Mic’d Up: Boys’ Basketball Coach, Nick DeWitt
May 20, 2024
Nick DeWitt will return for his 6th year as the boys’ head basketball coach for the 2024-2025 school year and is looking to build on what was overall a successful season this year, despite the disappointing result at the season-end AIS-Salzburg Basketball Jamboree. The boys’ basketball program had a record-high 30 active players this school year, who competed at the middle school, junior varsity, and varsity levels. DeWitt was the varsity coach, while Tom Henry coached the junior varsity team and the pair split time coaching the middle school team.
The varsity team was as talented as it had been in years and there were high hopes of a strong finish at Jamboree. However, after a disappointing 5th-place finish, coach DeWitt said it all boiled down to a lack of focus and execution.
“We have an extremely talented and athletic group of boys but they spend a lot of time worrying about outside factors. As my coach used to say, if you are focused on the score, the refs, or your teammates, then you are not completely locked into the game and you are not ready to give your best each possession.”
A big factor behind the growth of the boys’ basketball program, is the effort and attention poured into it by coach DeWitt for the past five years. However, his efforts have not come without a lot of headaches and frustration, relatable to anyone who has coached high school boys’ basketball before.
“The greatest challenge of coaching teenage boys is managing all of their different personalities and emotions as well as getting them to set aside their egos and desire for individual success/court time for the betterment of the team,” said coach DeWitt.
The passion for coaching and the frustration that comes with it is evident in the video below of a mic’d-up coach DeWitt at our basketball Jamboree this past March.
“We are moving in the right direction and we are so close to putting it all together,” said an optimistic coach DeWitt of the outlook of the future.”I have a lot of faith in this group of boys and I believe we will get better and better each year.”