The Troy Colts have changed coaches.
The Colts named Julius Porter the new Girls Basketball Coach
replacing Simon Bato who shockingly stepped down.
Porter was introduced to the players and parents last Saturday.
“We wanted to find a coach for all the right reasons and a
coach who will make coming to Troy one of the most rewarding experiences in our
student athletes lives. When we brought Julius in, I’ll just tell you that we
felt his instant positive energy, his warm smile, and his genuine desire, and excitement
to be at Troy” said Shane Hynes in a statement on Twitter.
Porter is well known especially from the Boys Basketball
community. He played at Clarkston from 2005-2008. He was the junior varsity and varsity assistant coach for the Wolves while learning a lot from legendary coach Dan Fife. Porter does have a championship pedigree
winning two State titles as an assistant.
What helps Porter is that he has a lot of proven experience
coming back in Kendal Zeiter, Charlotte Soboka, Alyssa Matuza, Kayla Rutledge,
Lauren Gumma, and Calen Knight. Troy has a solid sub varsity program coming up
which should help ease in the transition.
The Colts lost a key standout in Athena Sampson to graduation last season.
Troy won 15 games under Bato in the 2019-2020 season.
One thing that has bothered the Colts is that they have lost to Utica in districts in back to back years. Troy fell to the Chieftains two years ago in the district finals and then last season in the pre-district where they had the top seed in the district.
Troy won 15 games under Bato in the 2019-2020 season.
One thing that has bothered the Colts is that they have lost to Utica in districts in back to back years. Troy fell to the Chieftains two years ago in the district finals and then last season in the pre-district where they had the top seed in the district.
Troy will be in the White this upcoming season along with Adams,
Bloomfield Hills, Stoney Creek, and North Farmington. The Colts are expected to be one of the favorites for the division crown. The district hasn’t been
announced yet but it's possible that Troy could see Utica again at some point.
Thoughts
I know Porter really well from his days at Clarkston when he
coached junior varsity boys basketball however when I look at the hire there are questions and concerns.
Porter does have prior varsity coaching experience but not
in girls basketball. He was an assistant at Clarkston learning from Fife. Also
coaching in the girls game is very different than in the boys game. Perfect
examples are Jeff Rubin, Mike Griffin, and Chris Manchester.
It's not impossible for a coach to successfully make the transition from the boys game to the girls game.
Another concern that I have is that there will be a
transition period and there could be some struggle early on.
Program strength is something that I'm very curious with how Porter will handle that. Bato was very successful with program strength. Hynes feels optimistic that Porter can continue where Bato left off.
Program strength is something that I'm very curious with how Porter will handle that. Bato was very successful with program strength. Hynes feels optimistic that Porter can continue where Bato left off.
The other question is that is the Porter hire an upgrade over Bato??? This has the makings of a good hire but a lot of things have to go right in order to make this work.
Stay tuned to OAA Now for the latest on this developing
story.
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