Head Coach Chris Collins gives his guards a pep talk during a timeout against West Park.

 

RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - Coming out of Christmas break, the Cordova Lancers announced the hiring of new head varsity basketball coach Chris Collins. 

Collins, who currently serves as an assistant coach at American River College and has been the Director of YBA Elite, one of the region's top Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) programs since 2014, is being tasked with the challenge of rebuilding the Lancers' varsity program. After former Cordova head coach Kevin Bridgeforth stepped down in the middle of December, the players and program needed a strong replacement with a plan in mind and appear to have found that in Collins. 

“I welcome the challenge,” Collins said. “When you’re a coach, you have to be objective, and you have to be realistic. You’re dealing with young men so there’s going to be emotions and things tied into that, but I’m going to be honest. I’m a competitor. As a coach, you must have a competitive edge and have that ‘want-to-win.’ I always say, the goal is to win but the purpose is to develop. The purpose is to develop these young men on and off the court.”

Senior power forward Damajae Moses goes up high for a basket against West Park.

Collins presented Cordova Athletic Director JP Dolliver with a three-year plan that he believes will allow the program to contend for a California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Section title, which included the plan to create a youth AAU feeder program tied directly to Cordova athletics that will develop young players as they come up and eventually play at Cordova. In the short term, he wants to give this current Lancers team the tools to improve day-by-day and game-by-game until the offseason. From the spring onward, Collins wants to see his players engaged in other sports or to be playing basketball year-round as he continues to build the foundation of what he wants Lancer’s basketball to become. 

In his first game as head coach on Tuesday, Jan. 6, the Lancers lost at home to visiting West Park 74-20 in what was the Metro League opener for both teams. Two days later, however on Thursday, Jan. 8, the Lancers bounced back with a 75-63 victory at Kennedy, improving their record to 3-8 overall, including 1-1 within the Metro League at press time and giving the team a much-needed boost of confidence. Against the Cougars, the Lancers saw four players score in double figures including seniors Echun Portis (18), Ezra Tobin (15), and Damajae Moses (10). Additionally, sophomore Jeremiah Gorman added 11 points in the winning effort. 

Senior guard Ezra Tobin dribbles up court against Oak Ridge.

While the development of the program is ongoing and will continue in earnest this offseason, Collins has short-term goals he wants to reach before the season ends. 

“When I look at the remainder of the season, I look at it and say, are we getting progressively better? You have to look at what you have and take the small wins. You have to take the scoreboard out of it and say, did we get more rebounds? Did we get less turnovers than the last game? Did we get more steals than we did the last game? Did we score progressively more than the last game? Those are small wins, and the hope is you get a lot of those small wins and one day it will equal the win on the scoreboard.”

The Lancers return to the court this Monday, Jan. 19 when they face American Canyon in a non-league contest. 

Head Coach Chris Collins talks to his players during a timeout against West Park.