Wilmington finished 8-12 last season, with a 2-7 mark in the SBAAC in Matt Kramer’s final year as head coach.

The season was going along OK but four straight SBAAC American Division losses to end the season left a sour taste.

Jermaine Isaac was hired to take over the boys basketball program. He was 9-12 as the head coach of the Wyoming High School girls basketball team in 2020-21.

Isaac’s coaching staff includes Steven Gerber, varsity assistant; Ed Machado, JV head coach; Mike Brown, freshman and eighth grade head coach; and Noah Cline, seventh grade head coach.

Matt Butcher (14.1 ppg, 7.3 reb, 3.4 ast) earned first team All-SBAAC honors for a second season while Luke Blessing (11.8 ppg) was named to the second team and Brandon Glass (9.2 ppg) was given honorable mention.

Butcher and Glass were seniors last season along with Kendall France, Brady Vilvens and Landyn Griffith.

Blessing, Kellen Baltazar and Cole Bernhardt lead the returning players. Collin Barker, Avery Warix and Mikey Brown saw limited varsity minutes last season but will likely see expanded roles this season.

Barker, Baltazar, Bernhardt and Warix are seniors.

“They have been fantastic this off season and preseason,” said Isaac. “These young men have bought into the program and have really made the new coaching transition very smooth. They have helped raise the standards and expectations of our program and the underclassmen have followed their lead.”

The result is what Isaac is calling “Hurricane smash mouth basketball.”

“Our guys are humble and hungry,” the first-year coach said. “They have been locked in since the spring and working their tails off. Hurricane Nation should expect to see our guys play fast, play hard and set the tone defensively.”

Given where they finished, Isaac said the only way to go is up.

”We were second to last in the league last year,” he said. “We have a long way to go to be where we want to be. Our guys have to continue to improve on how we approach our business. Doing everything like a champion, from how we stretch, how we prepare and how we lock in. The hard part is being consistent and doing those things every single day.”