This summer Marshall County needed to replace a successful boys basketball head coach.
“I wanted to come home,”
Coach Arnett Bodenhamer told the
Columbia Daily Herald. "I’ve got kids. My oldest (Maddux, 11) is playing middle school ball at Stewarts Creek. I didn’t want to miss any of that. My other two are 4 and 1. It’s time for me to start focusing on my kids.”
Former Marhsall County Head Coach Bodenhamer will coach freshman basketball for Overton High School this winter. He also coaches football for the Nashville public school.
Coach Bodenhamer won 55 games in three seasons (2014-2016) and concluded his MCHS coaching career with a 2016 state quarterfinal appearance.
Now what?
New Coach, New Direction
Filling the vacancy of Coach Bodenhamer is
Levon King.
Coach King comes to Marshall County from Moore County. How are his top players accepting or resenting the change?
"I’m adapting well," said
Caleb Fields. "It’s kind of the same as when you join a new AAU program and you don’t know the coach. I just try to do what I’m suppose to do for the team and whatever the coach needs me to do."
Both senior guard Caleb Fields (PHT #23 in 2018) and junior guard
KJ Johnson (PHT #25 in 2019) will be integral to the team's success this season.
"He’s laid back right now," said Fields of Coach King. "He hasn’t showed us the other side of him yet, but we will still get up and down the floor like we always do."
It is always interesting to see a new coach's demeanor and also the style of play he intends to implement.
"It is kind of a slow process," said KJ Johnson. "Especially when my relationship with Coach B was more than just a player/coach thing."
Still KJ understands how important this new relationship is for Marshall County basketball, and his future plans.
Johnson helped dissect the roster with @PrepHoopsTN Wednesday afternoon. These are the key pieces:
2018 G Caleb Fields
2019 G KJ Johnson
2020 G Canelius Turner
2018 C/F Lamarcus Dodson
2018 Wing Jaleel Howard
2019 G Keshun Gentry
"Nobody really knows about them, but if they all play their parts and do what they are supposed to they could be a big impact," said Johnson.
The expectations for newly-named Coach King will be justifiably high. Just listen to 2017 Marshall County graduate Keevon Maxwell rave about the potential.
"They will be very good this year for the simple fact you have two dominant players that you have to “TRY” to shut down which is probably going to be impossible," said
Keevon Maxwell. "And that is not including the other role players. They are very small, but they’ll be okay because the upperclassmen know what it takes to win."
First-year coaches generally lean on the veterans or alienate them completely. Judging by the reactions of Fields and Johnson it seems the meeting of the minds is going well so far.
"But Coach King is a very good coach and I am looking forward to getting the season started with him," said Johnson. "I have no doubt in him."
Despite the high expectations externally, Fields wisely wants to keep the player heads small and focused.
"I think it will be a great year for us if we keep working and not underestimate the teams we play just by their name," said Caleb Fields.
With Coach Levon King at the helm and high school stars Fields and Johnson leading the charge it should really be a wonderful season.
Former Marshall County guard Keevon Maxwell continued, "Just from playing with and against the senior Caleb Fields for so long its going to be exciting to see the movie he makes his senior year!"
