Bob Jones basketball coaches dealing with high profile transfers
Bob Jones basketball coach Graham Aderholt
At Bob Jones, basketball practice started this week for both the boy’s and girl’s teams. Both teams are adjusting to new coaches and those coaches are dealing with transfers that have significantly altered the face of the teams.
The departures have left men’s coach Graham Aderholt and girl’s coach Danny Petty scrambling to fill the unexpected gap.
On the boy’s team, Aderholt said that senior point guard and Tennessee commitment Travon Landry has left Bob Jones and enrolled in prep school. Landry averaged 11 points and 6 assists per game last year but it his ball-handling skills will be missed the most.
Landry is now at Huntington Prep School in Huntington,West Virginia.
“I found out about the middle of June,” Aderholt said. “We’ve moved on. We will play with what we got and play as a team. We got a good bunch of young guys and some seniors that have really stepped up. Jemarcus Jones is doing really well. He had a good summer. We’ve got a good junior class too, I have really been pleased,” Aderholt said.
Aderholt was an assistant coach last year and saw first hand what impact Landry had on the Bob Jones team in his only year playing at the school.
“I really don’t know what went into his decision. But I do wish him the best. He is a great kid, has a great family. I’m sure it is the best for him so I will be pulling for him,” Aderholt said.
Aderholt can take solace in knowing another top recruit in the region Detrick Mostella, a 4-star rated basketball player at Austin High School has also transferred to a prep school, this one in the Chicago area.
The first official day of practice was October 15.
On the girl’s team, new coach Danny Petty thought he had his team all sewed up with several returning starters and some bench players ready to step up. He was surprised the first day of school to find out China Leary and Markayla Parker had transferred to James Clemens High School.
Leary was a starting guard on last year’s team that was ranked #1 most of the season and lost in the championship game to Hoover. She spent the summer working with Bob Jones teams in practice for play dates and playing in several tournaments.
Petty still has Lindsey Jennings who also was a starter at guard most of last season. Jennings is a senior and is playing to improve her stock among college recruiters.
Markayla Parker seemed to be the player Petty was counting on most among the bench players from last year who could earn starting positions this season. At 5-foot-10 Parker, a junior, got some playing time with the varsity late in games where the outcome had already been decided.
“She was going to be my post player. She had good size and I was looking forward to working with her to improve her game. But I guess that won’t happen now,” Petty said.
Without Parker, the Lady Patriots are left without a true post player. Among returning role players who could get more playing time are Meredith Lovelady and Chandler Elder.
