Following the historic 2023-2024 season the Boys Bearcats basketball team earning their second playoff game in school history and their first playoff win in 20 years, the Bearcats are hungry for more this season. 

This season, a new coach has joined the rankings, and he said he is ready to lead the Bearcats to a stronger united team.

“We have a lot of guys trying to play for varsity positioning,” boys varsity basketball head coach Brian Blackburn said. “Something else that is different is we have a lot of upperclassmen, and that’s kind of unique. A lot of times it’s pretty even freshman, sophomores, juniors, seniors, so that’s a good problem to have, but it’s also a problem to figure out who’s going to get playing time and who’s going to be varsity.”

Blackburn previously coached at Mansfield Lake Ridge, and he now said he hopes to lead the basketball program to a district championship and create relationships with the players to build onto the success program.

Varsity player senior Joaquin Pacheco said he’s enjoyed Blackburn’s first months as head coach, and he said he feels the way Blackburn runs practice differently helps strengthen the team. 

“The practices and drill that he has us doing, it’s easy to get into because you really like it,” Pacheco said. “It’s all stuff that we love to do, and it makes practice fun and it makes us want to work harder. I really like his coaching style and the way he allows us to play to our strengths.” 

Pacheco’s brother is also on the team, and he said he has appreciated the way Blackburn has invested in the players already. 

“I feel like he really cares about us as players and helps us to grow individually,” junior Enrique Pacheco said. ” I feel like his coaching style fits us better than other coaches.”