ECHS Blue Devils see through Hayes
Published 3:53 am Wednesday, June 20, 2007
By By Matthew Nascone
The Escambia County Blue Devils boys' basketball will be under the direction of first-year head coach Anthony Hayes when the season opens in November.
Hayes was hired June 11 at the Escambia County School Board meeting and comes to ECHS from Straughn High School in Andalusia where he was the boys' head coach. With Hayes comes experience in many avenues of basketball. He has been a high school coach for girls and boys at Lee High School and Straughn, a four-year player at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, a semi-pro player for the Magic City Court Kings for one year and a member of the AND 1 basketball group for a couple years. But Hayes is looking for something else.
"I am looking for an opportunity to grow with a team and here at ECHS is the perfect opportunity," Hayes said. "I know we have lost a lot in the past two years, but I have talked to the guys who are coming back and I believe we are heading in the right direction."
Hayes said there is one key element to success in his mind.
"I contribute success to hard work," he said. "If this team, myself included, commits to working hard, then we will be successful."
Hayes is coming home in a way, he played high school ball at Northview High School and his family is from Century, Fla. His fianc/'s family is from the Atmore and Monroeville area, so this move to ECHS was a great move for his family, Hayes said.
"I have played Atmore in the past and I know about what this school is capable of," he said. "It feels comfortable to come back home."
Hayes will also coach wide receivers for the Blue Devils football team and ECHS athletic director Kyle Davis is happy to have him on board.
"We have not had a wide receivers coach in my two years here and we are excited about getting coach Hayes," Davis said.
ECHS lost four head coaches from last school year, but he is pleased with the coaches hired in those various positions.
"We knew we had to replace a lot of coaches and head coaches for that matter," Davis said. "We were concerned we would not find the same quality as we had, but I think we did and coach Hayes is definitely a quality coach with experience."
Hayes will also teach P.E.