By Eugenio Torrens
Jeremy Calzone has been with the Wiregrass Ranch boys basketball program since its inception in 2006.
Starting the 2011-12 season, the sixth-year Bulls coach is going through a bit of déjà vu. Calzone said when the school opened, that it was a hodgepodge of transfers from other schools starting the program. Three transfers to this year’s squad have him adjusting on the fly — again.
“It’s almost like having to try to mold everybody into that new team,” Calzone said. “I think that’s been our biggest issue. (Transfers) are so used to something else.”
Wiregrass Ranch (2-4) is coming off its most successful season in its history, winning the Class 4A-District 8 championship, making the postseason for the first time ever and advancing to the regional semifinals.
In addition to transfers Christian Parra, Dimarco Burgess and Marcus Guzman, Wiregrass Ranch has had to cope with the graduation of seven seniors, four starters, from the history-making Bulls of last year.
The only familiar face from last season is Rico Kerney — a junior who was the only starting underclassman on a then-senior-laden team.
Kerney, who is averaging a team-high 29 points and 15.5 boards per game, admitted the team has a lot of work to do, especially under the shadow of a team that went 22-8 last season.
Kerney added he is trying to be a leader on a team lacking in returners while also fighting to maintain the program’s recent success.
“I’m trying to be the leader that I need to be to keep Wiregrass basketball to where the guys that graduated got it,” Kerney continued. “They built this program up from nothing and now that they’re gone, I feel like — since I played with them — I feel like I have to keep it up. I’m trying.”
Kerney can’t do it on his own, and he is looking for a team effort to right a tough start that has seen a porous defense surrender an average of 84 points per game, including a whopping 98 points in losses.
Calzone and his players all echoed that defense is the main priority at practice. Offense has come pretty easily at an 80-points-per-game clip with the influx of transfers and younger players.
“We should be in the 90s every game,” said Calzone, who strives to have a balanced team with four or five guys in double digits.
Because the team lacks significant size in the post, the Bulls have to rely on their speed and the full-court press.
That’s where Parra, a Wesley Chapel High transfer, shines.
“Any time you get a player that can play, he’s going to fit in,” said Calzone of Parra.
Parra, a point guard, has acclimated quickly. He is second on the team in points (15.7) and third in assists (2.2) per game. The junior led Wesley Chapel in scoring with 15.4 a year ago.
The former Wildcat said he has tried not thinking about transferring to a rival school. He said he had to move because of new district zones.
“It’s not my rivalry. … They’re still my friends no matter what. I just wish them good luck, I’m going to go my hardest,” Parra said.
Junior guard Elijah Blackman is another new face to the team, making the leap from junior varsity. He reiterated what some of his teammates said — the only way to hope to match what Wiregrass Ranch accomplished last year is through blood, sweat and tears.
“We know we have the skill,” Blackman said. “We have the IQ. We have the speed and everything, but we have to work hard. If we had a banner of how we should do things this year, it’s work hard.”
Calzone isn’t making excuses despite the less-than-desired start and plans to right the Bulls by Christmas.
“Hopefully sooner,” Calzone said. “If it’s after Christmas and we haven’t figured it out yet, we’re not doing our job as coaches and they’re not doing their jobs as players.”
Wiregrass Ranch hosts Freedom on Dec. 13 at 8 p.m. The Bulls play the next night, Dec. 14, against Sunlake at 7:30 p.m. before welcoming Gaither on Friday, Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
— All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.
