KERSHAW, S.C. — If there is one thing that Andrew Jackson High School basketball coaches Steven Fair and Danny Wright know how to do, it is get the most from their players.
Fair led the Lady Volunteers to their first state championship since 1983 and Wright got his Volunteers to the third round of the playoffs after winning his second consecutive Region V title.
For that, Fair has been named The Lancaster News County Girls Basketball Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year and Wright has been named The Lancaster News County Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.
Steven Fair
Fair completed his second year as head coach of the Lady Vols capping a 27-4 season with the 2A state title.
Fair said he didn’t really do anything differently in year two to get them over the hump after losing in the Lower State championship last year, but having 2A state Player of the Year Tamia Watkins helped tremendously, he admitted.
Despite the team being championship material, the season wasn’t without its struggles.
“It took some adversity with Ayona (Alexander) going down,” Fair said. “We knew it would take everyone to step up and fill her shoes during that 11-game stretch.”
Fair was able to keep the ship moving forward while Alexander was hurt. He said having her out allowed her to come back re-energized for the sport.
“During that 11-game stretch, she grew up, watching the game from a different perspective, so when she came back, she was able to play at another level,” Fair said.
Fair said the team was forced to grow up fast during Alexander’s injury this year and an injury to Emiley McCall last year.
“Ni’Yonna Asbelle grew up and contributed offensively in a great way and it carried our team,” he said. “We got key contribution from a lot of different people. We knew rebounding would be key, especially against Bishop England.”
Fair said he feels confident that his team has a good chance to repeat its feat, only losing two seniors and bringing back key players in Watkins, McCall, Asbelle and Alexander.
“I feel we have a great chance to repeat, barring injury or kids leaving to go play elsewhere,” he said.
Danny Wright
It could easily be said that with as much talent as the Andrew Jackson boys basketball team had, anyone could coach it. But with all those personalities, you still have to make it work, and Wright did that.
Wright guided the Vols to a 24-4 record and their second consecutive region title.
“Overall, we had a great year,” he said. “It didn’t end the way we wanted. We wanted to make a run at the Lower State championship, but I told the guys we couldn’t let one loss define our year. We can’t dwell on that.”
Andrew Jackson ended up having five All-Region players and Wright feels his team is close to taking that next step to be even more successful.
“I think we are really close,” he said. “Half the battle is getting the guys to believe. When I first got the job, the expectation was to win some games. Now the expectation is to win the region, win Lower State, and win a state championship. The kids now are driven to winning that and it makes us closer to winning it.”
Wright has been head coach for 13 seasons at Andrew Jackson. He has compiled a 195-97 record and has four region titles to his name during that stretch.
“One thing that helped us is we were a more even team,” he said. “This year we had four guys that could average double digits for us. That made us a hard team to study for.”
Wright said his team has bought into the philosophy of winning, so for them it doesn’t matter which player is scoring.
“At the end of the day, it’s about winning,” he said. “The kids are focused on winning. They are happy for whoever is the hot man that night.”
