The Big Interview: Brentwood HC Troy Bond
In this article:
Brentwood finished last season 14-13 despite four distinct 3-game win streaks. In early August, Head Coach Troy Bond shared thoughts on his current team and the players who will make up the 2023-2024 Brentwood Bruins.
PrepHoopsTN Andrew Force: What do you see from
Daniel Cochran
Daniel
Cochran
6'7" | SF
Brentwood | 2024
State
TN
this year?
HC Troy Bond: He is a special player for sure. Outstanding academic guy as well as a stud performer on the basketball court. Daniel is really improved his wing position play. Last year we kind of introduced him playing some there. He has really developed that. He had a really good summer for us. Kind of was injured a little bit early. Had another stellar summer for us. Finished up. I know he had a really good AAU run right there in July, as well. Big summer. He is our guy that we put all the heavy lifting on his shoulders, man. For sure. He is a great young man as well as a great young player.
PrepHoopsTN Andrew Force: I know you came from Oakland, was it?
HC Troy Bond: Yes.
PrepHoopsTN Andrew Force: Have you been there [Brentwood] his entire high school career?
HC Troy Bond: I coached him his sophomore year, so I have coached him for two years. This is my third year there.
PrepHoopsTN Andrew Force: My familiarity with him is exactly the same as yours, in terms of that time. I didn’t know him at all as a freshman. When I saw him, from like a wide-angle lens, I was like ‘Oh, man. Is he gonna be a tweener? Like a 6’5″ PF?’ That was my first impression. Jeff Laidig told me over a year ago, ‘No, he can play a wing. He is really athletic.’ I was surprised and thought I would keep an eye out for that. He blossomed and he is WAY more light on his feet than I expected than when I first saw him.
HC Troy Bond: He grew quite a bit too. As a freshman he was 6’4″. As a sophomore he was about 6’6″. Now he is in the 6’7″/6’8″ range. He went from 188 pounds as a freshman. Then he was 200 when I met him. Now he is a good 220. He’s substantially gotten bigger height-wise and muscle-wise, which has definitely helped him. Obviously, when you don’t have a lot of height guys have to play certain positions…whatever helps your team the best. The great thing about him is that he is a multiple-type guy. We can play him in a bunch of different spots. He can bring the ball down the floor when we are in transition. When we got there [Brentwood], they played a little slower. A little more methodical. We wanted to play more up and down and really get after you. Trapping. Trying to make the game fast. Up the tempo. And he has really adjusted to that well. That was a little bit of an adjustment, as it was for all of our guys I think. Now, you can see him in that position, starting year 3 with us, he feels comfortable with what we do in that position. We ask a lot out of him and I think he is going to be a steal for somebody honestly. 35 ACT. Sometimes you got great players and there are a lot of things that come with them. Or there is a little question mark in there. The thing about him is…he has a great work ethic. Gym rat. And being a top player sometimes that is not always necessarily the case. Outstanding character. Outstanding academics. I think he is going to get better and better. He is one of those guys, he is not going to be complacent in what he does. He spends a ton of time in the mornings and afternoons on top of what we do.
PrepHoopsTN Andrew Force: 35 is stellar. Not just good. That is Presidential Scholar-type level. Does he have any Ivy League’s talking to him.
HC Troy Bond: A lot of interest. No offers yet. We have had Yale and Harvard come by. I think it is all a matter of finding the right piece. Find the right place to go. Academically he can qualify, he can go anywhere he wants. For Daniel it is a thing where he wants to play at a school that is extremely high-academic, as well. So, there is a ton of interest. He is not playing football this year. The fall is a huge part of the recruitment process. I think that is going to be a plus for him that he hasn’t had yet. In the past couple of years people have called wanting to see and he has been in football and can’t do it. Having that ability to have people come and see him during this preseason scenario is going to be big for him.
PrepHoopsTN Andrew Force: Are these the probable starters? Jacob. Nick.
HC Troy Bond: Nick got relocated back to the Miami-area. So, we are losing him. Which is huge. There is still hope out there that maybe they could get it worked out before the season started. Dad got relocated back. That is where they came from. That is a tough haul for us right now. We are just praying hoping he can get back and get it worked out.
PrepHoopsTN Andrew Force: Ok.
HC Troy Bond: Jacob Purifoy is a senior. Started last year. Also a State Tournament golfer. Had a really good summer for us. He really bought into the weight room. Probably put on 15 pounds since last year. And just has a great feel for the game in the sense of he plays at a really fast level. He is intense. He had a really good summer for us, I thought. I thought he really improved a lot. His confidence has gotten better. We expect a lot out of him leading the show.
PrepHoopsTN Andrew Force: Ok. Who else was starting for you in June?
