At the beginning of this decade, the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball program was on the verge of playing for a state championship.
Coached by Jim Pappas, the Red Wolves was 23-2 after finishing 16-0 in Carolina 9 Conference, including two wins over archrival Northwood. The Chargers joined Cedar Ridge in the 2A Eastern Regional semifinals at Minges Coliseum in Greenville. Clinton, rallied by a rowdy contingent of fans who chanted “I believe that we will win” years before it became the unofficial motto of the U.S. Men’s National Soccer team, upset the Red Wolves 57-48.
Now at decade’s end, Cedar Ridge is starting over again after going through its most difficult season.
After laboring through a 1-23 season in 2018-19, the Red Wolves have named Jaison Brooks as its new head coach.
Brooks spent last season as a personal finance teacher at Cedar Ridge. He replaces Clay Jones, who has left Cedar Ridge after six seasons. Jones, who previously planned to return to Cedar Ridge and continue as women’s golf coach, started a new job earlier this month and has left the school.
Brooks also worked at Orange in 2018 and nearly wound up on the staff of current Panthers coach Derryl Britt before moving over to the opposite end of Hillsborough to work in the AVID (Avid Via Individual Determination) program. In fact, Britt spent time in Philadelphia this summer for an AVID conference.
Brooks played high school basketball in three different states, ending up with Valley High in West Des Moines, Iowa. He also lived in Missouri and North Carolina.
“When opportunities arise, you have to take them,” Brooks said. “That’s a lesson I learned from my mother and it’s why we moved around a lot.”
Brooks, whose mother worked as a corporate lawyer before venturing into human resources, graduated from North Carolina Central, where he forged a relationship with Eagles men’s basketball coach LeVelle Moton.
He started teaching at Southern Vance High School in Henderson. He served as an assistant for Raiders’ men’s basketball coach Mike Rotolo, who is now at Vance Granville Community College. Brooks taught Technical Education courses at Southern Vance.
“He gave me an opportunity,” Brooks said. “I wasn’t really looking for it. It just kind of happened. I’ve always loved the game.”
As he looks forward to his first head coaching job, Brooks watched a few Cedar Ridge games from the stands last season. The Red Wolves’ only win came against Rockingham County on December 7.
After the transfer of Mekai Collins to Orange, Cedar Ridge entered last season painfully young. Freshmen Derek Smith and Cameron Harper played regularly.
The tri-captains from last season’s team, Andrew Altieri, K.J. Barnes and Chris Tinnen, will all be seniors when the season starts in November.
“The biggest focus is what we can do together as a team,” Brooks said. “I believe that I can do a good job. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to win every game. That’s not necessarily the focus. But I believe I can have the students that are there grow as individuals and as people. I have a lot of kids that are excited for the upcoming season.”