Pre-Season Preview: Midfield Patriots

<p>Team: Midfield Patriots (Midfield AL)</p> <p>Classification: 2A</p> <p>Head Coach: Courtney Jones</p> <p>Instagram ID: @midfieldhoops</p> <p>Twitter ID: @midfieldhoops</p> <p>2020-2021 Highlight: Finished as Alabama 2A State Champions with a 58-54 win over Lanett High School</p> <p><strong>Key Returning Players:</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/10/E051C44C-ADD2-43FE-A36F-B5061AA9B152.png"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1298605 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/10/E051C44C-ADD2-43FE-A36F-B5061AA9B152-300x300.png" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a>Shannon Jones</strong> (5’9/Guard/2023) </p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Key Characteristics:</em></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Discipline</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Great Character</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Experience</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Starter on varsity since his freshman year.</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Athletic and can jump out the gym.</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Has improved perimeter J.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/10/8FF4E7BD-0366-4382-9E89-9BC5EB265B41.png"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1298606 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/10/8FF4E7BD-0366-4382-9E89-9BC5EB265B41-300x300.png" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Anthony Johnson</strong> (6’4/Guard/2021)</p> <p style="text-align: center;">IG: PigGlizzy    </p> <p style="text-align: center;">Twitter: Luhamp1</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Key Characteristics:</em></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Discipline</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Toughness</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Athleticism</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Leader</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Playmaker</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Explosive</p> <p style="text-align: center;">2-Sport Athlete</p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>Holds offers from:</em></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Alabama State</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Shelton State</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Bevill State</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Gadsden State</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Bishop State</strong></p> </blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/10/1FF5F4FB-4B4E-445B-9165-620240E64433.png"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1298613 aligncenter" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2021/10/1FF5F4FB-4B4E-445B-9165-620240E64433-300x300.png" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Jamarkus Alexander</strong> (6’3/Guard)</p> <p style="text-align: center;">IG: Woodyglizzy</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Twitter: Jamarkusalex3</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><em>Key Characteristics:</em></p> <p style="text-align: center;">Athleticism</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Versatile</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Comedian</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Has good length</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Athletic</p> <p style="text-align: center;">Plays all 5 positions for the Patriots</p> <p style="text-align: center;"> </p> <p><strong>Key Players That Will Play Major Roles:</strong></p> <p><strong>Patrick Underwood</strong> (G/F)</p> <p>Patrick will be a match up problem because he can play all 5 spots effectively.</p> <p><strong>Kendall Mitchell</strong></p> <p>Kendall will bring toughness on defense and his craftiness on offense will cause a lot of issues for opposing teams.</p> <p><strong>A Talk With The Man In Charge:</strong></p> <p>Coach Jones is going into his 9th year at Midfield, his 4th year at the program's helm. In his first five years, he sat under the tutelary of Coach Darryl Barber, and Coach Jones gives a lot of props to Coach Barber for who he is as a coach today. </p> <p>I asked Coach Jones to give me three things that Coach Barber instilled in him, and he quickly answered:</p> <ol type="1"> <li value="1">Never be outworked</li> <li>Always be prepared</li> <li>Be dedicated</li> </ol> <p>Coach has taken these three learned lessons and instilled them into his life as a coach and the heart of his team.  </p> <p>Coming off a championship season, one that was filled with a lot of adversity, Coach has set his eyes and the eyes of his team on repeating. When asked what will be the one thing that must happen for his team to repeat, Coach adamantly said, “handling Adversity over the course of a long season on and off the court.” He referenced how his team overcame adversity last year, which provides an answer sheet to how his team can look back over and use the previous year's lessons to overcome adversity this upcoming season. </p> <p>Midfield is a small 2A school in Alabama, but when I looked over his schedule, the first part of his schedule is filled with 5A, 6A, and 7A schools. When asked about what appears to be a very tough schedule, especially early on in the season, Coach Jones replied, “Like I tell people all the time, I would rather go six and whatever, as I would rather win all my area games if possible, then win the last 7. I can care less what our record looks like. Long as we go undefeated in our classification, I can care less about who we play, what people say about the team going to beat us down; none of that matters; I am just focused on winning that blue map at the end of the year.” </p> <p>Three early-season match-ups that will give Coach Jones a glimpse into the heart of his team are:</p> <p>Dec. 2 at Ramsay HS</p> <p>Dec. 4 at home against Wenonah HS</p> <p>Dec. 15 at home against Fairfield HS</p> <p>I learned in my talk with Coach Jones that he knows his craft, and he is learning every day. He is excited about this year’s team and believes he has what it takes to repeat. He has athletes, depth on the bench, and experience, which he hopes will give him the competitive advantage night in and night out. </p> <p>Coach Jones has come into himself as a coach. He tried doing it exactly like his mentor but found out he couldn’t get it done that way because the only way he could get it done was by taking what his mentor had shown him and incorporating it into the way he wanted to get it done. Coach Jones had to grow into being comfortable in doing it his way, and I guarantee you that his mentor couldn’t be any prouder for that. Now, as a head coach, Coach Jones has the jewelry to prove that the key to getting it done was by being the best version of himself. </p>