|
Notus High School
School Info
Conference: 1AD1 Western Idaho Conference
Classification: 1A D1
|
|
|
Head Coach: Tim Dranginis
Years as Head Coach: 19th year
Previous Experience: Last 2 years at Nampa, 18 years at Notus before
Record Last Year: 12-13
Assistant Coaches: Tyson Baxter
|
|
Team Preview:
After a seven year hiatus Tim Dranginis returns to the bench at Notus for what will be his 19th year as the varsity coach. The popular coach and educator never actually left the school. He remained as the physical education teacher. But he took time away to watch his son Kyle play at Skyview.
Dranginis didn’t leave coaching all together either. Feeling the bug a few years ago to get back and with no opening at Notus, he took the job at Nampa High. In just two years, he guided a Bulldog resurgence winning 33 games including berth into the 4A state tournament last year.
But the Notus job came open this offseason and Dranginis jumped at the chance to coach the Pirates again. With his second tour of duty, he brings the added experience of coaching at the 4A level.
“It gave me a different perspective on bigger school compared to smaller school. We ran the same stuff as we did at Notus. It was fun to compete at the bigger level,” said Dranginis. “I am excited to come back. I really never left Notus. I just left coaching because I wanted to see my son play.”
Dranginis returns to a team and program that remained strong in his absence. He will have several boys back from last year’s team that went 12-13 in arguably the state’s best 1A conference. A trio of seniors will lead the way in post Trey Zimmerman (6-foot-1) and wing Jaylan Hibbard – both in their third year on varsity, along with 6-foot-1 post Jose Sandoval.
“They’re continuing to get better. They’ve been role players. This year we’re looking for all three guys to be scoring threats instead of role players.” Dranginis said.
Junior Kobe Zimmerman was First Team All-Western Idaho Conference last year. He’s a multidimensional guard who jumps well, shoots well and is good ball handler. A three-point shooter, junior Nick Morgan spent all of last year on varsity and sophomore point guard Jacob Godina has travel team experience and should mix in well according to Dranginis.
Dranginis also is expecting newcomers sophomore post Eryck Petersen (6-foot-3), a raw talent, along with freshman point guard Caleb Zimmerman to make contributions.
“We’re headed in the right direction. Kids will have to accept some new roles and I think we’ll get better as the year goes on,” when asked about the chances of his team in the loaded 1A WIC. “We’re going to spread the floor and use our quickness to our advantage.”
|
|