Oxford’s boys’ basketball is one of the few teams I have seen in 15 years reporting high school basketball that bucked convention, and didn’t move players from its junior varsity player up to the varsity as a mere formality.
It’s a time-honored tradition for the best one or two junior varsity players to get a taste of the varsity team during the postseason. That taste is typically at the end of the bench as they watch the varsity perform in the most critical games of the season. These are the games where a loss ends the team’s season, and for seniors, their high school careers.
Earlier this month, Oxford, already a winning team, began the transition of working junior varsity players into the varsity lineup. Now, why would a team that was already clinching its fourth straight divisional championship proactively blend new players into the already-developed team chemistry?
Because Oxford coach Tim Davis believed his team could be better – much better – with the addition of several underclassmen.
The Blackhawks’ junior varsity won lopsided game after lopsided game this season posting a 16-0 record, and winning every league contest by well over 30 points. Its two closest games of the season came in the Norwich-hosted Tom Schwan Tournament – against larger schools – where it defeated Norwich by double digits and Oneida in the finals.
Unfortunately, this talented junior varsity team had just seven players, and with one person injured most of the season, was limited to just six able bodies. Any transfer of talent to the varsity level would have dismantled the team. “I was real honest with my team, and there was no way, not with six players on the JV, that we could move anyone up during the regular season,” Davis said. “The best way for everyone to get playing time was to keep those guys down, do the best we could with our varsity team, and plan on moving kids up at the end.”
In recent weeks, Davis used integrated practices of varsity and junior varsity players almost as a tryout session as he determined his best rotation of players. Saturday against Walton, the fruits of those tryouts came to bear in a 20-point MAC title victory over the Warriors.
The same faces that helped Oxford to 12 wins during the regular season continued to play, and new faces such as Andrew Golden, Justin Schray, Paul Wonka, and Caden Izard, all seeing their first significant varsity minutes, proved perfect complements. Sure, the allotment of playing time was different than the first 17 games this season, but this is a case where the means definitely justified the end. Did anyone see the front page of the sports section on Monday, Feb. 22? There were plenty of smiling, jubilant Oxford players, who were proudly hoisting the league’s championship trophy.
Oxford, perceived as an underdog before last Saturday’s title game, looked like the better team almost from the start. It was the better team because the junior varsity players were not used as window dressing. The players were used on the floor because the team needed them.
I recently spoke to an area coach who brought up two players from the junior varsity for the playoffs. I asked him if either of those players might help him in the postseason. He said yes, but said he wouldn’t use either player because the parents (of other players) would have his head.
I was stunned. At this point of the season, the object is to win games or go home. If a new player gives your team a better chance at winning or is better than players currently in the rotation, why not use that player?
When coaches are not making the best decisions for their team, and instead play the political-correctness-appease-parents game, it hurts the team and players in the long run. In a perfect world, all players would be judged on their merit, not by their year in school.
Not every school has a star freshman or sophomore who can jump to the varsity and make an impact. Davis realized that he had a potential gold mine of talent at the lower level, and he wasn’t afraid to use it. I applaud his decision, and I wish more coaches would follow suit.