HC Troy Bond: We have a sophomore inside
Kevin Spivey
Kevin
Spivey
TN
. About 6’3″. Going to be a rising junior. Kind of an old school throwback guy. Tough defender. Good board guy. Does the intangible things. Taking charges, putting his body on the floor. That kinda thing. He is going to be, I think he is going to be really good for us. Again, statistically you are not going to look up and just see crazy numbers but he is one of those guys that does a lot things that you have to have to win.
PrepHoopsTN Andrew Force:
HC Troy Bond: Brandon McKnight. I am sorry,
Hudson McKnight
Hudson
McKnight
6'2" | PG
Brentwood | 2026
State
TN
. I had another guy that played for me named Brandon. I call [Hudson] that all the time. He laughs at me.
Hudson McKnight
Hudson
McKnight
6'2" | PG
Brentwood | 2026
State
TN
is going to be a sophomore. Started some for us last year in some spots. Really one kind of those intangible guard guys that can play three positions for you. Shoots the ball well and really sees the floor well. The big thing with him was, as a freshman, he is a real thin guy. But he has gotten bigger. We can get a little more size on him. He is a kid that again, loves the gym. Puts a ton of time in. Really good passer. And he has had a really good summer for us.
We have had multiple guys that have been really good for us this summer. Preston Terry, which is a rising junior. 6’3″. Really had a good summer as well. Good boards guy. Really runs the floor well. He is another guy that has some intangibles to him that really show up in big times when you need it.
Jake Wilson Jake Wilson 6'3" | PG Brentwood | 2025 State TN was another guy. Another rising junior. A good athlete. Good finisher. Runs the floor well. Didn’t play a lot last year as a sophomore but got some good experience this summer.
Jackson McCutcheon Jackson McCutcheon 5'9" | PG Brentwood | 2026 State TN . Is he going to be a sophomore. Another guy, kinda like Hudson [McKnight], is a really thin kid but really shoots the three well. He is an extremely good shooter and in today’s game shooting the basketball is such a huge part of what we do. Williamson County, in particular it is a huge thing. He had a really good summer for us.
And then Daniel Olopade. Rising senior. Probably athletically the most athletic kid we have. Really strong defender. Really active hands. Good speed on the floor. In our traps and our press in stuff he does a great job for us. He had a good summer for us. He has gotten better. Defensively, we are hitting our stride. People kinda know what to do and where to be, which is crazy important in the way that we want to play. Offensively is the biggest thing we want to improve upon. Like I say, Nick Degnan Nick Degnan 6'2" | PG Brentwood | 2025 TN had an outstanding summer. He is a guy that, golly, man. He probably got 16-17 points a game for us this summer. He is going to be big shoes to fill that we didn’t plan on dealing with, if you know what I mean.
PrepHoopsTN Andrew Force: I watched Shockers AAU with Hudson and Jackson. They played really well together, but the whole team was very unselfish. I love Hudson long-term. Really skinny like you said, but…
HC Troy Bond: He has a motor man. He walks out there and you think, ‘Golly, he is thin’ but he comes up with plays sometimes like keeping the ball alive. He keeps his head on a swivel as I like to say. He sees things happen on the floor. Plays in transition.
PrepHoopsTN Andrew Force: Yeah. I think he has the perfect brain for a point guard.
HC Troy Bond: Yeah, he does a great job. We kind of played him in all three of those spots and Jacob [Purifoy] and him are kind of interchangeable a little bit. And so, last year as a freshman he kind of got thrown into that. We had some injuries early. He did well. And then confidence-wise he kind of changed. Once you get to that varsity in January, when things really start heating up people kind of know what you are good at what you aren’t good at, and they really try to work on your weaknesses. I thought he did a really good job of taking advantage of that experience. Most people don’t get that opportunity. They are playing freshmen games. I really think that helped him. You could see his confidence. Even just coaching him. He learned how to take it better. He felt more comfortable with what we wanted to do, and you could kind of see him jumping by that level. And Jackson kind of the same way. You have that confidence. And utilizing what their strengths were.
I got to watch them play at the Franklin event over there. I know their team did really well. I know watching them that day they didn’t play like a typical AAU team.
PrepHoopsTN Andrew Force: No, not at all.
HC Troy Bond: They kind of played with that team chemistry to them and what they were doing.
When we first came in, we had a ton of football guys and now a lot of these guys are more basketball-minded. Not taking anything away from the athletes [that play both], but sometimes you have guys that are zoned into football. You kind of have more time with them…we would go into November, and we would be without a lot of our top guys for three weeks of practice. It would come time to start playing. That takes some time to really make that adjustment.
We are excited about these guys.
PrepHoopsTN Andrew Force: My last question. Is Davis [Cochran] Daniel’s younger brother?
HC Troy Bond: He is. He is going to be a good player. They are totally different, but man he has got that competitive size that you like to have. That freshman group has some nice skill. Nice athleticism. Some swagger to them that you love.
PrepHoopsTN Andrew Force: I really appreciate it.
HC Troy Bond: Yes sir.