Newfield boys basketball features new coach, veteran roster

A lot can change in a three-year span, and that’s certainly been the case for the Newfield boys basketball team since winning the Class D state championship in 2022. Entering this season, just two players remain from that title-winning team, and a new head coach has taken the reins.

Kenneth Herrera enters his first season leading the Trojans. He’s a familiar face to the town, as he’s also the head coach of the softball team and an assistant coach on the football team. When the opportunity arose to take over a program with a strong recent history, Herrera simply couldn’t pass that up.

“What appealed to me was the standard of excellence that the basketball program has had here,” Herrera said. “I think everyone in this town really buys into basketball, and so when it was approaching me for this opportunity, I jumped all over it. It was an exciting opportunity because especially given the other sports I’ve been working with right now, we’ve been in a rebuild mode, and it feels good knowing that right now we don’t necessarily have to rebuild. We’re ready to go right now. So that was definitely something that appealed to me.”

Throughout their many practices and scrimmages, the Trojans’ emphasis has been on defense. They allowed 52.9 points per game last season, a solid mark that was eighth-best in the IAC. But Herrera wants even more out of his defense this year.

“I want us to be an aggressive ‘in your face’ type of defense,” Herrera said. “I just want us to be able to always fall back to something if our shots are not falling, if we’re struggling on the offensive end. I feel like we can always be in games as long as we are still locked in on the defensive end. We are super athletic. We have a lot of kids who play multiple sports, have been around for a while, and we feel like as long as we focus on that, we’re going to keep ourselves in a lot of games.”

Herrera is not the only new addition to the coaching staff. Ian Valentine joins Ricky Stewart as assistant coaches, and two state champions will be volunteer assistants: 2024 graduate Austin Jenney and 2023 graduate Zach Taylor. The fact that they’ve played alongside most of the roster will undoubtedly be a big boost for all involved.

“It’s really cool to have those guys come back,” Herrera said. “They’re just volunteering their time. They’re not paid for it. They want to be here because they love it, and it’s a great help for me because they have that experience. Those are two guys that were a part of the state championship run. They’ve seen absolute highs, and they’ve also seen some lows. I think having them around is going to be a tremendous help to me.”

In terms of the current players, Malcolm Jenkins is set to have another strong year. The junior earned IAC Second Team All-Star honors last year, and it won’t be a surprise if he gets onto the First Team this time around.

“I think he can even build off what he did last year for the team,” Herrera said. “[He’s] obviously super athletic. His shot has gotten a lot better. He’s someone who can handle the ball. I’m expecting him to be someone who often guards the opposing team’s best player. He’s just an all-around guy, and he’s just an ultimate team player. He’s willing to do literally anything for the win. He’s not interested in individual stats. He just wants us to win. That’s the only stat he cares about. I’m expecting a big year for him, for sure.”

The three other starters returning from last year are seniors Carter Aidun, Greg Taylor, and Zakieus Vaughn. While there are five newcomers, the entire roster is made up of upperclassmen, making for a very veteran group.

“We have just a solid junior and senior group, and I like it that way,” Herrera said. “As much as I would love to have some young talent, I just think right now having a more mature group is what’s going to really hold this together, and down the pipeline. I think we got some talent coming up, but right now, we’re rocking juniors and seniors.”

The Trojans are poised to compete for the IAC North Small Division title with reigning champions Candor being the main threat. If they want to come out on top and make a deep run in sectionals, sticking together is paramount in Herrera’s eyes.

“I just think as long as we fully collectively buy in for the next three months or so, I think the results will speak for themselves,” Herrera said. “I just think as long as we play our style that we’re currently doing—like we’re currently playing in our scrimmages, currently playing in practice—I really think everything else is going to take care of itself.”

Newfield opens up the season at Marathon on December 12.