Photos Cameron Flaisch
IT comes in waves. The smell of buttered popcorn mixed with the leather coating of the rock. The sounds of sneakers chirping against the freshly-shellacked gym floor and the hollow echo of a dribble over the startling buzz of the time clock. Scoring runs met with defense that is more art than athleticism and the crisp crack of the net as a shooter pulls up from five feet behind the arc. All of the senses are stimulated; every soul in the seats is engaged. Those of us who are basketball fans live to ride the waves.
Being a game of execution, endurance and perseverance offers the chance to incorporate life lessons into the practice regimens fashioned by coaches nationwide. Although there are those who can put together a successful squad, few can translate the same expectations off the court. Besides being ranked the No. 2 team in the nation, the Georgia Highlands Chargers basketball organization offers a glimpse inside a program that is building champions on the court and in the community.
“Coach will be right back,” says assistant coach Matt Williams as he jogs from his office through the gym doors.
Practice is over and players gather just out-side the gym, a battleground GHC fans refer to as the Corral. All but one of the Chargers wait patiently for study hall, which is a mandatory requirement for all team members. Sophomore forward Immanuel Griggs, at six feet seven inches tall, is still hard at work on the hardwood. A recruiting coach from Florida International University is putting him to the test. Footwork, jump shots from the free throw line and passing drills using the left hand show what the big man’s got. Coach Williams is right by his side every drop step of the way.
Williams, a former junior college basketball player at Clinton Community College in upstate New York, knows the landscape of junior college athletics. After school, he knew that he wanted to always be a part of the sport he loved. That drive to stay connected to the game led him to Guildford Technical Community College in Greensboro, N.C. There, Williams worked with then-head coach Phil Gaffney, eventually leading them both to GHC’s fledgling program four years ago.
“I’d always wanted to be a coach and I got really lucky when I contacted Coach Gaffney early on,” recalls Williams. “That’s the biggest thing. Sometimes you just have to get lucky. He got me in touch with the right people at Guilford Tech, and that’s how I was able to start doing what I love.”
“I never had a grey hair until I met him and J.J.,” Gaffney laughs as he walks into the office. Coach Gaffney credits much of their team’s success to the recruitment efforts of Williams and J.J Merritt. As a matter of fact, Merritt was using a break in the schedule to visit prospects in Alabama and was not available for comment.
Still, Gaffney expresses the value of his coach-ing staff. “I’ve been really fortunate to have really good assistant coaches,” he explains as he talks about building programs and turning struggling ones around. “They have to buy in to your vision, and the guys who J.J., Matt, and Devin Williams recruit fit our system. Most of this team is guys they have recruited. Also, they are guys we can mold into players who become successful when they move on to four-year schools. That’s what our goal is at the junior college level.”
Also a former upstate New York player, Gaffney has always been in love with lay-ups and protecting the lane. Getting his high school basketball start in Watertown, N.Y., would eventually lead him to becoming a fan of one of the most respected college programs in the nation.
“I was a Syracuse fan,” he says. “Watertown is only an hour north of Syracuse and my mother graduated from there. I started my college career at a juco (junior college) called Jefferson Community College in upstate New York for two years. I was then accepted to Brockport College, which is a four-year school, but I got hurt during my junior year. However, I was still allowed to contribute to the team because they asked me to coach there. That’s where I got my start.”
From Division I schools like the University of Maryland Eastern Shore to eighth-grade rec teams, Gaffney has coached many levels of competition. With over 20 years of experience as a head coach, it’s easy to see how he has developed a winning formula for hoops.
“We get really great players, which helps us to be successful on the court. They really work hard out there, and that is a huge part of our success,” Gaffney explains. “We are a pressing, running team. We really look for guys who are athletic and can play great defense.
“And what’s really great about building a team around a system is that they can adapt to different forms of play,” he continues. “All of our guys can slow the tempo down, play man to man, or they are able to really pick up the pace and play a trapping style of defense that leads to fast breaks. We try to get them ready for any system they will play in at the next level.”
Since the years of eligibility are numbered and most of your recruits can be headed to another school in a year, it can be challenging to build a great team. Getting kids from high schools and having them recruited by bigger schools a year later is business as usual around the Corral. It also becomes more common when the team is looking to compete for a national championship for the second year in a row.
Still, Georgia Highlands has managed to maintain the strength of its program, even with only three players returning from last year’s to fast breaks. We try to get them ready for any system they will play in at the next level.”
Since the years of eligibility are numbered and most of your recruits can be headed to another school in a year, it can be challenging to build a great team. Getting kids from high schools and having them recruited by bigger schools a year later is business as usual around the Corral. It also becomes more common when the team is looking to compete for a national championship for the second year in a row.
Still, Georgia Highlands has managed to maintain the strength of its program, even with only three players returning from last year’s When asked how the coaches help him and his teammates mature as players and as people, Ballinger quotes something Gaffney has written on the board in the locker room.
“When I was a child, I thought like a child, talked like a child and acted like a child. But when I became a man, I threw away my childish ways,” Ballinger recites as his coach looks on with a fatherly pride in his eyes.
Ballinger is a six-foot guard from Dunwoody High School. As one of the three returning players from last year’s Cinderella run, he is a leader on the team. And even though he is being recruited by countless NCAA teams, his focus still lies with seeing the Chargers hoist the championship trophy in Hutchinson, Kan., this spring.
Doniel Dean, the other captain on the Chargers’ lineup, is grateful for the lessons he has learned playing under Gaffney and his staff.
“When I got to Georgia Highlands, I was out of control on the floor. They taught me to slow down my game and start seeing the floor better,” Dean recalls. “In high school, I was the man. I took all the shots. But coming here helped to humble me because everyone was just as talented as I was.”
A product of Newnan High School, Dean has become one of the most unselfish players on the team. However, his explosiveness is evident when he drives the lane to throw one down through the foul of a defender.
Both of these young men carry themselves with dignity and class while giving much of the credit to the influence of their coaches. Ballinger sums it up best with a simple saying they have been asked to carry with them on and off the court.
“Better person, better student, better athlete,” he says. “Winning is our goal, but these three things are what makes our success possible.”
