Mountain Vista boys basketball promotes a new head coach
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — Mountain Vista鈥檚 head coach, Brian Wood, has been part of the program for over a decade. But now is his time to lead the Golden Eagles into the 2021 season. As the assistant coach, Wood has been a part of three Final Four teams and is hoping to achieve the top goal soon, a state title.
Wood鈥檚 history on the hardwood speaks for itself. He held the record for most points scored in a high school career in Colorado up until a few years ago. After high school, Wood attended the University of Akron while continuing to play. Now he is ready to take on a new chapter as the Mountain Vista head coach.
鈥淢y whole life was preparation to be a coach,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 grew up in the family of a coach, I played high school basketball as well as college basketball, where I played for three different head coaches. I learned a lot of things I wanted to do and also many I didn’t. Then, I was the lead assistant for one of the best high school coaches in Colorado for 11 years, who happens to be my dad.鈥�
Becoming a top program in Colorado takes time. It isn鈥檛 going to happen overnight. But Wood takes the time to get along with each of his players. Once they enter the program as a freshman, the coaching staff fully invests their time into each player.
鈥淚t depends on where you coach,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think a lot of coaches worry about trying to go find the best 8th graders and getting them to come to their school. We worry about trying to keep the kids coming to Vista who are supposed to. Then we build a cohesive, vertically aligned program where our players gradually ramp up toward being ready for varsity. For 13 straight years, we’ve had a player who was on the freshmen team as a freshman start on varsity. This type of player development is important to us and something we are very proud of.鈥�
The Mountain Vista Golden Eagles don鈥檛 get let off the hook with their schedule though. Playing in the Continental league is tough. Each team has to show up every game to have a shot at the title.
鈥淲e have a chance to make a run at both the Continental League championship and a state championship,鈥� Wood said. 鈥淚 don’t believe we’re the favorites for either, but I think we have a puncher’s chance. I’m super excited for this group as basketball players, but I also genuinely enjoy being around all of them.鈥�
His team begins their season on Dec. 9 against the Grandview Wolves. These two schools have both been successful in the past years. As the new year begins, it will be interesting to see who gets the upper hand early in the season.
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