Retirement from coaching basketball lasted only six months for Jimmy Reddy, who stepped down as Canton’s boys coach in March after winning 260 games and five league titles over 16 seasons.
He figured he’d get back into coaching someday. He just didn’t think it would happen this fast.
Northville hired Reddy in September to replace former girls coach Adam Dicken, who led the Mustangs to 22 wins, a KLAA-West title and two district championship appearances in his two seasons.
“It’s obviously a great school with a great administration, principal, athletic director and superintendent who all care about sports,” Reddy said before a Nov. 24 practice. “Even though I haven’t coached girls in a long time, it was a very intriguing job and too good to turn down.”
The move made sense for him.
On the court, the Mustangs return nine players with varsity experience, including fourth-year player Carly Pelon and juniors Sophia Fraas and Peyton Sivier, who will be third-year starters.
Off the court, Reddy will once again work with athletic director Brian Samulski, who led Canton’s girls team to the 2014 state title game and once hired Reddy as an assistant.
There’s also the family tie. Reddy’s wife, Jeannine, has coached Northville’s girls soccer team since 2022 and took the Mustangs to a state runner-up finish in her first season. She also came over from Canton. Their daughter, Julia, is also a freshman at the school.
“She wasn’t that thrilled with me because she’s already got her mom as a soccer coach,” Reddy joked. “But she has since come around and decided to play hoops. She’ll be on the JV team.”
Jokes aside, Reddy walks into a good spot. The Mustangs are built to chase a league title and maybe make a playoff run.
They’re still playing catch-up, though. Most new coaches take over before summer so they can work with the team at camps and leagues. Reddy had to pack in as many four-player workouts and open gyms as he could before preseason practices started.
“We were nervous at first, but we’ve heard a lot of good things about him, so we know we’re in good hands at least,” said Pelon, who’s on her third coach in four seasons. “There have been a lot of changes over the years, but we’ve done a good job of adjusting throughout each coach.”
How Reddy runs practices, encourages players and leads a program is different from what Dicken did in his two years. That’s why Reddy has made a point to build relationships with his new group. Connecting with players has always been at the core of his success.
“We’ve been talking as much as possible,” Reddy said. “Coaching is about relationships, right? That’s the biggest thing for me and has been the biggest barrier so far. I get that change can be hard, so I hope they can trust me (early in the season) without having built that relationship part. Hopefully, we can build that bond earlier than later.”
Fortunately, the team already has solid chemistry with Pelon, Fraas, Sivier and senior forward Harper Lee all back as starters. Seniors Nikki Schade and Addison Gubbing and juniors Sophia Knapp, Ella Ross and Ally Pace are in the mix, too. And there’s still room for newcomers to make an impact.
How fast the group clicks with Reddy’s coaching style will shape the season.
“We’ve lost in the district championship twice in the last two years, so we want to win this year really badly — so we’re excited and know that he wants to win, too,” Pelon said. “But it’s definitely been different. Practices have been more fast-paced. We’ll be a similar team to how we were before, but I think we’ll be more organized and quicker. I’d say we’re starting to get more used to his coaching style, and four-player workouts went really well for us. We all put in a lot of work during those, and they were very one-on-one.”
The Mustangs open the season Dec. 5 against Walled Lake Northern, leaving little time to settle in with a new coach. A late coaching change isn’t ideal, but the players should feel comfortable with a proven winner leading them.
“There’s a lot of new stuff I’m throwing at the girls,” Reddy said. “I’m doing more teaching than I ever have, which is great. It has kind of energized me as a coach. We’re working on relationships. I’m working with the girls as much as possible. They’re great, super coachable and receptive to the new stuff we’re throwing at them. They had a really good team last year, so we’re just trying to build on that success that Coach Dicken had with them.”
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: Northville girls basketball still adjusting to new coach Jimmy Reddy
Reporting by Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
