WANDO WARRIORS
If you stay in coaching long enough at any level, chances are that at some point you will have to rebuild from scratch and that is what Wando boys basketball’s new head coach John Reynolds will inherit for the 2025-26 season.
Coming off a 4-22 mark last year, punctuated by a 15-point loss to Summerville in Round 1 of the state playoffs and nine straight losses to end the season, the Warriors return to Region 7 AAAAA looking up from the bottom at everyone else.
“We will have very little experience on the court, but we have a young core of players that I am excited to coach,” Reynolds said. “Our emphasis from April until now has been laying the foundation for our program and learning our core concepts.”
Which means that from the most experienced player to the newest arrival, Reynolds will largely be coaching the team on how to compete and get stronger over time with respect to winning later.
Despite his team’s youth and relative inexperience in a tough region, the Warriors can point to a few promising moments from last season, most notably wins over Philip Simmons, Bishop England and a narrow 57-55 win over a Berkeley squad that finished 20-7.
But Warrior teams in the last decade have been good only a few times, posting an overall mark of 127-141 since 2014-15.
So the real challenge for Reynolds and his first team is not so much to win, but to begin changing the mindset of Wando Warrior basketball as merely serving to keep athletes in shape between fall and spring sports.
“I’m aware of the school’s basketball history and I do think our best years are ahead of us,” Reynolds said this past summer shortly after being hired. “But those years won’t come unless we build on it right now. And I’ve been encouraged by the skill and intangibles of this group.”
LUCY BECKHAM BENGALS
When Marquise Pointer took over as the Lucy Beckham boys basketball head coach in 2024, he was determined to not only turn the program back into a winner, but to give the school’s home-game atmosphere a complete overhaul.
Those hopes, however, came instead with a lot of recurring first-season blues as the Bengals finished with an overall record of 10-12, a fourth place 4-6 mark in Region 7 AAAAA and lost four out of their final five games of the season, capped by a decisive 17-point first round playoff loss to Lugoff-Elgin.
Where the team goes in the new season is anyone’s guess at this point, as they get early tests against area rival Bishop England; Ashley Ridge, who pummeled the Bengals 77- 59 last season; and defending Region 2 AAAA champion Porter-Gaud, which finished last year on a 13-game winning streak en route to a 22-5 mark and a state championship.
From there, the going gets tough, as the Bengals square off twice in region play against Goose Creek and Cane Bay – both of which swept Lucy Beckham this past winter.
But as Pointer noted shortly after being named the team’s coach, winning doesn’t happen just because you want it to; it takes a lot of patience, talent, jelling and player camaraderie just to give you a chance to win.
The question now, after a rough entry into the basketball coaching world, is can Pointer and his new team show enough promise to get Lucy Beckham basketball back on the winning track?
“I have one returning starter – senior Jontae’ Anderson, who started playing really well for us before his injury last winter – and we have many new faces coming up from the junior varsity team,” Pointer said. “Our players have been working hard over the offseason developing their game and I’m looking forward to seeing it all translate.”
OCEANSIDE COLLEGIATE ACADEMY LANDSHARKS
The next time you’re near the Oceanside Collegiate Academy campus, don’t be alarmed if you feel the sensation of something invisible bubbling under the ground.
Chances are it will be boys basketball head coach Quinton Hollis trying to channel all of the team’s steam and excitement about making another run at state next February after being so close to it last season.
“Last year, our record was 23-2, but we lost in the third round to Keenan, who went on to win the state championship,” said Hollis, whose team has made the state playoffs every year since his arrival in 2018. “This season, I’m focusing on continuing to build our family atmosphere and culture here at Oceanside.”
The Landsharks will again compete in Region 6 AAA against teams that include Battery Creek, Orangeburg- Wilkinson and nearby Hanahan and North Charleston.
While always perennial contenders, the Landsharks have resembled the 1968-75 Oakland Raiders in the playoffs: always close, but unable to overcome a barrier at the end – despite being better than almost everyone else each season.
“We have been the best team in Mount Pleasant because of our work ethic, teamwork and all-in mentality,” Hollis said. “The wins will come, but becoming a family and one force is more important.”
The team opens its season on Dec. 1 at home against Atlantic Collegiate. That same month they get four early tests in the Lowcountry Showcase, MLK Showcase, Greenville High School Showcase and the Charleston Invitational.
Then comes region play in January heading right up to the late winter state playoffs.
This time, after being so close for so long to playing for a state title, Hollis and everyone at OCA are anticipating not just another good season, but one that finally gets them past all previous playoff humps.
“We play a tough schedule,” Hollis said. “Every game and team is a big game for us.”
BISHOP ENGLAND BATTLING BISHOPS
On paper, it could be said that the Bishop England boys basketball team had a forgettable season last year, posting a mediocre 12-15 mark and barely making enough waves to get anyone talking.
But for second-year head coach Daniel Eykyn, he sees last year as a benchmark to start building for eventually reaching a long overdue state title appearance.
The Battling Bishops are looking forward to a challenging early season schedule that should prepare them to compete in Region 6 AAAA. They will be playing several rivals including: Philip Simmons, Porter-Gaud, Wando, Lucy Beckham, as well as in two tournaments.
The team opens its new season on Dec. 1 on the road against Hanahan. They follow that up with two tournaments: the Goose Creek showcase and Carolina Invitational from Dec. 22-30. Then comes mid-and late-season tests against May River and Bluffton, both of which beat Bishop England at home and away last season.
But the Battling Bishops have more than tough opponents to battle; they also face the recurring intangible of a long history against them. In the school’s 111 years, BEHS has accumulated more than 150 state titles across 22 sports, with at least one sport running the table every year since the 1996-97 school year.
The notable exception is boys basketball. The last time – and so far, only time – that BE won a state championship came in 1963 during the Kennedy presidency.
With last year’s realignment to a region with schools much larger than Bishop England, getting past the opponents and the school’s history has become an even bigger challenge, though one that Eykyn intends to overcome, one year at a time.
“We are returning a lot more experience compared to last year’s team,” Eykyn said. “Six guys started and played major minutes and we are looking forward to them all contributing again this season.”
PHILIP SIMMONS IRON HORSES
Entering the new basketball season, losing four top starters from last year’s region championship team will be a major hurdle to overcome for Philip Simmons. But while a lot of new blood will be present this year, boys basketball head coach Garrett Campbell expects it to be heavily laced with wise-beyond-their-years leadership.
“We will be relying on new starters to take the lead,” Campbell said. “Our success this season will hinge on the new guys stepping up into a larger role and playing the way we know they can play.”
The Iron Horses’ only returning starter is second-team All-Region player Hopper Afman. Joining him, and expected to make major contributions, are Jack Mevold, Palmer Driggers and Dylan Morris. All are expected to anchor both ends of the court, especially when play begins in Region 6 AA against teams such as Burke and Woodland.
Non-region foes will hardly make for easier games when Philip Simmons battles always tough Goose Creek and Cane Bay, a rebuilding Wando and an improved Bishop England. It’s a lot for the team to live up to after coming off last season’s overall mark of 19-6, a 10-0 region run and advancing to the second round of the state playoffs.
But rather than a rebuilding year, Campbell said he sees the new team as more in line with major adjusting. Depending on how fast and well they learn, how soon they can jell and how much they can consistently keep a balance of spirit in both winning and losing, the new team might at least be able to signal where it is headed soon.
“We have a really high-IQ group of guys who play the game the right way,” said Campbell, “sharing the ball, giving great effort and building each other up during ups and downs.”
By L.C. Leach III
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