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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

It’s a new era for the Montevallo Bulldogs in more ways than one as they will play in a new classification under a new head coach in the 2024-25 season.

Just like the other Montevallo athletic teams, the varsity boys basketball team will start its first-ever season in Class 5A, and for the second straight season, they’ll have a new face on the sidelines in Byron Gaskin.

“I’ve got very high expectations,” Gaskin said. “We’ll be athletic, we’ll play hard and just looking to have some fun every game.”

Gaskin came to Montevallo over the summer from Hoover as last year’s coach Norman Williams is now the head coach at Fultondale.

The Bulldogs will be a little bit behind in building chemistry, not just because of the shortened offseason with Gaskin as the coach, but because of the numerous football players who were unable to attend as many offseason workouts as those who didn’t.

Gaskin said that overcoming the lack of time together will be key to succeeding this season.

“For us, it’s really building a rapport with everybody and myself included, coming in late, getting to know the guys, building that relationship with that entire team and really getting everybody to gel once we get everybody, the entire team together. That’s going to be the biggest thing for us,” Gaskin said. “We’ve got so many guys that play football, so getting those guys gelled with us and trying to get this ship on the right track and all that, that’s going to be the major thing for us.”

As for what to expect from Gaskin’s teams on the court, he stresses pace of play and execution powered by a strong work ethic.

He is a defense-first head coach and hopes that Montevallo can adopt a strong defensive identity and build off of that.

“I’ve always been a defensive-minded coach, so you’ll always see us play hard on defense and really just try to execute everything we need to on the offensive end as well,” Gaskin said.

Expect DeMeco Gibson and Dee Cutts to be a key pair of returning pieces among a senior-heavy roster as they replace multiple graduates, including All-County Second Team guard Ja’Von Chism, who averaged 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists a game last year.

The Bulldogs do have multiple younger pieces who can add to that veteran core and make an impact, including Ke’Erin Ross.

“I’m looking for some big things out of him this year,” Gaskin said of Ross. “He’s a junior, so we’ll have him this year and next year. Hopefully, he has a breakout season this year that catapults us to an area championship or beyond, but hopefully, he can be a leader going for us into next year.”

Gibson will be one of the key senior leaders for the Bulldogs. As one of the veterans, he has taken on the responsibility of passing down the standard of success to the younger players.

“Really communicating and talking more, just leading by example,” Gibson said. “Whenever I do something, I feel like that’s like transferring it down.”

That continuity will be key as Montevallo looks to parlay a successful run to the Class 4A sub-regionals in 2023-24 into even more success at a higher classification.

The move up will likely bring a whole host of challenges, starting with a new area with Demopolis, Jemison and Selma. However, Gaskin believes the Bulldogs will be ready to face those challenges and battle each night that they take the court.

“On the court, we want to be successful in everything that we do again, and moving up into 5A, we want to be competitive every single game,” Gaskin said. “We want to put the best product for us out there that we can. Again, we’re going to play hard all the time and we’re going to give everybody a fight every single game, every minute we’re on the court.”

The Bulldogs will start the 2024 season at home against Briarwood Christian on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 7:30 p.m.