Prep Boys Basketball: Life after Bakamus; A new era begins for Mark Morris hoops

Shoes to Fill — Ken Kelly and the Monarchs hit the ground running on Week 1

New Mark Morris boys basketball coach Ken Kelly directs players on the court during the second day of practice at Ted M. Natt Court, Tuesday, Nov. 19. Kelly, who has been on the MM coaching staff since 2016, is replacing Bill Bakamus as head coach, who had been in charge since 1992. — Skyler Smith for Blast Zone Media

Jordan Nailon / blastzonenews@gmail.com

For the first time since 1992 the roundball rowdies were forced to spend the offseason wondering about the new boss. Will he be the same as the old boss? Will the wins keep piling up and baby blue banners keep draping down, covering the walls in league titles, District championships, and state tournament runs?

Those are all fair questions for Ken Kelly in his first-year head coach of the Mark Morris boys basketball team following the retirement of Hall of Fame coach Bill Bakamus at the end of last season.

So what else have high school hoops fans been asking Coach Kelly? Plenty. And they’re not shy about it.

“Outside of jockstraps?” asked Kelly with a laugh.

But he’s only half kidding. 

Official practice uniforms aren’t handed out until final cuts are made, so on Tuesday MM players made due with what they had on hand. In this photo Tucker Morrow looks for an open teammate with the basketball while Drew Ibaretta defends. — Skyler Smith for Blast Zone Media

Former players and assorted friends of the program have been nervous since last March, wondering if the prep hoops juggernaut they’d known for so long was going to be recognizable in its new iteration. Would the players be able to grow their hair long and shaggy? Would they get to forego the torture of laced ankle braces choking their feet? Would team shoes be a thing of the past? And, of course, are jockstraps still mandatory for the boys in baby blue?

People care about these things. If you’ve been through the boot camp yourself, you care even more. After all, it just wouldn’t feel right for the next generation of high school hoops players to be deprived of that uncomfortable experience. There’s plenty of evidence that shows it makes the payoff even sweeter at the end.

“When Coach B left I think there were some real questions about what would happen,” Kelly said upon conclusion of his first official practice as head coach of the Monarchs. “But those traditions aren’t going away.”

Yes, there will be practice plans. Yes, the Monarchs will wear nice and tidy uniforms without mid-length (no-logo!) white socks and team shoes. No, they won’t wear headbands. There will probably still be quotes of the day. And there will certainly continue to be that big wall of blue and the sponsored chairs of excellence courtside for the bench players and coaches.

“The important thing for us is there's an element of class on the court and off the court that we have to maintain for this to work,” Kelly noted.

Which again, means the Monarchs will most certainly be handing the ball to the officials with two hands. And if everything goes according to plan, there should even be Green Rivers for everybody at the end. So long as the hay gets put in the barn, first.

Which brings us back around to the work. How did it feel to have a full court of aspiring Monarchs trying out under his direction on Day 1 of the new era?

“Today was weird,” Kelly said Monday evening. “I wasn’t nervous or anxious about this at all. I’ve just been so busy with so many other things that to be on the court just felt like a continuation of what we’ve always done. Yes, I’m going to have to put my stamp on a few things but it was evident this was not our first rodeo.”

That’s right. In the fields of opportunity it’s plowing time again. Just like it’s always been.

And it’s not like Kelly is some carpetbagger flown in to sell a new gimmick or overhaul something that’s not broken. He’s been a staple on the bench for the Monarchs since 2016, which is as long as most kids have been paying attention. As an assistant coach he’s been the brains behind most of the extracurricular fun stuff like movie poster night during league play, and superhero appearances at the War of the Border. He’s also the voice behind the microphone at many Mark Morris home games (just not boys basketball), and still, he’s going to be the new guy as head coach. 

In fact, it’ll be the first time the Monarchs have had a new boss since Larry Bird was in the NBA. Which, for those of you keeping score at home, was more than a few yesterday’s ago.

Mark Morris senior Dalton Stevens puts up a jump shot while first-year head coach Ken Kelly observes in the background on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at Ted Natt Court. Stevens and Kelly will rely on one another this season as they both assume greater roles in the program. — Skyler Smith for Blast Zone Media