By Bobby Mathews, Sports Editor
SPRINGVILLE — Jeremy Monceaux didn’t waste a lot of time instilling his brand of hard-nosed defense and blue-collar work ethic at Springville for the 2021-2022 season, and the result was a team that went 26-6 before falling to Huffman, a team that made it to the finals of the 6A championship game.
For his efforts, Monceaux has been named the 2021-2022 St. Clair County Coach of the Year for basketball.
“These are always fun awards, but it’s really about the entire organization that you’re building,” Monceaux said. “Coach of the Year is awesome, but it’s a sign of the people who are involved with your program.”
The Tigers featured eight senior players, and the fact that this senior class bought into Monceaux’s coaching style and system immediately was the linchpin for Springville’s success on the basketball court. Monceaux preached defense first, telling his team that even if the ball wasn’t dropping on the offensive side, the part that they could control was the level of effort on the other end of the floor.
“Defense takes a lot of effort, a lot of want-to,” Monceaux said. “They (the team) took it personal.”
So what’s next for Monceaux? With so many seniors graduating, it was important that this class set the tone for the next men to step up in the program.
“When you’re trying to build or sustain a program, the legacy that this group leaves, the standard that they set … these seniors bought in,” Monceaux said. “The young guys, even the ones that weren’t on varsity yet, saw how hard they worked and what it took to be successful.”