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MOUNDSVILLE -- There will be a new coach guiding the John Marshall boys basketball team for the 2023-24 season. Joel Nau will take over the reins as he replaces Chad Clutter after Clutter stepped down as coach after six seasons.
"It's going to be daunting. Chad leaves some pretty big footprints to follow and shoes to fill," Nau said. "He did a great job with the program and kids. Just in our section alone, we play two of the best teams in the state. We're not thinking about that right now. We're just learning right now.
"I'm learning about them and they're learning about me. We're just going to take one practice and one drill at a time so we can get better as the year goes on."
The Monarchs will be pretty youthful this year as they lost a plethora of experience from last year's squad. As a matter of fact, only two players will have varsity experience come tip off in seniors Brody Williams and Conor Fitzpatrick.
"Last year, we lost eight or nine seniors," Nau said. "The only two players that came back that played any time at all on varsity are my co-captains Brody Williams and Conor Fitzpatrick."
The third and final senior for John Marshall is Scott Schenerlein, who was a stalwart on the football team.
The juniors include Kaden Bungard, Hayden Gaiser and Luca Ventura-Wigger.
"What I like about it is the kids have really accepted what we're trying to do," Nau said. "I'm pretty nit-picky at times, but the small group that we have are just excellent kids. They give every ounce of energy they have at practice.
"I'm really encouraged just by being around these guys. Regardless of what happens on the scoreboard, these kids are going to give everything they've got and it's going to be a lot of fun."
Sophomores that could possibly see playing time are Jayden Astipalitis, Bryar Haught, Jackson Helms, Kayden Knapp, Skyler Linabarger, Cain Martin and Zeke Young.
The freshmen include Landen Snyder, Haden Ward, Owen Berisford, Owen Porter, Clay McCord, Noah Grigsby, Dante Thompson, Wyatt Morris, Jonathan Koski and Jorden Gump.
"We're not putting unrealistic expectations on the kids," Nau said. "Our goal right now is to get better every single day. Right now, it's November, but we don't want to play our best basketball right now. We just want to get better and better as the year goes on.
"If we can do those things, I think we will have a successful season as far as on-court goals go."