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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The excitement around the Shelby County Wildcats is palpable going into the 2024-25 boys basketball season, and a key reason why is the new face at the helm.

Chase Cornelius is starting his first season as the Wildcats coach after coming to Columbiana from a successful stint at West Blocton. Now, his goal is to help the program reach the heights that it has in the past as the school rallies behind the team.

“The big thing we’re trying to do is we’re trying to revamp what Shelby County basketball has been in the past, and so we’ve got the tools, we’ve got the athletes to do what we need to do,” Cornelius said. “Kids are buying into the program day-by-day. The excitement is growing in the community. It’s a great community, and they stand behind their teams, which is really, really big for this school.”

For the four starters returning along with multiple other veterans, it has been a night-and-day difference since Cornelius took over.

Junior forward Andres McGinnis said that the new coaching staff has helped upend everything for the better of the program.

“He just wants to be a good team,” McGinnis said. “Him coming in has just changed everything we have been doing, and it’s really been helping us. We’re in the gym more. It’s really helping.”

Senior guard Lawson Starnes said that Cornelius pushes the players to work hard and set goals for themselves that they can strive to achieve.

“He challenges us every day we’re trying to meet a goal, and if we don’t meet that goal, he wants us to continue to work, try to reach that point,” Starnes said.

Cornelius brought in multiple high-pedigree assistants including longtime Mountain Brook coach Mark Cornelius and former West Alabama player Nathan Bates alongside veteran Shelby County coach Stacy McGehee to build a better identity on and off the court.

On the court, Cornelius hopes to play an exciting brand of basketball that makes the most of the athletes that the program has. He’ll bring his

“We’re going to be very fast-paced,” Cornelius said. “We’re going to do a lot of transition. I don’t believe in slowing the ball down at all, and it’s going to be one of those things that we’re going to keep the defense on their heels, 99 percent of the game anyways. We do a lot of situational things. However, the situational things dictate from what we put on pressure on the defense.”

Cornelius has seen success with this style with a 132-89 career record at West Blocton, Gardendale, Tarrant and Banks Academy. However, he believes the Wildcats have the most talent of any group he’s ever coached, so he has high expectations for this season.

“I’ve had several teams in the past that have been successful with the way we run transition,” Cornelius said. “I haven’t had athletes like I have here, and so it’s going to be really interesting to see how well we can translate from practice to games, because we do have a very tough area, but I feel like we have a team that can compete for a championship in year one.”

To compete this year, they will have to face a strong county foe in Briarwood Christian along with long road trips to Sylacauga and Central-Clay County. On top of that, they will have road games at Cullman and Hartselle as they will use non-area play to challenge themselves and grow.

McGinnis, Starnes, Sutton Reed and Montez White will make up the core of the team on the court as Cornelius will use a mix of older and younger players on the court this year.

With the additions of junior Ryan Sipes and sophomore Tyson Duncan, Shelby County will have a rotation of six or seven players to rely heavily on, and Cornelius believes any of them could take over on a given night.

They will also have the benefit of existing chemistry from having played with each other for so long. That chemistry has only grown since the new staff took over.

“The more and more we play with each other, the better it’s gotten,” Cornelius said. “Most of these guys have been either playing up since they’ve been in middle school, or they’ve been together since they’ve started.”

One of the biggest challenges for Cornelius since he took over has been reshaping the players’ mentality.

As both a coach on the court and on the football field for the Wildcats’ big turnaround on the gridiron in 2024, Cornelius has seen firsthand the strong work ethic that the players have and how much they are willing to pour into the program, school and community.

Now, it’s about helping the players learn how to overcome challenging circumstances and establish that mentality from the top down in hopes of achieving their lofty goals.

“Not to harp on the past or these guys, because if you tell them to give them to give you their all, they’re going to, but their mindset has been frustrating for them,” Cornelius said. “It’s easy for them to look back and quit on some things that are difficult, and right now, we are changing that mindset as a program and as a community as a whole, starting from the middle school up, that things are going to be difficult, but we have to find a way to push through the difficult circumstances, we have to push through to get to our goal and our challenges that we want to see fulfilled, and that’ll help us come out on top in the end.”

At the end of the day, Cornelius is a strong advocate for what his players and Shelby County as a school can do. He knows that they can achieve more than they have in the past, and that starts this year with the veterans laying the foundation for what’s to come.

“They’ve had some good teams in the past, but not really to what their potential should be,” Cornelius said. “And so with these group of guys having only two seniors who are going to reach out a lot to the younger guys, they’re going to contribute a ton, and so that’s going to be one of those things that the faster we get bought in to the program, the better we’re going to be in the long haul.”

Beyond getting the players bought in, Cornelius wants to get the Columbiana community bought in to what he wants to do with the program.

His promise to that community?

“We’re going to have the most exciting style of play in the state of Alabama,” Cornelius said. “So, come on out.”