Macon, GA- With a handful of new faces, a new head coach, and new uniforms the Wolves basketball team has undergone a structural facelift. But like an old house with good bones, they look to build on a strong foundation from last season. Namely Senior Jamila Ra-Hashim and Sophomore Gabby Barnwell. Ra-Hashim comes into the 2023-24 season flirting with the 1,000 career point milestone after a 2022-23 season in which she scored 408 points averaging 19.4 points a game in one of the best offensive seasons the Wolves have ever seen. While Barnwell returns from an injury shortened Freshman season in which she was a force in the paint averaging 8+ rebounds in her 16 games of action.
A new energy has been brought to the basketball program with Coach Lauren "Coach Cocoa" Falohun taking over as head coach just 5 short months ago. Falohun hit the ground running bringing in 7 new faces in her first few months in the new role creating one of the more anticipated basketball seasons in recent memory. With all of the "new" happening with the program, Coach Cocoa said "I feel like the team has gelled this first semester together. They get along well and seem to do everything together. This is a hard nosed team and they've adapted quickly to my style of all out intensity on both ends of the court. I think we are going to surprise some people with our ability to run the floor and score in transition, operate a clean half court offense, and just be grittier on the defensive end."
One of the big question marks coming out of last season was the health of Gabby Barnwell. The Sophomore forward turned in 4 double doubles and averaged 8 points and 8 rebounds a game in the first 16 games of her college career. "Gabby is coming into the season healthy and ready to go." Said Coach Cocoa, "Gabby is a player with raw athleticism and great energy. I think once she taps more into the mental aspect of the game and understands what my expectations are for her, her potential and the things she can accomplish will be limitless."
"I'm excited about this team!" continued Falohun "Preseason has been a huge learning curve for them, but they are definitely working hard to catch onto my philosophies and work at everything I have thrown at them. Like any team it will take time for them to learn and understand each other's strengths and weaknesses. Once we get the ball rolling and continue to improve daily I believe things will fall into place. I'm excited for people to see the ladies perform come game time!"
We don't have to wait long. The Wolves will be kicking off the 23-24 season this coming Monday November 13th with a non-conference home match up in Porter Gymnasium against the Brenau University Tigers starting at 6pm.