What has happened to Buna basketball program

[BUNA95]

Buna use to make the playoffs all the time. What has happened?

[warfan]

Buna has a tremendeous history in basketball.  To see the program suffer is tough, i know.  Maybe going back and forth between AA and AAA has something to do with it.  Here at Warren several years ago when we went to AAA it got rough and kids didn't play.  It's taken us 5 years and two great coaches to put it back together.  "Success is such a fragil thing." Tanya Harding (well she could have said it)

[texasbasketballfan]

well from what i have seen ther players think that they are verry good but y arnt they good it is caus they keep going from 3a to 2a they cant win in eather but nothing will change next year it will b EC kountze/warren and those are the only ones that matter

[whsalum]

Actually Buna's last really good club was in 3-a.They were seconds away from a trip to Austin in 2000(I think I have the year right).A turnover and a quick bucket by the other team in Huntsville and it has gone down hill from there.They simply haven't commited to hiring a solid coach since Brewster went to Chappel Hill.It's no coincidence good teams follow good coaches around.

[Guest sps]

i dont no much about there varsity

but sabine has beaten there jv

and sabine is 1A

sabine has a very young team put together

[Roll_Left15]

Question: What has happened to buna basketball program???

Answer: Michael McMahon (sp) graduated in 2000!...dude was a baller!

[Guest AISD]

Question: What has happened to buna basketball program???

Answer: Michael McMahon (sp) graduated in 2000!...dude was a baller!

I agree, hes my cousin he can play some Basketball

[whsalum]

Kid could play but you don't build programs around 1 kid.Coaches make high school programs successful and Buna hasn't really looked for a coach who could make them competetive lately.Check the really good coaches in this area and they have been successful wherever they are.Sutherland,Joubert and Carter are just a few examples.Boutte and Hargraves would be if they ever go anywhere else.If I were in Buna I would be trying to hire the young man from West Hardin.You would see a turnaround in just a few years.

[Guest sps]

i agree

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

Question: What has happened to buna basketball program???

Answer: Michael McMahon (sp) graduated in 2000!...dude was a baller!

I thought it was 2001, i remember we played him and Chico at the YMBL tourney. 

[Guest KirbyKat]

We're quick to jump on the coach when things are not very good. Granted coaching is very important, but if the coach does not have players, the team is in trouble. Good coaching does make a difference, but I saw Buna play quite a few times this year, the skill level is not there. Somebody help with this...the last Buna playoff team, Jamie Harrison's last team?

[yepyep]

Kid could play but you don't build programs around 1 kid.Coaches make high school programs successful and Buna hasn't really looked for a coach who could make them competetive lately.Check the really good coaches in this area and they have been successful wherever they are.Sutherland,Joubert and Carter are just a few examples.Boutte and Hargraves would be if they ever go anywhere else.If I were in Buna I would be trying to hire the young man from West Hardin.You would see a turnaround in just a few years.

Reality check here!

Sutherland could have coached Buna this year and it wouldnt have made a difference.  Players win games. Plain and simple.

[Guest fridaynightlights]

It ain't the x's and o's, it's the Jimmy's and Joe's.

Good programs follow good coaches around??

HJ was successful before Sutherland got there.

Kountze was successful before Joubert got there.

EC was successful before Hargraves got there.

High school sports are cyclical.  The gene pool determines a lot.  Numbers determine a lot.  Coaching is important but all you have to do is look around at the schools that have solid programs and you'll see that they have survived coaching changes.

[upandunder]

We're quick to jump on the coach when things are not very good. Granted coaching is very important, but if the coach does not have players, the team is in trouble. Good coaching does make a difference, but I saw Buna play quite a few times this year, the skill level is not there. Somebody help with this...the last Buna playoff team, Jamie Harrison's last team?

Actually, Buna made the playoffs the year after Harrison left (2001-2002).  Since then, many factors have led to the downfall of the basketball team.  Most importantly, there is very little support for the kids who play basketball and many are ridiculed, or talked out of playing so they can focus on "other sports."  Until this changes, it will be difficult for the current coach, or any coach, to be successful. 

[yepyep]

It ain't the x's and o's, it's the Jimmy's and Joe's.

Good programs follow good coaches around??

HJ was successful before Sutherland got there.

Kountze was successful before Joubert got there.

EC was successful before Hargraves got there.

High school sports are cyclical.  The gene pool determines a lot.  Numbers determine a lot.  Coaching is important but all you have to do is look around at the schools that have solid programs and you'll see that they have survived coaching changes.

