Dublin…The Pulaski Co. Cougar boys basketball team went 15-9 last year and look for more success this year as they should be more athletic and deeper than last year.

Last year’s team wasn’t the most athletic or the quickest and surely not the tallest Cougar squad. They did play real good defense, looked for each other and the pieces just seemed to fit. They lost Miguel Garcia and Isaac Poe, two starters from last year’s team. This Cougar squad will have 13 players, with three of them being seniors. Of those three only one is a returnee, Bryan Roberson. Bryan played quite a bit, while the other two seniors weren’t on the team. Bryant Grubb the starting football quarterback played as a sophomore and has returned to play. Heath Gray is a former junior varsity but sat out last year. This team is mainly a junior class led team. CC Grubb a 6-2 junior, Sean Spencer 6-0 junior along with Noah Bradley 6-3, Trent Blankenship 5-11 and Braeden Blevins 6-3 all saw time on the varsity last year. The last three all saw time with the varsity. Other juniors on the team will be Kellen Dalton 6-0, Jaylin Nowlin 5-11 and Tyrese Redd 6-0. Dalton started most all of the junior varsity games before he was called up at the very end of the season to the varsity. Nowlin played lots of games on junior varsity and Redd make the varsity during open tryouts. The only sophomore will be 6-5 Austin Reinhardt who played in all the junior varsity games last year.

The Cougars are coached by former Cougar player Andrew Hart. Hart is in his third year and has a 26-22 mark at the helm of the Cougars. His assistant is Brandon Smith, who is also a former Cougar and is in his third year with Coach Hart. C J Burgis will be the junior varsity headman in his third year and his assistant is Phil Mallery also his third season. Burgis and Mallery also played for the Pulaski Co. Cougars in their playing days.

Coach Hart was asked about each player and what the player will bring to the team this season. Coach Hart stated, “Bryan is a real good shooter. He’s a good offensive player. He’s improved on defense and has become more confident and improved. Bryant’s (Grubb) physical play will be important to us. His football has made him stronger and more physical. He’s a good athlete, brings toughness to this team. He can do it all–offense, defense, rebound and shoot the ball. (Heath Gray) was with us as a sophomore on the junior varsity and has come back out. He is point guard and will see action. He has good handle of the ball and will see solid minutes for us.“

Coach then added regarding the juniors, “CC (Grubb) led us in scoring last year, He can definitely fill it up. Real good shooter and athletic. He was second last year in rebounds for us. He has gotten stronger and looking for more good things from him. (Sean Spencer) started last year for us. Very solid in everything. Does all things well. Has good toughness, plays great “D” and very versatile and athletic. Logan (Robertson) will be more than likely our starting point guard. Has very much improved. Shoots better, handles better. Puts lots of pressure on the ball, defensively. Has real good motor.”

“Kellen (Dalton) is a real shooter. Can score. Will see lots of playing time. Can play a couple positions. (Jaylin Nowlin) played lot on the junior varsity last season. Will see some action at guard. Solid back up. Can do a number of things. Braeden (Blevins) played lot on varsity last year. Will see time at forward. Good rebounder. Has really improved his range and is solid on his defense.”

“Noah (Bradley) has improved as much as any player in the off season. Low post player. Shot has improved as well as his rebounding ability. Has stepped up in his leadership. Has a very good mid range game. Expecting good things from him. (Trent Blankenship) played for us on varsity and started s few games. Trent does lot of things for us. He’s versatile. Good Shooter. Good ball handler and rebounder. Has improved defensively.”

Coach Hart then said this about the lone sophomore on the team, Austin Reinhardt, “He played I think in every game last year as a freshman on the junior varsity. He has some good post moves. Brings us some height and big body inside for us. He can shoot well. He’s strong and is improving as a rebounder. Well see action for us this season.”

The Cougars will play seven so-called River Ridge District teams and four out-of-district squads. The four teams outside of league are Galax, Lord Botetourt, William Bryd and Bassett. When asked about these four teams, Coach Hart replied, ”Bassett is very athletic. I think they have lot of their players back from last year. Should be improved. Galax has lot of their kids back also. They like to slow the tempo down and play physical. Will have to match that physical play. Coach Verle Brown does a fine job with them. William Bryd will be very good. Have a great post player. They can play about any style, fast or slow. Well coached.”

“Lord Botetourt will be very tough. Lost a lot of the kids I had there on my last junior varsity team. I think they return a big post player. Will have match their physical style and intensity.”

Hart then gave a brief outlook on the River Ridge teams, “Hidden Valley has most every one back. Bunch of seniors. They will be very tough.”

Regarding Patrick Henry he said, “Coach Esworthy does a fine job there. He has some good returning athletes. Has a real good guard that can flat out play. Very athletic. Salem lost some real players from last year. Got a kid I think his name is Pannell? Is very good. Had a good junior varsity team. Blacksburg’s Coach Day gets a lot out of his kids. The 6-4/ 6-5 Johnston kid can really play. They have very quick guard by the name of Tyquest Terry. Very athletic. Will be improved.”

“Cave Spring will have a 6-7 post player that is good. They had the perhaps best junior varsity we played last year. Three or four seniors the will be very good. Carroll County will have a new head coach. Coach Hawks did an excellent job there. Couple kids, I think are Combs and Johnson that can play. Don’t know much about them or what they will try to do under a new coach.”

“Christiansburg lost some good players. Got a big post kid by the name of Clayborne. Played football. He’s big, physical and tough. Had some good jv kids.”

The Cougar junior varsity will have 15 players this year. They will have some good size, athletic and some good shooters. CJ Burgis, the head coach, is in his third year. The team will consist of eight freshmen and seven sophomores. The sophomore’s are: Justin Roberson, Caleb Kirtner, Ben Poe, Julian Black, Noah O’Dell, Jairus Miller and Colt Merchberger. The Freshmen will be Dre’ Grubb, Gage Mannon, James Jackson, Nathan Swinney, Chris Hay, Hayden Gray, Luke Russell and Dillon Porter. Six players are listed at 6’0 “ or taller. The team has the potential to be good and will be fun to watch as they develop.

Coach Hart was asked about this years team and he replied by saying, ”I want us to be able to go 10 deep and apply on ball pressure. Run and play fast. I think we are more athletic and deeper than last year. I believe we are more versatile at different positions. We will play man to man on defense. Like lot of movement on offense. Right now I can’t name five as the starters. Competition is a good thing.” Coach then added, ”Last year kids accepted their roles. They shared the basketball and were unselfish. This year I hope we have all of that. I think we are better balanced. We have been looking for each other. We have passed the ball well. I think we can go with different lineups if need be. We have some kids that can play two and three different positions, so I think we are more versatile.”

If the Cougars do share the ball and play defense with their quickness and athletic ability, this can be a very interesting team to watch and with a few good breaks, may just make things interesting at the “Cougar Den.”