First-year Crisfield coach Collins, recruited by players, has basketball bouncing back

For first year Crisfield boys basketball head coach Andrew Collins, the option to become the new head coach of the Crabbers came directly from the players themselves.

After serving as an assistant head coach for two years, Collins, brother of former Crisfield coach Andre Collins, had taken a break from coaching basketball. But he still trained players and ran camps in the offseason, and when they came to him about coaching this year's Crisfield team, he agreed.

"The guys asked me. The kids, they stayed on me," Collins said in an interview after their Jan. 30 game against Wi-Hi. "Because I always work with them in the summer, open gyms for them. They just asked me would I coach, and I gave them my word."

Crabbers struggle at first as basketball bounces back from COVID-19

The first two seasons since the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic were tough on a lot of Bayside basketball teams, as winter sports were the last ones to return after the 2020-21 season was canceled. And the Crisfield Crabbers were one of the teams in the Bayside South that struggled in the aftermath.

During the 2019-20 season, the last one before the pandemic, the Crabbers were one of the best teams in the Bayside Conference, winning a regional title and making an appearance in the Class 1A state quarterfinals. But after Bayside basketball started back up during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, Crisfield won just three games combined over the course of those two seasons.

Slowly but surely though, things look to be improving under Collins in his first year. With three Bayside wins and a win over Indian River at the Governor's Challenge in December under their belt, they've already surpassed their combined win total from the previous two years.

"We started off rocky, started off slow. We have been actually working since the summer, in some leagues and camps," Collins said. Being realistic about it, I have some that have not played, some that have played a year or two. I think we're getting better. It's more so different for me because it's my first year coaching. I was an assistant for two years, and stepped away from it."

More: Stephen Decatur wins battle of Bayside South's best teams with home victory over Snow Hill

For Collins, instruction goes beyond the court into community

Another sign of improvement is increased participation, which Collins hopes continues, keeping kids interested in basketball and in the gym.

"Just having the kids come back out and play basketball," Collins said. "Because of the pandemic, some of them lost a year, and some of them just stopped playing. And it's not just Crisfield, it's all over. In the community, we have some younger kids that're very interested in playing. So I try to keep them in the gym as well. "

And for Collins, getting in the win column for this group of players he's coaching, whether it be the seniors that haven't won this much in their high school careers, or the young players just starting out, has been huge for morale.

"They have been working hard. They've put the work in, and there's more work to do," Collins said. "Some of them haven't won four games in two years. It's been pretty cool, (we still) got more work to do."

More: Orioles TV commentator, beloved player Ben McDonald headlining Shorebirds Hot Stove event

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Crisfield basketball coach Collins, players' choice, leads comeback