MORGANTOWN — As a manager at Chico Bakery in Morgantown, Nick Lusk knows the ingredients for
success.
Now, as the first-year head coach for the University High girls’ basketball team, he’s hoping to replicate those ingredients on the hardwood.
Just hold the pepperoni and hot oven.
“I’ve been in management for a while. I was a manager at Mylan and worked there for 28 years,” Lusk said. “I think I can take some of those same skills and apply them. I’ve learned that everybody is different, and you got to get the most out of your employees just like you got to get the most out of your players.”
Lusk, who was the long-time boys’ and girls’ middle-school coach at St. Francis Catholic School, takes over a Hawks team that won a AAAA sectional last season before bowing out in the regional round against perennial state power Wheeling Park.
Last year, Lusk served as the boys’ JV coach at UHS the last two years and prior to that was the freshman boys’ coach at Morgantown High after his stint at St. Francis. He said that he has always wanted to challenge himself at the high school level.
“I grew up playing basketball,” Lusk, a graduate of West Fairmont, said. “It was (basketball) and baseball. Just something I have always loved.”
Senior guard Lauren Dean, one of the top returning scorers for the Hawks, said the transition to the new coach has gone very well.
“To be honest, none of us were really nervous,” Dean said. “We heard great things about him as a person and as a coach. He’s really lived up to that.”
For the 2021-22 season, UHS returns seven players from that squad and adds three more that should help right away.
“The cupboard wasn’t bare when coach (David) Price left,” Lusk said. “This is a great group of girls and I really feel like we can compete with anybody.”
UHS will rely on its guards with Eden Gibson, Emily Sharkey, Dean, Ashlyn Weaver, and freshman Hannah Stemple all expected to provide minutes. Lusk said that Dean and forward/center Ella Simpson were the top scorers last year and he said he expects both to score plenty this season as well.
“I do see them as scorers,” Lusk said. “I always say if you can get about two or three double digit scorers, then you have a chance. Eden has been playing really well, Emily and Ashley can both score as well. We have quite a few that can put the ball in the basket.”
The Hawks will be going through a bit of a strategy change this year as Lusk prefers to push the ball and press on defense.
“I like pushing the ball,” Lusk said. “I’m not sure they did a whole lot of that last year. If you don’t have to run a play and are making layups, that’s a good thing.”
Lusk also said that the Hawks are likely deeper than they were a year ago when UHS utilized a very short bench. He said he expects to utilize eight or nine of his 10-member team most nights.
“We are definitely deeper than we have been in several years,” Dean said. “We have a lot of scorers. We have already been working really hard and I think we have the potential to be a great team and go pretty far (in the state tournament).”
The one area where the Hawks could struggle is on the boards. Senior Jereiah Martin (5-foot-9), a transfer student from Philadelphia, and junior Aza Boateng (5-9) provide most of the inside height.
“We have to box out — we work on it every day,” Lusk said. “Our goal is to win the sectional and then our region and that is going to be tough with Wheeling Park and Morgantown. If you get to the state tournament, anything can happen.”
University opens its season on Friday when it plays in a shootout tournament hosted by Fairmont Senior. The Hawks open play against Parkersburg at 6 p.m. The home opener is scheduled for Dec. 7 against John Marshall.
By ERIC HERTER
TWEET @dompostsports
