Coach Sagester earned CCC Coach of Year honors last year and is looking to reload this year.

Q. Coach congratulations on a fine 2005-06 campaign and achieving Coach of the Year Honors. Does an award like this put any pressure on you as a Coach going into the next season?

A. Thanks! It was a great honor to be recognized by my peers in such a high regard. However, I have surrounded myself with quality assistants and definitely understand that good players make good coaches!

As far as any added pressure, we always have high expectations and set lofty goals in our boys basketball program and this year will be no different as we look to RELOAD.

Q. Can you share with us some of the highlights and accomplishments of the team from last season?

A. In my opinion, we exceeded most expectations by winning 14 games and playing for a league title last year. Our overall TEAM success was something that most did not see coming. However, due to our kids believing in themselves and the program we were able to fly under the radar and stick our nose in where many thought we didn’t belong. Besides playing for a league title we also got another sectional tournament win and set the defensive scoring average for the 2nd consecutive season at 49.3 ppg.


Q. What are you most proud of last season?

A. I was very proud of last year’s team as they embraced their roles both on and off the floor. They were once again positive role models off the floor representing their family, school, and community in a positive manner. On the floor, I was most pleased with our league title run, our total wins, and our defensive point per game average.

Q. This season the team has two transfers. How difficult is this on a team and coaching staff to handle?

A. The addition of the transfers has gone extremely smooth. The players have accepted them with open arms and the transition has been effortless. We are lucky to have the both of them as they are quality young men and come from quality families and I’m sure they will continue to represent Tri-Village Basketball in a positive manner. They have been with us since the summer and I consider them Tri-Village basketball players. They have provided healthy competition for all and have added another dimension our team had been lacking.



Q. What can you tell us about this year’s team?

A. Our goal this year is to reload after the 05-06 campaign. We have valuable game experience as every position but will be asking several people to perform roles they have not been asked to do. However, we feel like we are as balanced offensively as we have been under my direction. We are going to be as big as anyone in the league and feel that we have the ability to play multiple styles of basketball. We will look to run with our guards when the opportunities present themselves but in the half court setting we will be trying to take full advantage of our size and bulk. On the defensive side of the ball our goal is the maintain the tenacity that we have exhibited the last two years with trying to set the defensive point per game record for the 3rd consecutive year. We again will try to hang our hats on defense and rebounding, which enabled us to play for the league title last year.


Q. What are your expectations for the program and the team this year?

A. Our #1 program priority is to improve overall skill level and our team goals always stay the same: We want to win the CCC, win the Jet Tourney, and win a sectional/district title.

Q. What is the league like this year and who do you see as the top teams?

A. The league this year in my opinion is going to be balanced from top to bottom as I said last year. However, in saying that, the obvious front-runner is Bethel, which return 3 starters from last year’s league title team. After that, I believe there is parity throughout and on any given night anybody can beat anybody. Our non-conference schedule is still difficult as we still have St. Henry, Fairlawn, Fort Recovery, and the addition of Division I Greenville, which will certainly get us ready to make a tournament run.

Q. Congratulations to you and Tracie on the birth of you second child and son Trey. Does he have a ball in his hand and when can we expect to see him cast up his first three?

A. Thank you! We are very excited and lucky to have two beautiful children in Rylee who is 2 and Trey who is seven weeks. We have had a few sleepless nights but overall it has been a smooth transition. We have already been working on refining his shot but his feeding schedule has been interfering with our practice sessions! We will be getting him out on the court as soon as possible, you can bet on that!


Q. What else would you like to say to the community at large?

A. I would like to encourage the fans to get out this year and continue the wonderful support. The players and coaching staff appreciate the community’s enthusiasm for basketball and look forward to seeing you on game nights. We are very excited to get underway and feel confident we are going to put a competitive product on the floor!

Coach thanks for your time and good luck this season!
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