Excellent post.

[Roll_Left15]

Actually, Buna made the playoffs the year after Harrison left (2001-2002).  Since then, many factors have led to the downfall of the basketball team.  Most importantly, there is very little support for the kids who play basketball and many are ridiculed, or talked out of playing so they can focus on "other sports."  Until this changes, it will be difficult for the current coach, or any coach, to be successful. 

oh yeah, they did make it in 02..I forgot.  Deshawn Lee's junior year I think, they had to play a well coached HF team that beat them by 19 or so in PNG.

[whsalum]

Excellent post.

You can have the best Jimmy and Joes in the world and not win if the head man doesn't know or care about the sport he's coaching.Check the coaching history of the 3 schools you mentioned in the above post and a lot of the same names will keep popping up.I'll say it again good teams follow good coaches,that's no coincidence.Buna may not have been a power with Sutherland coaching them this year,but they would not have resembled the team they were under the present coach.

[yepyep]

You can have the best Jimmy and Joes in the world and not win if the head man doesn't know or care about the sport he's coaching.Check the coaching history of the 3 schools you mentioned in the above post and a lot of the same names will keep popping up.I'll say it again good teams follow good coaches,that's no coincidence.Buna may not have been a power with Sutherland coaching them this year,but they would not have resembled the team they were under the present coach.

Maybe not.  But you cant make chicken salad out of chicken s***. 

[whsalum]

Maybe not.  But you cant make chicken salad out of chicken s***. 

Now that was original.Did Buna's gene pool change when Jamie or Brewster left there.No.Most of the successful coaches in this area follow systems.Charles Briethupt,Fred Williams and James Gamble have shaped the recent history of successful basketball in SE Texas.Coach Sutherland assisted Charles and Joubert,Harrison and Davis all played for  them.Sutherland has been successful at EC,Kountze and HJ.Joubert built a winner at Hardin(what have they done since he left)Harrison was successful at Buna and Davis worked wonders at Jasper.I forgot about Trey Watts who turned a perenial laughing stock around at Onalaska.I have seen first hand how good coaches consistantly inherit programs that aren't real strong and turn them into winners.I have nothing against the Buna coach but you put any of the above mentioned guys in that position and you have a competetive program immediately.That's not an opinion it's a fact look at their records.I know Buna has as many Johnny's and Joe's as Hardin or Onalaska.

[Guest fridaynightlights]

High school sports are still cyclical and with Buna's decline in enrollment (see their drop from 3A to 2A) there has been a decline in athletes as well.

The cycle affects some more than others.

[BUNA95]

Is it a decline in students or is it that the UIL keeps pushing the numbers up??

[DP#1FAN]

Good point Buna95.

[Guest fridaynightlights]

Here is the answer to your question:  Buna has seen a significant decline in enrollment over the last 10 years.  That combined with the UIL attempting to even out the large discrepancy in class 3A has lead to Buna being 2A.

Here is Buna's enrollment figures every four years since 1993-1994 school year:

93-94:  475

97-98:  551

01-02:  473

06-07:  413

Since 1998 they have lost 138 students.  That is a huge number of students to lose.  That has affected Buna in every aspect including athletics.  However, you can see in 1994 their enrollment was 475 which proves my point that this is all cyclical.  Will Buna see more growth again?  My guess is no because the growth in Silsbee and Lumberton will detract from it.  However, if the movement away from Beaumont continues north like it is right now you could see growth in Buna 20 years from now (somewhat like the towns around Dallas and Houston have seen).

[whsalum]

I guess thats my point.Buna still has one of the largest 2-a enrollments compared to much smaller schools in the same district.Warren,E/C and Deweyville all 3 have considerably less students than Buna.So I guess my question is why are 350 students at these 3 schools better basketball players than the 420 at Buna?It all comes down to how much emphasis the coaching staffs put on the sport.The good teams are the ones that follow the coaches system with the belief they will be successful and then work in the off season and summer to make it happen.I have witnessed this first hand at Warren over the past few years.We had some tremendous talent over the years and were lucky to win 8-10 games a year.Two very good coaches turned this program around and they have won 64 games in the last 3 years.If Buna commits to there baskeball program they will be successful,if they don't they will have a pretty solid football and Baseball team.Depending on the school sometimes thats what folks want.

[Guest bleed orange]

Maybe a declining little dribbler program has something to do with it. I actually don't know if it is but they seem not to send as many teams to the regional tournament as in the years past.