CHAPEL HILL, Texas — The Chapel Hill Bulldogs are back on the court to improve on their success from last season.
They finished with a 30-5 season record, and 12-0 district record, including the 4A District Championship title. On Wednesday, they started the 2024-25 season workouts with high hopes for the year.
They're known for having dogs on their team, but they did lose key playmaker Cameron Kelley to Stephen F. Austin State University. With that being said, Head Coach A.J Johnson trained his players during the off-season to be able to step up and become leaders so they don't lack when teammates graduate.
"It's going to be hard to replace a Cameron Kelly, but of course, we have a lot of starters coming back," Johnson said. "We have a 6'8" kid named Jordyn Bradshaw. I feel like he's going to take the league by storm this year, And of course, we have a kid named Isiah Mayfield. He's an All-Region returning player, and I think he's going to do good things for us."
The Bulldogs basketball squad wouldn't be complete without their fair share of football players joining later in the season. The later the better is a positive for football, but the not necessarily for basketball since their season starts in early November.
But Johnson is confident it won't be a problem.
"That's going to be easy transition, we play 365 (days) here in Chapel Hill, spring, summer and fall," Johnson said. "So those football guys, they'll plug right in like they never ever left."
Their first workout took place late Wednesday evening, but the energy was high in the gym. The players are excited to get after the season and hopefully go further this year. Many of the ballers have stepped into key leadership positions.
"These guys have been playing since last spring and we've played a lot of basketball games. Of course, I've been huge on communication right now, and our guys are doing a great job," Johnson said. "Jordyn Bradshaw, Jorden Ford, Isiah Mayfield, they do a great job of picking our younger kids up and communicating the right way, leading the right way. And I'm just fortunate and blessed to be their head coach."
Chapel Hill's season opener will be Nov. 9 against Elkhart.
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