Back from injury, Etling ready for one more shot
July 3, 2017
Hot temperatures mean hot questions
July 3, 2017
Both the Terrebonne High School basketball programs will have first-year coaches in the 2017-18 seasons.
Lady Tigers girls’ basketball coach Damon Robinson announced last week that he’d accepted an offer for the same position at St. James High School – a district-title-winning Class 3A program.
Robinson spent one season with Terrebonne after a long, successful run at Thibodaux High.
In his one season with the Lady Tigers, Terrebonne was youthful and it showed. The team posted just five wins.
The outgoing coach said it was hard to leave the Lady Tigers after just one season – especially because of the talented group of returnees that will be shining for the program over the next several years.
But he said the St. James job was too good to pass up because of the talent in the area and the school’s constant commitment to winning athletics.
“I think this St. James job is a little bit under the radar in this area,” Robinson said. “I am good friends with (former St. James coach) Amy Blanchard and when she was there, I would go and help with her camps and she would come and help with mine. I got to know their girls and the type of players they had over there. I’ve always had a lot of respect for their program and that area. I’m excited to get started there.”
This isn’t the first time Robinson has been offered the job at St. James.
He said he strongly considered the school near the end of his run at Thibodaux and was even offered the job three seasons ago.
Robinson said he was highly attracted to the facilities at the school, as well as the parish’s favorable salary stipends for coaches, but decided against pulling the trigger and making the move because he didn’t want to leave the group that was coming up the ranks at Thibodaux.
“That was one of the most talented teams we’d ever had,” Robinson said. “I didn’t want to walk away at that time.”
But with a second chance, Robinson said he couldn’t pass up St. James again – although he said it wasn’t an easy decision because of the bonds he was starting to form at Terrebonne.
Robinson said he was disappointed in winning just five games in 2016-17, but added that the school’s struggles aren’t going to last long.
He said the Lady Tigers have some of the most talented young players in the district and he’s “sure” they’re going to be a playoff contender in the very near future.
The team did get better as the season went on and three of their victories were in district play – including a road win at rival H.L. Bourgeois.
The Lady Tigers plan to accept applications throughout the next few weeks in hopes of hiring a new coach. The timeline will likely be accelerated because a new coach will need to be in place before school starts in early August.
It will be the second basketball hire the school makes this summer. Terrebonne recently hired Demetrius Price Sr. to replace outgoing boys’ basketball coach Derek Szush, who took the same job at Assumption.
“I told a lot of people that I thought we were going to surprise people at the end of district play last year,” Robinson said. “I told them, ‘We may not win it this year, but next year, we may be the team to beat.’ They are really, really young. But those girls are talented. I think they’re going to have a lot of success.”
Robinson said the decision was also difficult because he’s not the type of coach who enjoys moving around from place to place.
After such a long run at Thibodaux, this will now be Robinson’s third job in three seasons – a phrase which he said is weird to hear.
He said he doesn’t know much about St. James’ team, but he’s heard from other coaches that they have a talented core that’s capable of enjoying a lot of success in the future.
Robinson, a Thibodaux resident, said his commute will be comfortable – about the same as it was to Terrebonne.
He hopes to build with his new school and be around for a while – as long as the school administration is willing to have him.
“To be at my third place in three years is unlike me,” Robinson said. “Now, it’s time to settle in. I made great bonds with the girls at Terrebonne and that made it very difficult to walk away from. But now, it’s time to build relationships with a new group of kids and work hard to put these kids in a position to succed.
“I think it’s a great school. I turned them down once. I couldn’t turn them down again.” •
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