Langston Hughes Panthers Host "Exciting" 2022 Fulton County Basketball Media Day
With the start of the 2022-2023 Georgia High School Association basketball season just weeks away, for the second consecutive year, the Langston Hughes Panthers boys and girls basketball teams hosted the annual Fulton County Schools Basketball Media day in which coaches and players representing all Fulton County Athletics basketball programs were on hand to celebrate returning to the hardwood.
“It’s a amazing as we get close,” Fulton County Athletics Director, Sr. Steven Craft, said of the beginning of the high school hoops season’s start approaching on October 24. “It’s always just an exciting day. The coaches get to talk about the upcoming season, get to introduce some potential leaders on their team, you know people that have worked hard over the summer,” Craft said of the annual media day event.
And while team rosters have yet to be finalized, Craft noted that the event creates an atmosphere that allows for “some excitement to get ready to go”. And for Craft and Fulton County Athletics, that excitement is well deserved as the county has had at least one team bring back a state championship since the 2016 season. “I think we’ve got several teams that will be in the mix again this year so it’s just really exciting to get started”.
This year’s event also included a special guest speaker in Kennesaw State University Men’s Basketball head coach, Amir Abdur-Rahim, who spent some of his childhood in the South Fulton area and shared some words of encouragement with the student athletes in attendance. “Be where your feet are,” was part of Abdur-Rahim’s theme as he spoke with the audience. “A lot of times we can be in certain places and the only thing we can think about, if today is Tuesday, is what we have going on Thursday”.
As Abdur-Rahim continued speaking he remind the student athletes of the importance of staying focused on what is in front of them. “Tuesday is right here. So whatever it is you have to do today, whatever it is that is most important to you today, be where your feet are”. Langston Hughes girls basketball head coach, Xavier Trice spoke about the Panthers having the opportunity to host the annual event.
“It means a lot to us at the school. It’s something we put a lot of time and effort in getting everybody to the south side to see what great things we have going on. Not only at Langston Hughes, but the whole south side,” Trice said of hosting the media day. Trice also shared that he’s “excited” for the start of the season so that he can see his players get to action on the court.
“I haven’t been this excited in a while,” he added as he reflected on some of the Langston teams he’s coached in the past, while looking forward to seeing players that were younger getting the opportunity to step up. “We have a good group of young girls that have worked hard and they’re on their way to proving themselves,” Trice said.
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