Russ Whiteside has known a lot of peers who have had a chance to coach in professional arenas.
The Heritage Academy boys basketball coach will get his first opportunity to work in a NBA arena next week when his team takes on Tishomingo County at approximately 2:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, at the Fed Ex Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. The game is part of a doubleheader with the Heritage Academy girls basketball team and Tishomingo County High School. That game will start at 1 p.m.
Tickets for the high school doubleheader also will give fans a chance to see the NBA game later that night between the Sacramento Kings and the Memphis Grizzlies.
“I think it is going to be a really good exp for our kids. I am exited about that,” said Whiteside, who is in his first season as the school’s boys basketball coach.
Tickets for the game are available at Heritage Academy and at https://oss.ticketmaster.com/aps/grizzlies/EN/link/promotion/home/aa25fec9a41774f27b56dc4e3e535abbfb4d0833 through today. Those wishing to buy tickets should type 16YFYTHS into the “Special Offer Code” box and click “Verify.”
Whiteside, who also is defensive coordinator for the Heritage Academy football team, have started the season 5-1. The team lost to Columbus Christian Academy on Monday and beat Oak Hill Academy on Tuesday. Heritage Academy will play East Webster at 6 and 7:30 tonight in a girls/boys doubleheaders.
Whiteside said coaches from Tishomingo County — former Oak Hill Academy basketball coach Brian Middleton is the school’s girls basketball coach — contacted Heritage Academy about the possibility of playing in Memphis. He said he knows coaches who have coached in the Fed Ex Forum and some who have coached in New Orleans at the home of the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans. He said he won’t have to make a big adjustment, but he said all of the players will get only and hour to an hour-and-a-half to shoot in warmups prior to the game to get used to the bigger environment.
“I am sure it is going to be different from a standpoint of depth perception for your shots and a longer 3-point line and just being in the huge arena,” Whiteside said. “It sure is going to be a huge difference, but I am sure it is going to be an enjoyable experience. Plus, the fans will get to come back to watch the NBA game.”
Heritage Academy Athletic Director Sean Harrison, who also is the school’s football coach, said playing in Memphis was an opportunity the school couldn’t pass up.
“It is not an opportunity any of them have had and may not have again, so we are really looking forward to it,” Harrison said.
Harrison said the schools have sold well more than the 300 tickets they were expected to sell. He said the tickets are available in three price levels. He said fans will be able to sit in the lower level for the high school games. He said the tickets will be for different levels for the NBA game.
Whiteside said nine players from the school’s football team, which went 10-3 and advanced to the semifinals of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class AAA playoffs, are on the boys basketball team. He said the football players have worked hard to get back into basketball shape after missing the first game of the season. He admits the Patriots are “rusty,” but he said those adjustments are typical of teams that have longer football seasons than most.
“We’ll take that every year,” Whiteside said of the football team’s success. “If we have that kind of success in football, I will be glad to start them a little late every year.”
Whiteside said the Patriots are starting seniors Dalton Ford, Tyner Swedenburg, and John Isaac Stafford. He said seniors Ryan Edwards and William Yingst are coming off the bench. Juniors Dontae Gray and Josh Neal round out the starting lineup.
With injuries to Moak Griffin and Eli Acker, Whiteside said the Patriots still are trying to build chemistry. He said JR Lott just returned to action last week, and that he hopes to have Griffin and Acker back in action after Christmas.
“We have a good senior base that is doing a good job leading the younger guys,” Whiteside said. “I have seen a lot of improvement, but we still have a long way to go. I feel pretty good about us peaking at the right time.
“We’re just trying to find ourselves and find out what we do good. We feel like we are fairly athletic and we’ll be even better when we get some of those guys. We would like to play fast and use our athleticism and quickness to get up and down. We have done that pretty well so far.
“They’re doing a good job. They are having growing pains just because they’re not real familiar with some of the things I have done or the tempo I want to practice at, but they are trying to do things I ask them to do and they are getting better every day.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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