A new feature at Outside the Huddle during basketball season, we will connect with area coaches on occasion to get their takes on big wins, huge matchups upcoming and more.
This week, we tracked down Canterbury boys coach Deric Adams.
Q: Obviously Canterbury went through many roster changes since the state title game. What is the primary point you make to your current team about that transition?
A: I spoke heavily to my team in the preseason and early season about this team creating its own identity. We know those guys that contributed last season are not walking back through that door to compete. We knew that many roles from last season would be vastly different this season, and that we needed to continue to be open to growth and understanding in those new roles, all while giving it time to breathe.
Q: Along with that, how important was that title for your program into the future to establish that Canterbury can be a “boys basketball school”?
A: Our title last season was incredibly important. It established that with continued effort and growth of our players, and coaches throughout all of the levels of our program we can be a continuous force at the 1A level. We certainly have enough talented athletes, but how we continue to grow their basketball acumen and piece together the puzzle is vital.
Q: Do you find it to be easier or harder to not play in a conference? Do you prefer having the focus being all on development and preparation for the postseason?
A: Truthfully, I see value in both, and my scope has changed a bit on this question after having recently moved into the Athletic Director role. I miss the opportunities a conference brings for both the players and fans. Opportunity to celebrate a conference title, an all conference nod, and the natural rivalries that can be created. However, schedule flexibility as an independent has helped us grow as a program, and I believe played a direct role in the success we saw last season.
It allows us to create what I feel to be the most difficult schedule seen by any 1A team. At this moment, we look at our early season as a preseason, prepping for the postseason. Whereas, if we were a part of a conference that growth pattern may be looked at differently.
Q: You sat 3-3 going into the New Year, how does this group plan to continue to manufacture momentum for 2025?
A: We talk continuously about doing “us” better than our opponent does themselves. This points us directly to controlling our controlables. If we continue to do just that, then our outcomes, win or lose, will be beneficial to our long term goals. Just prior to break and into early January, we hit what I call our crucible. We see several high level teams which challenge us in many different ways. Staying focused on “us” through this will be imperative.
Q: It has been a while, but you opened the season with a two overtime slugfest win over Central Noble. How critical was it to win game one but also to be able to tough out a multiple overtime win?
I think that game vs. Central Noble was far more important in the players minds than in ours as coaches. The players needed to feel connected and unified as a group, with new leaders, and new roles. I think this game accomplished some of that for them. Everyone understood that they don’t simply need one player to make a spectacular play, but all to make significant small plays that stack up, and lead to a win. Their collective diligence and focus in the both the overtimes was fantastic and often makes our jobs as coaches less demanding and more fun.
Q: Talk a little about Reed Hayes. An accomplished baseball player, but he was a critical doing all of the supplementary things in the title run last year and has become a huge asset this season, leading the Cavs in rebounding and field goal percentage.
Reed is a treat to coach. He is such a driven and gifted athlete, and is truthfully just scratching the surface of a wonderful athletic career. Reed recently signed with the University of Indianapolis to play baseball, and I couldn’t be happier for him. Reed provided many, many instances of great minutes last season. Some of the pressure was taken off of him by a slew of skilled teammates.
We just asked Reed to “go be an athlete” last year, and he thrived in that role. This season is a bit different. We still want him to be an athlete, but couple that with senior leadership and being a bit of a “chess piece” on the court. We will use him in many roles as our line up changes, but he will certainly give what he always has from day 1. Toughness and heart.
Q: You’ve had a good career not only in school ball but on the AAU scene. How did coaching AAU help prepare you to lead a program when you took over Canterbury?
I think coaching at the AAU level prepared me for coaching at Canterbury from several standpoints. The most important being, bringing together players with different abilities, basketball acumen, and varying styles to create an environment where players can mesh and understand how to use their strengths to fashion a functional unit without egos. That plays directly into our institution’s “no cut policy”. I see players that may have never played an organized basketball game, coming out as a Senior. How you make that player feel and how you utilize them is critical within the system. Foremost, I always have and still do want all of my teams to take a bite of humble pie and play for the guys next to them.
Q: What has been the biggest change to the high school game since you started coaching?
I think that the biggest change to the game has been the arc, although this is not a recent change. I grew up in an era where I saw the arc for only one year of my high school career, and during this period there was a different emphasis on how to score the ball. I have seen it continually change the game throughout my coaching career in terms of the skill level of players, spacing on the floor, and defensive schemes.
I think that it has promoted some good things like challenging players to guard out further on the floor and spacing your bigs who may not be true back to the basket players, but it has also done damage. Nothing grates on me more than walking into our middle school games, and seeing a player who has yet to develop a true fundamentally sound shot, or the necessary strength launching shots from Steph range. Overall, I believe the good outweighs the bad, but it depends on what night you are in the gym.
Be the first to comment