GRAY DEYOSports Writer

The Wildcats basketball team went and hired a familiar face. Nic Barstad, a former player of the program, will be an assistant coach for the Wildcats in the 2025-2026 season.

Barstad is a 2018 graduate and played basketball for Tullahoma for four years, and had a historic career doing so. He finished his career as the second-leading scorer in school history. After his high school hoops days, he went on to play basketball at the collegiate level. He played for Motlow College and at Colorado Christian University. After playing for the two schools he decided to hang up his shoes for the time being and went to finish his college degree at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Barstad’s dynamic scoring game always shined when he stepped on the court, but something always stood out more, that being his IQ. The 2018 grad seemed to be able to see things that other players could not when playing. That trait alone makes people great coaches. He showed that in his time being a graduate assistant at Mobile University.

Mobile won 20+ games both seasons he was a part of the staff. They went 21-9 in 2023-2024 and 22-8 in 2024-2025.

Following Barstad’s stint for the Rams he had multiple offers to continue his coaching career, but ultimately opted to come back and coach at his hometown.

“I have known him (Coach Welch) for a little bit too, having played with his son for a year at Motlow. So I already had a relationship with him and everything and knew what type of coach and person he was,” said Barstad when talking about how his new job at Tullahoma came to be.

“He invited me in a couple of months ago and sat down and talked to me, and I thought it was the best move for me.”

Barstad went on to talk about the pride he has for the city of Tullahoma, and how he is excited to be back. He has been away from home for the past five years and this will be the first time he is back and close to his family, since starting his college basketball journey.

Barstad has already been working with the team in the summer. He is impressed with what he has seen from the Wildcat players and is excited to help them continue to develop as players.

“My athleticism only got me so far. I had to get really good at details, positioning, taking other angles, and footwork,” said Barstad on what he has learned in his playing and coaching years in college that will help him be a good coach at the high school level.

“I played for three years and coached in college for a couple of years too. I think being back in high school you get to teach a little bit more, which is exciting.”

Barstad will join an extremely talented coaching staff and will be able to bring a perspective that Tullahoma found out last year was vital. Coach Welch’s son Cameron was a part of the staff last year, and he, like Barstad, played college hoops. Throughout the year he brought his knowledge from the collegiate level and implemented it throughout the program. With him leaving with his wife to go live in Pensacola, Barstad will be able to fill the void that Cameron was able to bring.