It’s hard to think back, but there was a time when KIPP began its season 1-4. Fast forward a few months later – the Panthers rattled off 10 of their next 15 en route to hosting a tournament game Tuesday.
That said, Commonwealth Athletic Conference (Large) Coach of the Year Moody Bey may have had something to do with that.
“As a first-year head coach, I’m really honored that some of these guys nominated me,” Bey said. “They’re great coaches who have been doing it for a while.” Bey said.
Bey thanked his staff for showing up every day, as well as his players for buying into his vision.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re the best coach in the world,” Bey said. “For the kids to trust me and buy in completely… they want to be coached.”
Two of those players were also named CAC All-Stars: Trosky Peña and Vic Mafo.
Pena was a sophomore on junior varsity last season. Now, he leads the Panthers with a scoring average of just over 15 points per game.
“That’s a huge jump in itself,” Bey said. “There’s no replacement for hard work. He worked hard and is reaping the benefits.”
As for Mafo, he’s one of several seniors Bey says are “impossible to replace.” Mafo has averaged 14.5 points, eight rebounds, and three steals.
“He just does a little bit of everything,” Bey said. “He’ll go guard the other team’s best players; he’ll go score 27 points.”
That’s not all. Other contributors are Osaru Evbenaye, who Bey calls “a force who helps us on both ends of the court,” and Juan Setalsingh – whose leadership helps the Panthers every game.
“[He’s a] two-time league MVP for football at the quarterback position,” Bey said. “So you can imagine how he orchestrates our team and gets our guys involved. Everybody around him plays better when he’s on the court.”
Every coach has a philosophy. For Bey, he wants his players to dream big while, at the same time, not forgetting what today holds in store.
“Dream really big, but break it down part by part,” Bey said. “What we did yesterday doesn’t matter.”
He and his staff also want their players to be themselves. Bey said the locker room is made up of athletes who are cocky, humble, and reserved, but if there’s one thing they all have in common – it’s possessing hard work.
“We always tell our kids – we’ll allow you to be yourselves,” Bey said. “We have kids who want to see their teammates do well and want to win.”
Want to win, indeed. Bey credits lots of the program’s success to its schedule, adding the team played opponents “that have the same aspirations as us.”
“We did that by really loading up our schedule,” Bey said. “Taking those punches early made us a stronger team later.”
Next up for No. 13 KIPP is a home game against No. 52 Rising Tide Charter on Tuesday in the first round of the Division V state tournament (6:30 p.m.).
“The kids are hungry and deserve everything that happens to them,” Bey said. “We’re going to respect our opponents, we’re going to do our research… [but] we’re in a position where if we do what we do well, we have a chance to beat anyone in this bracket.”
