LONDON — Coming off a season that saw his North Laurel Jaguars come up a few points short of reaching the Final Four of the KHSAA Sweet 16, coach Nate Valentine is excited to see just what the upcoming campaign holds for his team.
North Laurel captured its third region title in four years while posting a 23-11 mark last season.
This year’s Jaguar squad returns nearly all of its firepower and enters the season with both experience and depth along with a No. 4 state ranking.
“We return our core nucleus of guys from last year’s team,” Valentine said. “Kole Jervis was our leader last year and showed up big in clutch time, so other guys will have to fill his void.
“Our guys are a year older and have worked extremely hard in the offseason,” he added. “They have gotten stronger and expanded their game.”
North Laurel’s top returner is Mr. Basketball frontrunner, senior Reece Davidson, who signed with Liberty University a few weeks ago.
Davidson averaged 21.6 points per game last season, and put on a show at the state tournament by scoring 77 points in two games, including a 41-point scoring effort against Montgomery County.
Sharp shooter Jordan Rawlings returns along with RJ Noble, Cooper Elza, and Corey Cunagin.
Also expected to provide varsity minutes are Kaiden Allen, Evan Sarate, and Cam Anderson.
“Our guys are a year older and have worked extremely hard in the offseason. They have gotten stronger and expanded their game. We are still working to get everyone healthy in the preseason and we are excited to get our guys playing football back in the gym,” Valentine said. “This summer, we played without Reece and Jordan, so several other guys were able to get great experience.”
Another tough slate awaits Valentine’s squad, including trips to play in the prestigious King of the Bluegrass Tournament, and Lexington Catholic’s WGM Classic.
“We will once again play a very challenging schedule that will test us early,” Valentine said. “We open the season at Lexington Catholic and it will give us a good indication of where we are early in the season. We are excited to return the King of the Bluegrass for the third time since I’ve been here as well as the WGM Classic at Lexington Catholic.
“I believe it’s important to put our guys on the biggest stage to help them individually as well as help our team get ready for the postseason,” he added. “We will be battle-tested by tournament time.”
After averaging 62.8 points per game last season, Valentine expects his squad to be even more balanced this season with the depth his team has.
“We will have very good balance this year offensively,” he said. “I really like the possibility of the depth we have this year as we can play a lot of different lineups.”
North Laurel enters the season as the top ranked team in the region with teams such as Bell County, South Laurel, Clay County, Harlan County, Whitley County, and Corbin not far behind.
“The region is extremely balanced again this year with a number of teams capable of winning,” Valentine said. “We’ll continue to test our team and improve all season to prepare for the tournament.”
