New Plymouth High girls hoops coach gets right to work
Garai Fields was named the new head coach of the Plymouth High School girls basketball program.
Just hours after he was hired to serve as the next head girls basketball coach at Plymouth High School, Garai Fields was leading his group of Wildcats through a pair of summer league games at Canton High School.
Although he still hadn’t learned all of the Wildcats’ names — or their skill level — Fields led the team to a 1-1 record.
“Obviously, at this point, I’m not worried about wins and losses; I just want to see what the girls can do,” said Fields, who was the head girls basketball coach at Ann Arbor Huron for three years before agreeing to coach at Plymouth.
“The girls played with a lot of energy and effort today, which is something you can’t coach. I thought they played extremely hard, which is a breath of fresh air. The girls seem to love one another and they worked with one another well, which I appreciate.”
(To check out a few highlights from Plymouth’s summer league action Wednesday night, click here.)
Wildcats embraced new coach’s debut
Fields said his players made Wednesday’s unique experience easy.
“I knew a few of the girls from AAU basketball and just from coaching in the area (he coached three years at Lincoln Park High School before his three-year stint at Huron),” he said. “I loved how hyped they were and how they were cheering each other on.
“I’m still learning all their names, but it’s not something I haven’t done before.”
Fields said he is primarily a defense-minded coach who loves to score points in transition.
It all starts with defense
“Defense wins basketball games,” he said. “The key is to slow the other team down with defense and get some buckets at the other end with steals and pressure.”
Fields, a community assistant at Ann Arbor’s Tappan Middle School, said he loves the structure of Plymouth-Canton Schools and the uniqueness of the three-high school campus.
“I like how you know what players you’re getting, for the most part, from the second grade on,” he said. “You can build your program through camps and other ways. Making things super-inclusive is important to me. The other districts I coached in didn’t have a road map laid out like this.
“I love the three high school campus because it adds some natural competition and intensity between the schools. The girls obviously want to beat their (Park) rivals more than anybody else, which adds to the rivalries.”
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
