Don Bosco girls change coaches in season
To say Don Bosco High girls basketball coach Charles Banks is doing his best in a challenging situation might qualify as the understatement of the still young year.
Three weeks ago, the Wolves had a different coach, who is no longer with the program.
Enter Banks, who was already working at the school and has 17 years of experience as a basketball referee.
“It’s been a heck of a challenge,” the new coach said.
Not only are there eight first-year players on the Wolves’ roster, but under the previous coach, the team rarely even practiced. Now, Banks has them working four days a week.
Unfortunately for the players, they have spent more time practicing than playing. As a charter school, games can be hard to come by, and Don Bosco enters its first Tonganoxie Invitational with an 0-2 mark. The Wolves are excited about the tourney and getting three more games on their record.
Banks said the team slowly is making progress and the players’ best quality might be their stick-to-it-ive-ness. The players have proven resilient, even in a recent loss in which they scored only six points.
“My kids are still out there, they’re trying hard, they’re listening and they’re learning,” Banks said. “The score was never an issue with them.”
The coach admitted it will be difficult for Don Bosco to get a victory at the invitational, but that won’t deter his players.
“They’re excited,” Banks said. “All they want to do is play.”
The coach is happy he inherited a group of players with that mindset, and the leader of the team is co-captain Charnee Gilbert.
“She’s a special individual,” the coach said of the forward, who has a lot of size at 6-foot-1. “She gives it her all … she’s willing to learn new things, and it’s the sign of a leader.”
Gilbert comes to every practice with a positive attitude, ready to learn and a desire to improve her conditioning.
“She’s not the most athletic person,” Banks said, “but she’s going to be one of those players out there that’s going to give you 150 percent.”
The Wolves’ other co-captain is Jessica President, perhaps the team’s best shooter and ball handler.
“She has all the talent to do some things,” her coach said, adding that President just needs to stay focused.