Could this be the year for Lamar Basketball?
By Drake Horton
Contributing Writer
Lamar – When you think of Lamar High School and Silver Foxes sports in particular, what is the first sport to pop in your mind? Most would probably say football; some might say track, and field and others might even mention baseball, but what about basketball?
Basketball has seemed to become somewhat the forgotten sport at Lamar, especially when it comes to boys sports programs.
Every year when I interview head coach, Michael Hamlin, he is a man of few words. He is quick to the point, and does not get too winded.
As I chased him down to talk after Lamar’s opening game of the season to Darlington, which ended in a loss, I asked Coach Hamlin what he thought about this upcoming year. His answer to me was surprising to say to the least.
Now in all the years Hamlin has never talked down about his team, but for this season he is overly optimistic.
“I expect us to be really good this year,” Hamlin said. “I have all of my players returning, but one. I have two newcomers coming, I think we are going to be very successful, I think we will be very defensive minded.”
Against Darlington, they were not good. In fact they were terrible as I wrote about earlier in an article covering that game. But that team there, in that game, will in no way shed any light on what this upcoming season can be.
A majority of the Lamar’s basketball players are still currently playing football as the Silver Foxes look to win another state championship. In 1A the numbers are already against you and when almost half of your team is playing another sport at the moment then you really are hurting in the depth column.
But this is a great, not a good, not a bad, but a great problem for the Silver Foxes. Lamar’s football is one of the most athletic teams in the state and for most athletes that athleticism can translate on most fields and courts.
“We are very athletic, especially at our guards,” Hamlin said.
That athleticism to go along with the amount of experience that Hamlin has returning has him grinning from ear to ear. It has his expectations for this team set very high.
“I feel like this is the best chance I’ve had since I’ve been coaching,” Hamlin said.
If Lamar can live up to what Hamlin believes it can be then maybe, just maybe the boys’ basketball program at Lamar will not feel so forgotten.