Turlock basketball seniors Cox, Ladine hope to help team improve on last season’s success
Last year, Turlock High boys basketball coach Nick Nathanson felt the team flew under the radar.
After a 20-8 season that included a playoff win and share of the Central California Athletic League title, he feels that this year’s team will get everyone’s best shot.
“Last year, I felt like … in a way, we kind of flew under the radar,” the second-year coach said. “It’s like teams thought, ‘Oh, yeah, they aren’t gonna be that good.’ And now this year, I was surprised because I kind of thought we were gonna fly under the radar, but it feels like everyone’s gunning for us.”
The Bulldogs are 7-3 and have two early season tournament losses to Atwater by five points each and a triple-overtime loss to Kimball in a nonleague contest. The Bulldogs had great summer workouts and performed well in summer and fall leagues, but they’re learning that the regular season brings new challenges.
“What the guys are realizing now is the season’s different,” Nathanson said. “Everything’s magnified, and on top of that, you’re gonna get every team’s best shot.”
Six of the 10 players on the varsity team are freshmen, sophomores and juniors. The Bulldogs will rely on the leadership of its senior class, especially Gavin Cox and Jed Ladine.
Both played on the CCAL championship team last year, but in smaller roles. Each has seen a drastic increase in his role and playing time this year.
“It’s a big confidence boost,” Ladine said of how he’s embraced the expanded role. “Coming into senior year, I’d say it’s confidence and just the experience from being on varsity last year and the leadership that the guys had last year. We’re just carrying it over to this year.”
The senior duo are the team’s leading scorers and are among the best in the section. Ladine, an outside threat as a 6-foot-1 guard, is averaging 20 points early in the season after scoring just over six points a game last year.
Cox, the team’s man in the middle, is scoring 21.8 points a game and leads California in rebounds with 21.6.
“As all the seniors left, we lost a lot of shooting outside, so coaches told me to be more aggressive,” the 6-foot-7 center said. “Me and Jed are coming into the gym and seeing we have to take over certain games at certain times, so we have to be aggressive because if we need a bucket, we gotta show up for our team.”
Nathanson says he’s seen Cox grow most on offense.
“Gavin really never looked for his shot last year … last year’s team always made the joke that everybody loves Gavin because every time, he’d look to kick out. This year, it’s like, hey, man, no, we want to run our offense through you.”
The rebounds jump off the page. Averaging 10 rebounds is hard, let alone 20-plus. But Cox quickly deflects all the praise, crediting his teammates for putting him in the position to average 20 and 20.
“I mean, it’s nice, but we’re more of a team,” he said. “Jed is giving me the ball in the open lanes and Andrew Johnson has been giving me some nice passes lately. I work for rebounds but we also have people boxing out and making it easier for me to get rebounds.”
Ladine has evolved from a catch-and-shoot type of player to the team’s primary ball handler. The point guard has the ball in his hands about 90% of the time on offense.
“With his ability to get to the rack, his ability to defend and hit a wide-open three, he can kind of do it all and he’s really taking his game to the next level,” Nathanson said.
While Ladine and Cox rank first and second in points and rebounds, the Bulldogs have players that fill roles perfectly.
Johnson is continuing to improve, integrating himself into the team after playing football.
“I’m expecting him to be that third scorer for us and also be a beast on the glass,” Nathanson said of the 6-foot-5 junior. “He’s not quite in basketball shape yet — almost there, but he’s not quite there. But once he gets into basketball shape, I think just his length is going to be so valuable for us with his ability to get rebounds, defend and run in transition.”
Senior Jordan Williams, junior Peter Wilson and freshman Claxton Ladine will also play key roles as reliable defenders who can knock down open shots.
The Bulldogs had a successful year as the underdogs in Nathanson’s first season with a senior-heavy roster. This year, with a relatively inexperienced team, a lot is going to be on the shoulders of its two leaders.
“As a coaching staff, we’re kind of like, OK, how are we going to piece this together?” Nathanson said. “We’re expecting a lot from Jed and Gavin and the thing is teams can’t double both of them. And so it’s like, hey, you want to try and take Gavin out? We’re going to ISO Jed on the opposite side, and vice versa.”
Cox says the team has to continue working hard in practice, dive for loose balls, chase after rebounds and make effort plays in games to reach its ultimate goal.
Ladine agrees. “I think once we’re polished, we can make a deep run into the playoffs,” he said.”With our grittiness as a team and our chemistry, I think once we get all polished up, we’re gonna look really good in the future.”
