Story by Rusty Ellis
The Cookeville Cavaliers often sent out a freshman-laden unit last season, though the results hardly felt like that of a young team.
The Cavs finished the season with a 15-13 record, including a 4-4 mark in district play, and their season came to an end in a 55-54 loss at Cleveland in the Region 3AAA Tournament. It was a season that third-year head coach Josh Heard was happy with on the whole.
“Just being as young as we were and making the impact we made, I was pleased with it,” Heard said. “I was pleased with the effort from everybody from the beginning of the year to end…we definitely made some strides in putting Cookeville back on the map for powerhouse basketball.”
Normally with a team that young, most coaches may try to play the long game and convince their players to be patient through any struggles. Josh Heard is not most coaches.
“I can honestly say not one time did I think about it like that,” Heard said. “I’ve heard it from everyone…after the game it’s always ‘when those guys are juniors, you guys should be winning the state.’ I would laugh it off every time I heard it, but I always wanted to play to win right now. I told the kids that we want to win right now.”
The 2021-22 season will look different for the Cavaliers, as they make the leap to the new 4A classification and will play in a district made up entirely of Wilson County schools. The out-of-district schedule should prepare the team for the type of athleticism and talent they will see all throughout the league, as Heard points out.
“It’s going to be great for us,” Heard said. “We open up Friday with Knoxville Webb, and they are a great team…of course we’ve got Knoxville Catholic, as well as Webb School who has a player that’s already signed and committed to play at an (Ohio Valley Conference) school. We’ve got some great games that will set us up for preparedness against the Wilson County schools.”
The district features Lebanon, Mt. Juliet, Green Hill and Wilson Central. Add Cookeville to the mix, and it’s a league that features no easy wins and anyone can beat anyone on any given night.
“The level of talent that we’re going to be facing night in and night out is different,” Heard said. “You’ve just got athletes all over the place in Wilson County, so that’s going to be a challenge for us to match the physicality and athleticism they bring. We have a good team this year, I’m not worried about how young they are…there’s going to be a rough start for us because none of these kids are used to playing kids of this caliber two nights a week.”
One look at the Cookeville roster will tell you all you need to know. Returning players such as sophomores Colin Ayers, Josh Heard and Jackson Madewell are complemented by newcomers in D.J. and Dontae Potts-Heard and Joseph Agee.
When asked about who stood out to him over the summer, Heard went even deeper into the roster and showcased just how many capable players exist on this team.
“We’ve had two playdays, and I was really impressed with Bennett Reeves and Jack Oakley,” Heard said. “Those guys have put in some work over the summer just on their game…just within the first three games, I can tell a big difference. Jack actually led us in scoring against Pearl-Cohn, and Bennett played really well against Blackman and Brentwood a couple weeks ago.”
And when you get into the rest of the roster, you see just how good this Cavalier team can be.
“Jackson Madewell worked on his shooting over the summer, so he’s coming into this season more confident,” Heard said. “Joseph Agee has returned to the team, and he’s been playing well for us. He’s added 15 pounds of muscle since the last time I saw him, so he’s a physical beast out there…D.J. Potts-Heard is an outstanding shooter and a great athlete. His brother Dontae is a point guard. Him and Colin Ayers have been playing neck-and-neck over the summer in their NYBA tour. Both of those guys have similar games….we’re very guard-strong this year. I’m grateful to see Josh and Colin play together on the court.”
The only negative is that up to this point, they’ve yet to have a practice with the full team. Whether due to sickness or injury, it’s got Heard chomping at the bit to see what this team looks like when all the pieces come together.
“We go down to Riverdale and play Blackman with four key players missing,” Heard said. “Josh and D.J. on the court at the same time, that’s difficult to guard…we’ve yet to have all five of our players in practice. It’s a blessing that we don’t play until Friday, so we can have at least three days this week to go with all of our guys.”
Put all of this together, and expectations are pretty high for this program.
“The thought of the day has always been district and region champs,” Heard said. “Winning our district and winning our region, that is going to be some great talent that we’re playing against. That should put us into a great spot heading into state competition. That’s what we’re focusing in on.”