SUMMITT – Fans of the Southwest Bears basketball team will see a familiar face in a new place on the bench this season. After spending three years as an assistant to Casey Carter, Thomas Gray has moved up a seat as the head coach for the Bears.

But, fans should not expect many new things on the court, according to Gray. “They can expect a lot of the same things that they saw and that I pray will carry over from Casey Carter’s time here, a lot of things that he taught me and instilled in the players,” he said.

Gray said fans can expect “a lot of the same brand of basketball in terms of up-tempo, very energetic guys playing really hard. I think a lot of that will be seen in the team here because I really believed in his (Carter’s) philosophy and my philosophy is very similar.”

Last year’s edition of the Bears struggled to a 12-13 overall record, but still managed to qualify for the MACJC and Region 23 tournaments. However, five players from that team have since departed to four-year schools, leaving Gray with some big shoes to fill. Among those no longer with the Bears is leading scorer and 2nd Team All-American Twymond Howard (now at UT-Martin), who averaged 15.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.

How will Gray deal with those losses? “It’s going to be tough,” he said. “But, it’s a situation where we’re fortunate to get some good freshmen in here and have a couple of guys who played a lot of minutes last year for us.”

Gray said he also had “a couple of guys who were around the program, that maybe didn’t play too much, but guys who have experience and know what to expect and know what’s expected of them. So, hopefully we’ll rely on those few sophomores and hopefully the freshmen can pick up any extra slack that we have and play really well.”

Looking at this season’s squad, Gray said, “I think it all starts off with our point guard position. I think (it) will be in good hands with Jaylen Moore (6′ 1 1/2″, 220-Gulfport H. S.), Lafayette Rutledge (5′ 11″, 175-Gautier H. S.) and Lederrius Simmons (5′ 8″, 160-McComb H. S.).”

Gray said he feels that Moore is one of the “best combo guards in this league and probably one of the better players in the league. He’ll play some point and also play two guard. He’s going to kind of the lead dog and get these guys going in the direction that we need them to go.”

With Moore, Rutledge and Simmons, Gray expects the point guard spot to be in good hands because they “have played on successful teams and have a lot of talent. Simmons won a state championship last season as the starting point guard with McComb and (I think) Lafayette was one of the best point guards in the state last year. So, a lot is expected from those freshmen backing up Jaylen when he slides over to the shooting guard position.”

Gray said he has several players who can take over the shooting guard spot when Moore is not there. Among them is Trent Jeffries (6′ 4″, 200-Gulfport-Harrison Central H. S.), a transfer from Arkansas-Pine Bluff. “He is going to be a guy who we expect a lot out of,” said Gray, “and we have some good freshmen coming in who I think are going to play a lot of minutes and they’re going to need to.”

Discussing the power forward and center positions, Gray said “We don’t really have any true centers. We have a lot of guys who are going to be power forward/center-type guys and probably that group is topped off by sophomore Xavion Dillon (6′ 7 1/2″, 220-Tylertown H. S.) who played a lot of minutes for us last year. He going to be a guy who we’re going to rely on and is going to be very important to our success, a guy who I think is going to have a break-out year this year and really catch a lot of people’s attention. He’s going to slide back and forth between the four and five spots.”

Gray also said he has two newcomers to the team in sophomore C. J. Polite (6′ 7″, 205-Charlotte, NC), a sophomore transfer from Lewis & Clark Community College in Missouri, and freshman David Burrell (6′ 6″, 190-Milwaukee, WI) who will provide a lot of help. “We’re expecting big things from Burrell as a freshman,” Gray said. “(He) plays with a lot of energy and has a high motor and he’s someone whom we’re looking to make a big impact.”

Back from last year and looking to have a big impact on the team is Justin McCray (6′ 6″, 220-Ridgeland H. S.). “I think he’s a guy who’s come around,” Gray said, “and is going to be a guy who we’re going to rely on to help us both in the main lineup, and maybe off the bench, in a couple of different capacities, whether it’s playing the four or the three.”

Overall, Gray feels good about each of the positions, but he said a lack of depth “is probably one thing that is hurting us because we’ve had a couple of injuries and incidents. So (depth) is something that we’re probably wanting to have a little more of in the future.”

Gray said he felt the MACJC’s South Division would be tough this year and would “probably be led by Pearl River. They had a really good recruiting class and one that is probably one of their better ones, if not the best, that I’ve seen anybody put together in the (time) I’ve been in this league. I think they’re going to be as talented as anybody has been.”

Gray looks for Jones County to be a team “that everybody is going to be looking out for” due to a lot of returners from last year’s national championship run. He says “Gulf Coast is a team you’ve always got to look out for. They’ve had a lot of talent on that roster (and) a lot of guys returning from last year’s team that finished second in our division.”

Gray said that Co-Lin, with some of the players from last year’s team back, and paired with some “really good freshmen (that they’re) going to be really good.” He feels that East Central “is going to catch a lot of people by surprise” and that Meridian and Hinds, “two teams that beat us last year” have improved. So, he said, “it’s going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.”

After taking over the reins of the program, Gray brought in Andy Farrell as his top assistant and later added Michal DuBose as a volunteer assistant. Gray said “they will be the most important aspect of this program. A lot of people say a coach is only as good as his players, but I’ll go further than that and say a coach is only as good as his assistant coaches.”

He said that when looking for assistant he “had in mind to find guys who mirrored and reflected the things that I held as important and the values that I held as important to this basketball team and how I wanted to carry out a program and (its) daily functions.”

“I’m a man of very strong faith,” Gray continued, “and I rely on living a life that Christ would have me live and that’s exactly what I wanted to find in guys as assistant coaches and I think I found that in Andy and Mike. They’ve very talented from a coaching standpoint, guys who command respect and they are very knowledgeable in terms of the way they handle the X’s and O’s.”

The Bears open the season in Booneville, on November 3-4, by participating in the Northeast Mississippi Community College Tournament. They then travel to Moorhead to face Mississippi Delta before opening the home portion of their season on November 17-18 with the annual Coca-Cola Classic (facing Northwest and Southern-Shreveport).

The full schedule can be found on the men’s basketball page at southwestbearathletics.com.