Entering his fourth season coaching the Flint Elite boys’ basketball team, Greg McMath has won a lot of games – averaging more than 16 per year since he took over the program. Last year, that carried over into the postseason too.
The team, which is a co-op between New Standard and Madison academies, beat International Academy of Flint for the first district title in program history and then followed that up with a win over Harbor Beach to capture its first-ever regional championship before losing in the state quarterfinals to Arts & Technology Academy of Pontiac , last season. Now, with its mix of returning stars and some new underclassmen ready to make an impact, the team has its sights set on even bigger goals.
“It’s our fourth year, so we’re still growing as a program,” McMath said. “I’m proud of the way the kids have adapted to my system, and couldn’t be more proud of how they take care of business on and off the court. We were district and regional champs last year, so we’re just ready to take the next step with this young group.”
The team loses a key player from last year with the graduation of Jhirnea Harris, but there is a lot of firepower returning, led by senior Jeffrey Turner. Turner is one of five returning players, which will lead to familiarity and continuity on the court.
“I like our team’s energy,” Turner said. “We have real good chemistry. We like to compete, but we have fun too.”
Turner is closing in on becoming the fourth 1,000-point scorer in school history. He cited the team’s leadership and discipline as key components of what people watching the team can expect this season, and that starts with point guard play. Flint Elite has two experienced point guards who can be relied on to run the team.
Sophomore A.J. Smith Jr. played on varsity as a freshman, and is expected to take another step forward in this development this season.
“He had a really good season,” McMath said. “We’re looking for him to take the next step to really be the leader that we are looking for.”
Senior Dei’on Wright, also a point guard, brings his basketball experience back to the floor, but also just orchestrated a successful season in another sport, leading the football team to its first-ever district championship as the starting quarterback.
“I’m really just keeping the same mindset we had in football,” Wright said. “We had a great season. Being a starting quarterback and a senior point guard, I gotta bring energy to practice and just be the voice of the team.”
Along with the returning players, 6-3 freshman Kaydin Banks is also expected to play a key role on the team. Wright said with so much offensive firepower, it will put pressure on the point guards to make sure everyone gets involved, but that’s a challenge he welcomes. He said it starts with how they practice and prepare.
“Our practices, they are strong, heartfelt practices,” Wright said. “We just make sure we compete at the highest level every day.”
For Turner, it is important for him to produce on the court but also to replicate the senior leadership he said has been a part of the program for years now.
“I’m focusing on just being a good leader,” Turner said. “Our senior leadership has always been really strong, for real, we just have leaders. So I want my senior leadership to stand out to the team so they can look back and say he led us to.”
Like every season, Flint Elite will play a difficult schedule, including local rivals that traditionally have strong teams at Hamady and International Academy. They play non-conference games against Kalamazoo Phoenix (19-5 last year) and Auburn Hills Avondale (16-8 last season), all with an eye on preparation for the postseason.
McMath hopes that schedule, combined with consistent preparation in practices, will just lead to continued growth for the program.
“We’re just looking to get better and mature as a team,” McMath said. “We have to use our defense to create offense early. Then as we mature and get a little bit better, I think it’ll start to click. We like to play fast. We like to be a pressure defensive team. We want to play hard, tough, push the ball and get shots up.”
For the players, last season set a bar for them that they’re trying to top this season.
“We’re trying to go farther than we did last year. That’s it,” Smith said.
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