Boys basketball coach of the year

By Chris Lang

Published: May 3, 2008

LOVINGSTON — It wasn’t the 12 losses in 2006-07 that irked Nelson County boys basketball coach Brandon Garrett. It was the nature of the losses.

In tight games, his team struggled. The Governors continually put themselves in position to win, but they couldn’t come through when the game was on the line.

“We just didn’t know how to win,” Garrett said. “We were in a lot of close games, and we lost.”

So heading into his second year as Nelson’s coach, Garrett put his team through a grueling summer schedule. The Governors played against bigger teams from Group AA and AAA during the offseason and began to win tight games.

And it all came together when Dogwood District nemesis Altavista visited town. The Governors won in overtime, the first time in Garrett’s two-year tenure that Nelson had beaten Mike Cartolaro’s team.

That victory jumpstarted the Govs’ season. Nelson County went 30-1 and won the first state basketball title in school history. For his team’s accomplishments, Garrett was named The News & Advance All-Area coach of the year.

“They kind of ruled the roost, and they were the cream of the crop in our district for a while,” Garrett said. “After we beat them, the kids, and maybe even the community, realized that we had a chance to be special.

“Altavista was the test for us, the hump we had to get over.”

Garrett learned his craft while working for his high school coach, Nelson Fox, at Parry McLuer in Buena Vista. Garrett graduated from PMHS in 1995 and held several assistant coaching positions in the area, working at Rockbridge County, Southern Virginia University and Parry McLuer.

When the Nelson job opened two years ago, Garrett applied, figuring he was ready for the challenge of being a head coach.

“(The first year) was a little rough, but I kind of expected that,” Garrett said. “All of the coaches that I had worked with told me to be prepared. It wasn’t exactly what I envisioned when you get your first job. You want to win right away.

“It doesn’t happen that way. We improved from the previous year record-wise. I don’t think we had a bad team.”

The ingredients were there for a turnaround. Along with standout guard Thomas Brown, the Governors returned T.J. Martin, Mike Jones and Chris Jones.

The Governors also had a firmer grasp of Garrett’s offensive system, a motion offense similar to the one Texas Tech ran when Bob Knight was the Red Raiders’ coach.

Brown complimented Garrett’s preparation, adding that the coach was at his best when the Governors needed to make adjustments at halftime.

“Usually, the third quarter was our biggest quarter,” Brown said. “We came out of the gates hot sometimes, but once we saw what a team does, coach comes up with a great game plan coming out of halftime.”

With the experience and confidence gained in the summer, Garrett had a suspicion his team could be in for great things this season.

“I thought we handled it with maturity, won with class and did things the right way,” he said.