GREENWOOD (KFSM)--Clay Reeves is no stranger to rings, trophies and net cuttings. Saturday's 6A state championship against Jonesboro (11:00 a.m.) is a chance to win his eighth ring.
"I've been very blessed to have great players at both Greenland and Greenwood," said Reeves.
"It's awesome, his accomplishments are huge and we're very proud to have him as a coach right here," Greenwood senior Kaila Cartwright said.
Reeves won three titles in four seasons around the turn of the century at Greenland (1999, 2000, 2002) and four in six years with Greenwood (2010, 2012, 2014, 2015). And Reeves is still going strong in his 27th year as a head coach.
"Well we've played a little fast paced game this year and played really good aggressive defense this year and got up and down the floor a lot," explained Reeves.
"We've worked so hard for him like we know the expectations so we just wanted to prove ourselves and this year we finally can," Cartwright, the Lady Bulldogs' lone senior said.
The reason Reeves is nearly out of fingers to put rings on is an unselfish coaching philosophy.
"Try to make it work out best for what our players can do. Not necessarily what I really like to do but what fits the style of play for the talent that our players have," said Reeves.
The head coach can also adapt easily to personnel.
"He does like rely on the freshmen a lot and the sophomores, they're our main people who play so he always tries to get them confidence," added Cartwright.
This could be the start of another special run for Greenwood. After all, 17 of 18 players return next season.