Canyon Lake High has already seen the successful launch of its football and volleyball programs, and now that the Hawks’ first volleyball season has come to a close, it’s time to start the process all over again on the hardwood.
This time, the Hawks’ boys basketball team will be preparing for their inaugural season, guided by first year head coach Jeff Maynard.
Head Coach Jeff Maynard
Maynard, a graduate of Smithson Valley High School, played college ball at San Angelo State University, and got into coaching at San Angelo Lakeview High School, where he was an assistant coach on a team that reached the state quarterfinals. After that, he moved on to Rockdale High School as an assistant for five years before leaving to become part of the first ever coaching staff at Hendrickson High School in Pflugerville (coincidentally, their school mascot is also the Hawks).
Maynard was the Freshman “A” team head coach and also a varsity assistant there for three years, and Hendrickson made it to the 4A playoffs in each of his three years there – an impressive feat for a program that was started from scratch.
After Maynard’s departure, Hendrickson’s head coach, Jim Reid, spoke highly of his former assistant, believing that he will bring success to CLHS.
“I could speak all day on the abilities of Coach Maynard,” Reid said. “He was an excellent assistant, but he was definately ready for a head coaching job. Jeff was extremely instrumental in getting this new program off to a successful start. His insight and input proved to be very valuable.”
The praise didn’t stop there, however, as Reid explained Maynard’s contributions to the Hendrickson program in further detail.
“I was able to give Coach Maynard the ‘green light’ to run any offense and defense that he felt would put the kids into a position for success,” Reid said. “I did ask him to focus on an up-tempo offense and pressure defense, but no other direction than that. I had every confidence in his abilities as a coach and I was correct. He went 22-4 and 21-3 during the first two seasons and then had a little rougher season his third, but he won more games than most any coach I know of at that level with those kids, including myself.”
Words like that speak volumes about the impression that Coach Maynard left at his previous school. Now, with the experience that he has brought with him to Canyon Lake, Maynard hopes that these Hawks can take flight as early as the ones he coached in Pflugerville. One thing’s for sure – he’s going to have more than enough players to get things started.
“The off-season kids are going to be in first, and of course the football kids will come in later,” Maynard said. “Right now we have about 23 kids that are straight basketball, and close to 30 to 35 kids that will come in later on from football.”
With that many freshman and sophomores coming out for the team, Maynard knows that it is important to have the kids focus on the basics, but he still has high hopes for CLHS in their inaugural season.
“We play close to 28 games this season, and I’d love to win 20,” Maynard said. “Number one, we want to make sure that the kids understand the game and the game we’re going to play. Then, at the end of the season, if we execute offensively and defensively and be proficient, we’ll be successful.”
Coach Maynard also echoed some of the same sentiment about the Canyon Lake community as Coach Monzingo has in the past, displaying his excitement for the task that lies ahead of him.
“The community support is tremendous,” Maynard said. “The kids are excited about the opportunity they have, and as a group, these are the hardest working kids I’ve ever been around in my coaching career.”
Maynard won’t be alone in leading the Hawks’ program this year, however. Joining him on the sidelines this year will be assistant coach Kris Kagey, who comes from San Marcos, and also runs the behavior program at CLHS.
With practice officially underway, the Hawks are already at work preparing for their first intersquad scrimmage, which Hawk fans are encouraged to attend on Nov. 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the CLHS gym.
Just three days after that, however, comes Canyon Lake’s first ever regular season game – a match-up at CLHS against Coach Maynard’s former team, the Hendrickson Hawks.
Don’t worry, though, this rivalry will undoubtedly be a friendly one.
“I am positive that Jeff will do a fabulous job at Canyon Lake,” Reid said. “I am confident that the Canyon Lake Hawks will be a strong basketball power. I just hope that Coach Maynard’s new Hawks take it easy on his old Hawks when we play them.”
Coach Maynard admitted that it will be “weird” to coach against his former team, but he and his team will definitely be fired up when the boys basketball program takes its first big step on Nov. 16.
Those first games will be played at 5:30 p.m. (freshman) and 7 p.m. (JV), in what will be an “all-Hawks” battle at CLHS.
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