Usually, when a new coach takes over a basketball team, the job starts with rebuilding from the ground up and taking some lumps before things turn competitive.
Not at Canton.
When longtime coach Jimmy Reddy stepped down in the offseason after 16 seasons, 260 wins, 10 division titles, five Kensington Lakes Activities Association championships and one district crown, he didn’t leave the cupboard bare.
Not even close.
The Cobras returned eight experienced seniors when Jordan Nobles — a 2014 Canton graduate and former Reddy player — took over the program.
Following a 67-52 walloping of Novi on Jan. 9, Canton is now 7-2 overall and 3-0 in the KLAA West, tied with Brighton and Hartland for first place.
“I see us as one of the contenders for the West and farther than that,” said Nobles, who spent the past three seasons as an assistant at Detroit Country Day under his brother, Darryl. “I think we have all the talent and the ability on this team. We’ve just got to have the mindset and heart to execute what we have planned.”
With Nobles coming straight from the Reddy pipeline, it’s clear Reddy’s fingerprints are still on the program, from the Cobras’ process-driven practices to the physical way they play games.
Of course, Nobles has put his own stamp on things, too. And that fresh coat of paint is a big reason his players look rejuvenated instead of rattled by a coaching change.
Fall conditioning meant laps around the 305-acre Plymouth-Canton Educational Park campus.
Their style isn’t solely about locking in defensively and hunting high-efficiency shots. Nobles’ teams like to run and gun, leaning on a fast tempo and constant pressure to wear opponents down.
Even the off-court details matter.
Well before the season started, Nobles met with student section leaders to spark more energy. Their idea? Roll a giant gong into the gym and park it at the bottom of the bleachers. Any time a Cobra buries a 3-pointer, throws down a dunk or swats a shot, the gong rings.
And there were plenty of gong echoes against Novi.
Canton knocked down nine 3-pointers, including four straight in the first quarter. Drew Putnam led the way with 22 points, and the defense strung together long stretches without allowing a basket.
“It’s fun, and that’s the main thing with our team: We just want to have fun,” said senior Jaylen Tramble, the brother of Northeastern sophomore Justice Tramble, Hometown Life’s 2023-24 girls basketball Player of the Year. “Winning comes first, and when you’re winning, that’s having fun. We believe if you have fun, you win and play good and all that. It just feels good to have a new coach but still keep the same performances we’re used to and keep Canton up there.”
They’ve kept pace with Reddy’s best teams so far.
Canton is averaging 60 points per game and has scored at least 59 points six times, including in all five games of its current five-game winning streak.
“The first change I noticed with coach was the running,” added Tramble, who scored nine points against Novi. “We get up and down way more. We want to be more aggressive, hold the ball less and put up way more points on the scoreboard. That’s the biggest difference.”
Highlights already include wins over Park rivals Plymouth and Salem, giving Canton a one-game edge in the Park standings, along with 21- and 38-point blowouts of Southfield AT&T and Jackson and solid wins over Walled Lake Central and Walled Lake Northern.
The only blemishes came against North Farmington from the Oakland Activities Association-Red — arguably one of the best divisions in Michigan — in the opener and an eight-point loss to Dearborn in a KLAA crossover.
Right now, the Cobras are positioned to compete for a West title and possibly earn a trip to the KLAA championship, likely against Wayne Memorial, Belleville or Dearborn.
Wins over Brighton and Hartland would go a long way. And Nobles knows what those games feel like. He’s only 12 years removed from playing in them himself.
That ability to relate has mattered.
“It’s really just the drive and competitiveness and showing them that I’m kind of one of them in a sense, being a former PCEP student, Canton basketball player and student-athlete,” said Nobles, 29. “I can relate to them on a different level. It’s a blessing having the type of kids I have. They’re competitors at heart, and that’s what I’m building this program on.
“We don’t want to settle for just being good. We want to challenge ourselves to be great in everything we do.”
There’s still work to do, but the Cobras are clearly headed in the right direction.
Losing a local coaching legend like Reddy after nearly two decades is never easy. But early on, the next man up looks like the right fit.
“Coach Jordan used to coach my sister, and I already had a good connection with him,” Tramble said. “It’s good to have a familiar face. He played under Coach Reddy, so he understands it here. It’s the same principles, and it’s great.”
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Canton boys basketball won’t ‘settle for just being good’
Reporting by Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
