By Chris Parker
Veteran coach Jeff Dishman takes over as head coach of the Pleasant Hope girls basketball team this year.
Dishman, who was previously at Blue Eye, made the change for several reasons.
“It is never easy leaving a place that you love, and I loved my time at Blue Eye,” Dishman said. “I lost my father in May and my sister, brother, and I are all trying to take care of our mother who is in a facility in Springfield. That is one reason that I’m here at Pleasant Hope, it’s to be closer to her. But, by no means is that the sole reason. As a coach, you believe you can come in and change things, some of the time very quickly, yet it doesn’t happen like that most of the time. It’s about getting the team to buy into what you are trying to do, and then just trying to change the things they don’t do well and give them time to work on those things. It is that very thing that I think makes a good coach a great coach; can you come in and change the culture, get more kids involved, take the program to the next level? These girls are hungry to move this program forward, are they willing to put in the work it takes to do this?”
Pleasant Hope went 14-13 last season which was just the second season the Lady Pirates finished above .500 since 2012-13.
“We need a culture change,” Dishman said. “We need to change the way we practice, the way we work in the weightroom, what we do in the summer, and how we perceive our own program. As always, it starts in the younger levels. We have plenty of young ladies playing basketball here, and we need them to continue playing. We need them to come and watch how we want to play, and how much fun our girls are having competing at a high level. But, if I had one word to say it would be ‘culture’.”
Maddy Alexander (senior), Addi Rogers (senior), Kara Williams (junior), Abigail Fitzlaff (junior) and Kyra Keeling (sophomore) are key returning players.
Dishman on Alexander: “Maddy will be asked to score more this year. She will handle the ball some and play on the wing as well. We need her to be good offensively, but we need her to be defensive as well. I look for big things from her this season.”
Dishman on Rogers: “Addi Rogers played big minutes last year, and will be asked to do the same this year. Same as everyone, we will need her to look to score more and be good defensively. She will see time handling the ball, and on the wing as well. She needs to be the team leader.”
Dishman on Williams: “Kara Williams is another player that played minutes last year. She is athletic and aggressive. We will need her to score more, and like the others play well on the defensive end of the floor. She could have a breakout season.”
Dishman on Fitzlaff: “She will play huge minutes for us this season. If she continues to work on the offensive end, she could be very good. And like the others, we need her to be sound defensively for us.”
Dishman on Keeling: “She can be a real difference maker this season. She is athletic and does some good things on the floor. I think for Kyra it is all about playing time and playing more minutes. She has good offensive skills, and she will need to play good defense for us as well.”
Dishman identified Emalie Peck (senior), Larissa Corter (senior), Shiloh Miller (sophomore), Kloie Richardson (freshman), Melina Novak (freshman) and Raya Mau (freshman) as players who could impact varsity.
Dishman on Peck: “Like most of our players, it will all come down to the work she puts in during practice. I think she could be a real defensive player in the middle for us. We will look to improve her inside game and her playing meaningful minutes will help us.”
Dishman on Corter: “She played a few years back, moved away from Pleasant Hope and has moved back this year. I think she can be very good for us on the defensive end, and we will look for that early on in the season. She has a chance to get better each day. We will look for her to handle the ball some too.”
Dishman on Miller: “Shiloh is a new edition to us coming from a homeschool. It’s a cool rule now allowing those kids to play for the school where they live. Another player that just needs time in practice to develop her game. She is a smart player and will only get better. Like most of our players, I’m excited to see the improvement she will make throughout the season.”
Dishman on Richardson: “Kloie will only get better with every day of practice. Just getting valuable reps will help improve her overall game. I’m excited to see where she is at the end of the season.”
Dishman on Novak: “We keep saying the same thing, Melina will only get better as she works throughout the season. It’s all the reps she will get during practices that will show up at the end of the year. For Melina, it is no different.”
Dishman on Mau: “I can see Raya being very good defensively as we move forward. Again, Raya just needs time in practice to get better at all the other things we will ask her to do. We are excited to see where Raya is at the end of the season and moving forward.”
While Dishman’s expectations on the court will take some adjustment, the chemistry of the team is already strong.
“I think this team really likes being around each other,” Dishman said. “We have this sense of team unity so far when we have been together. That will go a long way to helping them with a new coach and playing a new style. We are all about the same height. I think that could be very beneficial to us playing defense in many different ways. I also think we are faster this year. And lastly, I think the girls are excited to see what this team can do.”
Pleasant Hope opens the season Nov. 24-26 at the Fair Play Tournament. The Lady Pirates have two tournaments and six regular season games prior to Christmas break. It is at that point Dishman will take a step back to evaluate the team’s progress.
“We will look at everything once we get to Christmas Break,” Dishman said. “If what we are trying to do isn’t working, we can adjust what we’re doing at that time and move forward. The girls really didn’t do anything this past summer, I took the job in August so it was really late. We haven’t spent much time together, so all of the things I want to put in is going to be a lot for them to handle early on. I think they can do it; it will be a learning experience for all of us.”
