Coach James Lunsford looking to bring excitement, high energy game to GMC
July 24, 2010 Coach James Lunsford looking to bring excitement, high energy game to GMC Brent Martin CNHI (Union Recorder) MILLEDGEVILLE 鈥� There鈥檚 a new sheriff in town for the GMC Prep boys basketball team, and the man is quite a big name in these parts. Having established deep roots with current and former NBA players and national coaches, new head coach James Lunsford is bringing a virtual encyclopedia of basketball knowledge to a Bulldog team desperately in need of a boost. Lunsford carries a banner coaching career in which he led Baldwin High and Twiggs County to championship titles and great heights and will now look to do the same at GMC Prep, a school with a very strong academic brand and with a campus and faculty that can rival any in the nation. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one thing we intend to do. It鈥檚 a very exciting time here at GMC. We are hoping to develop a basketball program,鈥� said Lunsford. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 very important. I know a lot about GMC from playing them at Twiggs County.鈥� So far, Lunsford likes what he sees from the Bulldogs, especially with the core returning players. 鈥淲e have 14 kids that will be instrumental on the varsity. We鈥檒l have a B-team and Middle School. I鈥檝e been impressed with all the young people. A lot of them play football and baseball and have been going to three practices daily,鈥� said Lunsford. 鈥淲e are having good practices four days a week. We鈥檝e had different teams to come in for scrimmages, and we鈥檝e done lot of fundamental work.鈥� Lunsford also has big plans to send GMC Prep players to future national and regional camps but felt the team needed to work on strict fundamentals and basics this summer. 鈥淧assing and dribbling are very important. We went in as a staff and worked with them fundamentally, and I think that will help us in the long run,鈥� said Lunsford. 鈥淭he kids that aren鈥檛 playing the other sports, we鈥檒l be working with them individually on 1-on-1 drills.鈥� Lunsford said he already sees some bright spots on the Bulldogs roster and pointed out two players that could be 鈥渄ifference-makers鈥� in 2010. 鈥淣o doubt about it, senior Joseph McAllister is one of the best players I鈥檝e worked with. He鈥檚 a tremendous athlete. I think he is going to be a tremendous basketball player. He has been doing three or four things all summer,鈥� said Lunsford. 鈥淲e also have Ben Crawley, who has done a good job for us. Treven King and Dustin Archebelle also came in and have done well. Nolan Baugh is also an outstanding basketball player, and T.J. Clark鈥檚 dad played for me at Baldwin and I鈥檓 looking for big things from him. They鈥檝e done a great job.鈥� GMC鈥檚 new coach also said there is a possibility that more players could join the basketball team before the season is over. 鈥淚鈥檓 thinking we鈥檒l have some new players come in. There are a lot of unknowns. Looking at the roster, we are returning 10 guys. A majority of our kids will be young kids. We鈥檒l probably have four or five ninth graders on the varsity. This year is about building our future,鈥� he said. Lunsford also pointed out that he鈥檚 proud to have two fantastic assistants in Shawn Dennis and Quinton Matthews, who played at GCSU, on his staff. 鈥淲e may bring in some community coaches. The staff is great and they have been working late every day,鈥� he said. Overall, Lunsford said his new job is a work in progress and said they will have to work extremely hard to accomplish all of their team goals. 鈥淲e are going to be doing some new things at GMC. We have some outstanding young people and want to know what their strengths are,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey are well-rounded kids. We are looking for a season with a lot of intensity and are looking to have a winning record, and also hope to make the playoffs. I didn鈥檛 come to GMC to retire, I came here to build a program. And I鈥檓 as excited about that than I鈥檝e been about anything in a long time. We are going to have a crowd.鈥�
