With basketball season around the corner, the Andalusia Bulldogs boys’ basketball team got a brand new locker room.

“The old locker room had been used for many many years,” Andalusia head coach Anthony Clark said. “The first month I was here I talked to Dr. Shakespeare and he got on board with it, and then I talked to Mr. (Ted) Watson and Coach (Trent) Taylor and they both were on board with making the upgrades.”

When entering the new locker room, the first thing one notices is the mural of former players on the wall.

“We wanted to have this room to sort of bridge the gap from former to present players,” Clark said. “These are guys that helped shaped Andalusia basketball. This helps the kids develop an appreciation for the past.”

That room also includes trophy cases that Clark found at the central office.

“We really did all of this on small budget,” Clark said. “There trophy cases are from the old Woodson High School. I found them in room and we cleaned them up and we will rotate out different displays. Not only does it have nostalgic feel, it also helped us keep a small budget.”

Once in the dressing room, there is a large open area surrounded by brand new lockers.

“The lockers are something else that helped us save money,” Clark said. “We made them ourselves and I looked into buying some and they were $1,500 each. We also have an area that is going to have a couch and some chairs for the guys to come and relax before the games. That’s something that we have never had before.”

Clark said that most of the work was done by volunteers.

“This wouldn’t have been possible without the amount of volunteer work that we had,” Clark said. “We didn’t spend a lot of money, but we put in a lot of elbow grease. I’m very appreciative to Dr. Shakespeare for letting us go with and giving us the freedom to turn this idea into a reality.”