Black Diamonds senior enjoying new coach, style

Sallisaw Black Diamonds basketball senior Cooper Jackson has enjoyed getting to play for new coach Zac Rogers, who was hired last spring to succeed coach Chadd Gehrke, who took the coaching job with the Chouteau-Mazie Lady Wildcats.

“It’s great,” Jackson said. “He’s a great guy. He’s a great coach. He knows a lot of basketball. He’s really encouraging, which I think is great for basketball players. He’s always building us up. He’s just a great guy.”

Since there’s a new coach, that has meant a new style of basketball for the Black Diamonds.

“We’re looking to play a lot faster, which you can see when looking at stats this year compared to last year,” Jackson said. “We’re making a lot more shots, and we’re putting up a lot more shots. Our goal this year on offense is to be the most efficient. Our defense has changed a lot. It’s a lot more detail oriented than last year.”

The Black Diamonds will enter the post-Christmas Break portion of their season at 4-3. At this point last year, the team was 4-4. Jackson believes this year’s team is better than last season’s squad.

“We kind of feel that we’re a few possessions away from being a oneor two-loss team,” he said. “I think it comes with the new coach and a new system. We made a pretty good run in football. We didn’t have much time once we got in here (for basketball). I think this Christmas Break, just kind of slowing down and getting to the basics of everything is going to help us out a lot.”

About half the members of the Black Diamonds squad enjoyed a second straight season of success in football, as Sallisaw went to the Class 4A state quarterfinals for the second straight season. The one problem that provides football players who also play basketball is not a lot of time to get prepped for hoops.

“(Sallisaw football) Coach (Brandon) Tyler did a good job of keeping us in shape, but it’s not basketball shape,” Jackson said. “Those first few days in here (basketball practice), we had to kind of get in gear with the running and getting into actual basketball shape. I think we’re there, especially over this break. We got our (basketball) legs a little bit. We’ve gotten the conditioning we’ve needed.”

Jackson does believe that success in one sport will carry over into another.

“I think it just goes along with knowing how to win, especially with those overtime games we had in football,” he said. “You learn how to win through that.”

For the first and only time in Jackson’s Sallisaw varsity basketball career, he won’t get to be a part of this week’s Sequoyah County Classic as the Black Diamonds and Lady Diamonds opted out to be a part of the three-day Henryetta Tournament, which will be Thursday through Saturday.

“It’s a little bit disappointing,” Jackson said about not being a part of the county tournament. “We kind of had a chip on our shoulder this year. It kind of hurts (not being in it) because there’s people who are saying we’re ducking the tournament, but at the end of the day, we’re not in it. We just have to move on.”

However, Jackson said the Black Diamonds are ready for the new venture this week, the Henryetta Tournament.

“It’s something new,” he said. “It’s something fresh. We’ll go play some teams we haven’t played. We’re excited for that. We’re coming off three straight double-digit wins (over Perkins-Tryon and Tecumseh on Dec. 13 and 14, respectively, at First Bank Classic at Bethel High School near Shawnee and Dec. 17 at home over Poteau), so we feel like we’re rolling in the right direction.”

The Black Diamonds went 1-2 in postseason play last year, but Jackson believes the team will have better playoff success this year, which will begin next month with the Class 4A District Tournament on Feb. 21-22. That will be thanks to a teammate who will be present for the entire season — and not only postseason play as was the case last year.

“With getting Tae Muskrat-Flynn this year (entire 2024-25 season) is going to help,” Jackson said. “We got him right as the playoffs started (last season). It was hard to kind of get that chemistry going because we went all year (regular season) without him. This year, we have him (for the entire season). I think we are built to make a pretty good playoff run.”

Needless to say, Jackson is enjoying his final season of basketball for the Black Diamonds.

“We’re having a great time in here,” he said. “The new coaches have been great. It’s really positive, and they’ve just made it a great time overall.”

However, the Sallisaw senior has not totally ruled out playing at the next level, whether it be basketball or football.

“I think it would be awesome to go play college basketball and football,” Jackson said. “It’s in the back of my mind a little bit, but right now I’m more focused on basketball. I’m just staying with the present — that’s where my feet are. I’m enjoying this.”