GRAY DEYOSports Writer

“Tuesday morning I’ll wake up at four in the morning waiting for the game to start, just like I have all the other times,” said Jason Welch head coach of Tullahoma men’s basketball.

It will be season 32 for Welch, and although the number of years of coaching continues to grow for him, the excitement he felt on his first day as a coach remains.

Welch enters his sixth year as the Wildcats’ head coach, and optimism for how far this team could go is running high. In the 2022-2023 season, the boys’ basketball team finished with a record of 8-19, the year after in 2023-2024 they improved to a record of 17-14. They will look to continue on this trend and take another step as a program this year.

“It’s work ethic and focus. You know everybody has to keep working together, all those guys can all play. They can all help us when the games start, and if they do that we can be so deep.” said Welch regarding what is required for his team to improve again this year.

“Expectations are there but nothing is given.”

Welch has been around long enough to know that games are won before the season starts. His guys have been working relentlessly over the summer and during the school year thus far to improve their craft individually and as a team.

Welch believes his roster is deep and he believes with the unselfish nature that his team has shown, that he could have five players scoring in double figures. A group that can sacrifice their personal stats for the great or good will always be a team to reckon with, and it sounds like that is what will be showcased by Tullahoma this year.

The basketball season is host to many anomalies. A team might miss every shot they take no matter how open they are, or the team playing might make every shot regardless of how good the defense played. Things like these are not certain, but despite them there are things in the game of basketball that can be controlled. And Coach Welch has honed in on one of them. 

Style of play

Welch sounds to have worked in detail on the way he wants his team to play, and it is extremely versatile.

The offense he described is fast paced with constant movement, and the defense is going to have elements that keep the opponent constantly thinking, and won’t allow them to get comfortable.

“We play a really exciting style of basketball,” said Welch regarding the way his team plays.

Both schemes on offense and defense require an abundance of basketball intelligence, and Welch more than trusts his guys to be able to run it.

The boys’ team will put their unique brand of basketball to work this week as they take on Oakland and Macon County.

This team has a lot to it and should be a fun watch for fans in Tullahoma for the regular season and hopefully a long postseason.