to-man and zone.
“We’ll have different looks on defense,” he said.
Opp’s three seniors are Gage Wells, Jabe Thompson and Dalton Messer.
Opp will face Straughn, Southside Selma and Excel in Class 3A, Area 2 this year.
Driver said area play is going to be “tough.”
“Straughn’s going to definitely be up,” he said. “Southside Selma, just from looking at what they did last year, they’re going to have a good team. (Southside Selma is) going to be hard playing away.
“With Excel, I’m sure they’ll have a good, athletic team as well,” he said.
A team goal for the Bobcats is to host the area tournament, Driver said.
While at OHS, Driver has been an assistant coach for four years.
Driver said he feels a little “different” now that he’s wearing the big hat.
“I’m very excited about it,” he said. “There is a lot more responsibility, but I’m ready for the challenge and my guys are as well. They’ve already been working together very well at practice.
“I’m just looking forward to the opportunity,” he said.
Just four years into his coaching career, Driver admitted that he didn’t expect to be a “head coach” so soon, but “that was definitely my goal was to be a head coach in basketball.”
His philosophy is one of making sure his players learn more about life than the sport they are playing, Driver said.
Opp will begin its season on Fri., Nov. 30, at home against Andalusia.