11/27/2022
Was able to take in the Fayetteville vs East Clinton games on Saturday.
Knew it'd be tough for East Clinton in general, much more so since Fayetteville is really well ahead of the game in building chemistry after a loss of a football season, which allowed for open gyms often during the fall and a bunch of gym rats that wanted to be there.
With Caleb Tipis and Cayden Jones at the guard they are a team that if they get rolling downhill, they will be a problem for teams. Just an aggressive and fast duo.
Then you add one of the main reasons I hate baseball in 6'8 Austin Snider (he got a college offer and accepted, so I'll give him some slack... but I've tried to get the kid to play AAU basketball for YEARS). East Clinton really lacks size this year, so Austin was an issue.
So East Clinton had a tough road in front of them.
Did get to see Xander Lake get his first varsity points and Max Gulley get his first reps on varsity and always love seeing Dakot Collom out there.
JV also went to Fayetteville but was a much more competitive game overall. Max and Xander are solid kids that primarily play on JV. Blake Rugenstein has helped out 2026 team a lot at times but see that baseball comment above. He gave a solid effort for Fayetteville.
I'll add that I really enjoy both coaching staffs for different reasons.
Fayetteville has just built a culture that ANY school program would strive for. DJ McCommons and his host of helpers has people all in and that goes a long way in this part of the state.
Clyde Snow is in his first year at East Clinton and this was the second time I got to really watch him coach. All coaches study film. All of them. However, what I'm going to tell you is that I don't remember a coach as dialed in to that film. VS St. Bernard on Friday and Fayetteville on Saturday I watched them run through their offense and Clyde yelling EXACTLY what to guard against during the ex*****on. That level of focus on the details will win games. Many of them. Once he gets the culture of East Clinton in line, he's going to build a special program in that very small school.