AURORA | At just 33 years of age, Anthony Hardin has made an admittedly striking number of stops as an assistant basketball coach.
The time has come for Hardin to put into practice what he’s learned during a handful of stints at the college and high school level, as Smoky Hill turned over the head coaching job to him on Friday.
Hardin — who spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach to Danny Fisher at Overland, which won last season’s Class 5A boys state championship — takes over the post vacated by Keenon Clement, who stepped down in May after seven seasons to spend more time with his family.
“I’m excited; we don’t have an AD (athletic director) yet to let me into the gym, but I’m ready to go,” said Hardin, who hadn’t met with any Smoky Hill players as of Monday, but expected to do so by the end of this week.
“The interest in basketball in Southeast Aurora is at an all-time high,” he added. “Historically, we’re a football state, but here in Aurora we like basketball, kids and a family community. It’s exciting to have the opportunity to get in and work.”
Hardin was on the Overland sideline with Fisher as recently as June 18, the day before he got hired, at the Continental vs. Centennial Challenge summer boys basketball tournament at Heritage High School.
“I felt pretty good about getting the job, but I wanted to see it out until the end,” said Hardin, who was a finalist for another local job that fell through. “I wanted to tell the Overland guys face-to-face. De’Ron (Davis, Overland’s star center) is pretty upset with me. He’s not a guy you want mad at you.”
Hardin has deep Aurora roots, as he attended Overland for three years and also spent a year at Rangeview.
Smoky Hill is one of the many brief stops as an assistant coach made by Hardin, who also counts time at Lamar Community College and Division II New Mexico Highlands at the college level as well as Cherokee Trail, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington at the high school level.
Hardin should have a comfort level in the Centennial League given his relationship with Fisher — which he calls “super tight” — as well as Cherokee Trail’s Morgan Gregory, a good friend who he coached with at Thomas Jefferson. Not that he believes that familiarity carries any advantage given how well league coaches know each other already.
“The way the league is set up with everybody playing each other twice, there’s so much scouting and game-to-game preparation that there’s a pretty good chance every coach in the league could tell you every other coach’s offense,” Hardin said. “It comes down to execution and players.”
Smoky Hill will employ a lot of new faces on the varsity roster in the wake of 10 players graduating. Expected back is junior Shae Wyatt, the team’s leading scorer who poured in 13.4 points per game last season, thanks in large part to 64 made 3-pointers.
Hardin believes the team he saw from the opposite sideline has many of the characteristics he wants.
“They are scrappy and I just really like their toughness,” Hardin said. “They are a little bit undersized, though there’s a big kid there now, but they are a hard-nosed, blue-collar group that will fit my system.”
Clement had a 66-108 overall mark with the Buffaloes, including a 7-17 record in the 2014-15 season. Smoky Hill lost to Horizon in the first round of the 5A state playoffs, a year after pulling off a big upset at Regis Jesuit and making it to the third round of the postseason.
The Buffaloes went 0-2 against Overland last season with Hardin on the opposite bench. The Trailblazers went on to win the Centennial League championship and eventually the 5A state title.
Hardin got an up-close look at what it takes to get to the top.
“Something that has gone under the radar at Overland was the 100 percent buy-in we had,” Hardin said. “We had seniors that would have started for any other school in the state not starting and not saying a word, playing hard and competing every day. We never had a problem with players or parents and when you have 100 percent buy-in from the 12 players on your roster, that’s the formula for success.”
Clement — who moved from 3A Palisade to Smoky Hill in 2008 to replace Russ McKinstry — disclosed his departure in May on social media.
“Honored and blessed to have had the opportunity to coach some amazing young men at Smoky Hill. Time to focus on my kiddos though. #family,” he said in a Tweet.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel