The Farmersville boys basketball team is heading to a new era, with new head coach Hayze McGuckie leading the charge.

Former coach Stephen Blassingame took the defensive coordinator position for the football team, allowing McGuckie to come in and try and guide the basketball team that finished winless in district play last season. For the new coach, who coached at Boles High School in Quinlan last season, his goal is to mix in some of the returning talents with younger players in the system.

“We’ve got a really good one-two punch of both returning players and just all-around good athletes,” McGuckie said. “The key for me in a new program is just trying to find out what works and what doesn’t.”

Returning to the team are three seniors in Cael Matthews, Max Arcand and Logan Lane. Matthews is a returning starter to the team this season, and coach McGuckie expects all three to contribute as leaders to the team.

“We’ve got a lot of seniors who are going to be really good leaders for us this year,” McGuckie said. “Those guys were all really good contributors for us, plus a couple of good scorers for us as well who can give us good minutes.”

Along with the seniors, Dylan Shankle also returns after being one of the top scorers for the Farmers last season. A good outside shooter, he’s going to stretch the floor for the team while they introduce football players Jeralin Craddock and Tayshaun Davis to the fold.

“We’re still trying to figure some things out for this season,” McGuckie said. “We had some of the older guys who are basketball-only guys, but the football guys will bring a nice bit of physicality and athleticism that I think we need.”

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