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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

After the departure of a giant of coaching in Shelby County, the Spain Park Jaguars look to continue what Chris Laatsch started with another leader who has already has plenty of success in the area.

After Laatsch became the head coach at Orange Beach over the offseason, Spain Park hired former Thompson coach DJ Black, who found himself out of work despite guiding the Warriors to their first Elite Eight appearance since 2013.

Now, he’s excited for a fresh start at a program that’s doing anything but starting over.

“Spain Park’s a special place,” Black said. “The kids are great. The parents are great. The administration’s great. It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s been a smooth transition. Any time you take over a program that’s healthy like coach Laatsch had it, it makes the transition that much easier.”

The Jags have a solid foundation with a proven track record of success, highlighted by a Final Four appearance in 2023.

However, they were unable to reach those same heights in 2024 as despite going undefeated in area play during the regular season, they fell to Chelsea in the area semifinals, missing out on regionals entirely.

It’s a new look though as Spain Park won’t have any players back who started the full season last year. In their place though are a group of young players who may be unproven but are ready to earn their place and prove their talent.

“You have a lot of guys who are just hungry because there’s a standard here at Spain Park, and it’s in everything they do,” Black said. “It’s across the board here at Spain Park. They have high standards academically. They have high standards in the community, and these guys, they’re just used to that, so they’re ready to prove themselves.”

The newness of the roster is compounded by a short offseason with Black, who took the job in May. That put a lot of emphasis on the summer for the team to come together very quickly, and Black said they did just that.

“Obviously, the transition and taking over the program in May, we had a pretty quick turnaround until our in June playdates, and that’s where there was growth,” Black said. “The guys got to know who I am as not just a coach, but as a person, and I got to know them, not just as players, but as kids as well. Now I feel like we’ve been in a little bit of fire through our summer, and we’ve had a great preseason, and I really think we know each other pretty well and we’re ready to play somebody else now.

“So, the transition’s been good. The buy-in’s been phenomenal by the kids. They’re here every morning working out and they’re staying after school every day. So, we’ve hit the ground running.”

As Black and the players have gotten to know each other and develop their own style that’s quite different from last year’s team. Instead of playing through the post like the sides that Black had to face at Thompson, expect a fast-paced, backcourt-oriented style.

“We’re not as tall as the traditional Spain Park teams, but we do have length,” Black said. “I just remember from rolling over here and there being 6-foot-8, 6-foot-9, 6-foot-7 (players). Coach Laatsch did a phenomenal job using those guys and playing for their style. We are a little bit more guard heavy now, so we’ll like to play a little faster and shoot a bunch of threes and hopefully make a bunch of threes.”

One of those guards is actually a returning face in Josh Fonbah, a senior who started last year strong but battled injuries down the stretch. Black said he’s been cleared since the end of the summer and has gotten right back to work improving ahead of the season.

He’ll be paired with the versatile Garrett Gorman, who comes from Oak Mountain and is one of multiple players who transferred to Spain Park over the offseason. Gorman and Fonbah will be two of the leaders as part of a five-man senior class.

Black is expecting breakout performances from juniors Harrison Stewart and Sam Fox, the latter of whom is back at Spain Park after briefly moving away from the area, as well as Tommy Morrison.

Morrison is a sophomore who at 6-foot-7 will help with the team’s inside presence but has outside, guard-like skills as well, and Black believes that combination gives him a high ceiling.

The team will also have multiple players working their way into the rotation, including a pair of returning juniors in Quinn Davis and Cooper Gann who were on varsity last year and junior transfer guard Riley Kent, who comes from across town after playing JV for Hoover.

Black has seen the team as a whole grow tremendously both in the weight room and in learning more about the game, which has made them stronger, smarter players on the court. He believes that will translate into a strong shooting side.

“This team really shoots the basketball well,” Black said. “They share the ball well and their basketball knowledge, like I always say, the play always trumps the call, and they’re starting to catch on to that. Every day, they’ve made each other better, and I think it’s really going to show early on in our ability to really shoot.”

Those shooting performances will be needed as the drop from 7A to 6A did little favors to the Jags with their new area.

All three of Spain Park’s opponents in Class 6A, Area 8 made the playoffs last season, and the players and fans know Chelsea, Helena and Pelham well as county rivals. That has led to a lot of excitement for area play as Black hopes for energetic atmospheres.

“I think it’s going to be a very good area,” Black said. “I love it because of the proximity of all the schools. Chelsea, Pelham and Helena, these kids all know each other. The schools know each other. I think we can really develop, not that we didn’t in the past, some new rivalries, and hopefully student sections travel, fans travel hopefully for all those area games, the gyms are packed out. I think they’ll be a good buzz, a good excitement. So, I’m excited for it.”

With many of the young players seeing firsthand last year what it means to be successful in area play, they hope to now take that mantle and use that experience to power success in Class 6A this year.

Black will bring his own playoff experience to the group, and that starts with his philosophy. The Jags have adopted his “Iron Sharpens Iron” mentality that he instilled at Thompson, and as a result, the players and coaches are daily working to strengthen each other.

He said that the team has grown tremendously since they first played together in June, and he expects them to continue on that upwards trajectory throughout the season.

“It’s just the growth,” Black said. “You can see it in each and every one of these guys, but they’re doing it together and that’s what’s fun. So, if you ask me what I want to see at the end of the season, just these guys keep sharpening each other’s swords and making each other better and that’s where these kids will grow, not just as players, but as people.”