Takeaways from NWGA Media Day

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Unity Christian School hosted the NWGA Media Day on Sunday, bringing 18 north Georgia programs together for an afternoon in Rome. I was able to sit down with each team individually to ask them some questions about their team and the upcoming season. Here are some of my takeaways from those conversations.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2>Notes</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><li>The theme of the day was fast-paced basketball. When asked about style of play, most of the programs in attendance told me they were going to play fast this year and push the pace.</li><li>Excel will have a talented and deep backcourt. They bring back both leading scorers, [player_tooltip player_id='1565323' first='Jakaden' last='Barkley'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1572141' first='Jacob' last='Taylor'], and have a handful of solid guards behind them.</li><li>[player_tooltip player_id='1378137' first='Jeremias' last='Heard'] is looking like an absolute beast. He's 6'9, 280 lbs of straight muscle. He'll see plenty of touches this year as Model loses 4 of their top 7.</li><li>Calhoun expects to pick up where they left off, despite losing 8 valuable seniors. Their goals for the season include a region championship and another deep playoff run.</li><li>[player_tooltip player_id='1055485' first='Jax' last='Abernathy'] is finally receiving the D1 attention he deserves. He told me he's been hearing from Chattanooga, Furman, and Belmont.</li><li>It all starts with defense for Lafayette. Coach Hank Peppers has built a culture at Lafayette that epitomizes defense and toughness, both of which will be present in this year's squad.</li><li>Adairsville will be young but could certainly sneak up on some people. [player_tooltip player_id='1466313' first='Tre' last='Winters'] is capable of going for 30 points on any given night and Zach Postell provides another talented scoring option in the backcourt.</li><li>Coosa's identity will likely shift from their frontcourt to backcourt as they graduate Zaire Philyaw but senior guards Joseph Richardson and [player_tooltip player_id='2313227' first='Ashton' last='Williams'] are up for the challenge.</li><li>Rome is going to play a high-energy brand of basketball. They told me they're going pressure the ball on defense and push the pace with an athletic group of guards.</li><li>The culture is shifting at Trion. The players have a new level of confidence and believe in the things that first-year coach John Cornett has been implementing.</li><li>Smaller schools are starting to jump on [player_tooltip player_id='1300689' first='Austin' last='Wilkerson'] from Unity Christian. He added a handful of offers over the summer and told me he's been recently hearing from Bethel, Graceland, Shorter, and Judson as well. </li></ul> <!-- /wp:list -->