New season looks promising for Decatur basketball

Decatur Golden Gators

2015 record: 6-14

Key returners: Devon Kelley, Tanner Rees

Key losses: Deonte Smith

Head coach: David Choi

2016 Season Preview:

When looking back on last season, the Decatur Golden Gators certainly gave the appearance they had the pedigree to be a team who could compete for postseason play, but it turned out to be more of a learning curve for the Gators.

Along with the promise of a new season, Decatur Golden Gators’ coach David Choi also had the birth of his son to lead off 2015. While it didn’t help on the court, Choi said he was surprised at the growth he personally experienced in raising a newborn.

He said the new addition to the family gave him a whole different outlook on coaching basketball.

“I’ve come to a lot of realizations in my life about maturity,” Choi said. “I’ve just learned so much from last year. I’ve done a lot of professional development with state participants. Engaging in a lot of conversations (with other coaches) about how they’ve turned around 6-14 seasons into perennial power houses.”

Choi and the Decatur program aren’t too far removed from the Decatur golden years on the court. The Gators last appearance in the state tournament was five years ago.

Decatur is starting fresh this year. The Gators finally have a gym they can actually call home, after The Gator Dome opened in September.

For seniors Devon Kelley and Tanner Rees, the opportunity to play on a true home court is something the seniors have yet to experience throughout their high-school careers.

“This is rewarding,” Kelley said. “Like, playing at Beamer last year, we were always away. When you looked on the schedule and it said home, it was still away. We never got a home crowd because people didn’t want to make that drive. Now, we have this and people are going to come.”

One thing Decatur will feature this year, which the program lacked last year is depth, potentially returning 10 of its 11 players. Choi said he sees that as an advantage for the Gators because it’s a trait they have lacked in previous seasons.

Each year, Choi crafts a motto for the Golden Gators based on its strengths. Last season was, “We Over Me.” For the upcoming season though, Choi will simplify the creed with “Don’t Let Your Team Down.”

Decatur saw a lot of bright moments last season. It beat Lakewood last year 95-60 and beat Highline 88-57.

But there were lows, too.

The Golden Gators were thumped 87-38 by Federal Way and fell 93-56 to Kentwood. Rees said coming into last year he didn’t know how to cope with losing, but said he learned how to deal with losing last year and said it’s helped his growth as player coming into 2016.

“I’ve learned how to deal with losing,” Rees said. “So, I know how to take it and be mature about it. If we see those situations come up in games this year, we’ll know how to address it and how to fix it.”

The gym isn’t the only new addition to Decatur basketball.

Choi plans to implement a new offensive system in 2016, one that allows for better spacing out on the wings.

Choi said he went with a redesign based on his anticipated team strengths.

“We’re going to want to cut more to the basket this year,” he said. “It should lead to better scoring opportunities based on what we have.”

Decatur is known for its exclusive man defensive style, but Choi said he’s not opposed to experimenting with zone defense based on his new roster.

Choi’s top two assistants in Robert Oliver and Andrew Kim will return. Both played for Decatur. With Oliver a member of the 2010 state qualifier team and Kim was an all-team, all-league honoree for the Gators.

Even the new Gator generation acknowledges the privilege to have former players like Oliver and Kim on the bench.

“It’s huge,” Kelley said. “They just know so much about basketball. You get something wrong and they know exactly how to fix it or make a part of your game better.”

Decatur kicks off the 2016 season on Nov. 29 at Archbishop Murphy. It will open the in the Gator Dome on Dec. 9 vs. Auburn Mountainview.

“This is going to be a deep squad,” Choi said. “If we do see success it won’t be an accident.

Decatur Lady Golden Gators

2015 record: 1-17

Key returners: Sharlene Rojas-Apodaca, Makayla Lambert

Key losses: Nazareth Gibson, Emily Flavin

Head coach: Trudy Tatum

2016 Season Preview:

The Decatur Golden Gators return a veteran team in 2016, only losing two players from last season’s team. Like the boys side, Decatur will have two senior leaders in Sharlene Rojas-Apodaca and Makayla Lambert. The Golden Gators’ lone victory came in a 64-44 win over Highline.

Decatur will kick off the 2016 season, opening the Gator Dome on Nov. 29 vs. Highline. Then will welcome in Auburn on Dec. 2.