From a winless 2022-23, to leading Suburban League, Barberton Magics basketball is back
BARBERTON — Barberton boys basketball is back and there aren’t enough exclamation points to type to drive that point home.
A proud program with 88 winning seasons in its 115-year history, the Magics went 0-23 last season.
That’s a far cry from the 343-61 record Jack Greynolds Sr. gave the city from 1969-87 or the 314-134 mark Ken Rector gave the program from 1996-2016.
Fast forward to today and Barberton has gone from a winless season in 2022-23 to leading the Suburban League American Conference after a 60-55 over Highland on Friday.
“This year, we had to bounce back,” Magics forward Mike Jones said. “It’s a new group. We had to find a way to play with each other.”
Barberton's spark on the hardwood might be an inferno by the playoffs
That new group included new coach Chad Hazard, a 2000 Barberton graduate who came over from East.
De’Arion Holley and Kardiay Tyler moved into the district from East and Kameryn Kennerly made the move from Firestone.
Yes, those three are leading the team, but if you think that influx is the entire reason the Magics are flying high, you haven’t seen them play.
“Man, it’s inexplainable how much fun this is,” Holley said. “It’s great. I kind of like that I can’t explain it.”
Hazard pays off in a big way for Barberton basketball
One of the biggest explanations for the Magics' return to success might be Hazard.
A 1,000-point scorer for the Magics back in his playing days, the veteran coach brings an energy the team may have not had before.
Tops don’t spin as fast as Hazard, who runs the sideline with every play as if he’s the sixth man on the floor.
It’s an energy you can almost taste as he gets the fans in a frenzy, while getting his team play with almost reckless abandon.
“I’ve been coaching for 20 years and I’ve always coached this way,” Hazard said. “I was coaching this way when I was a JV coach. I don’t know how to coach another way.
“If we don’t play the way we play, we’re not going to beat a team like Highland. They’re going to outshoot us. They’re going to outthink us. They're going to have to play intense. We have to out-tough them or we’re not going to win a game like that.”
That style starts from the opening tip and goes past the final whistle. It’s hustle ball with a dose of adrenaline. It’s a team trying to match its coach’s intensity, and it has worked.
Barberton is on a 12-game winning streak and finds itself 12-1 overall and 6-1 in the SL. The Magics are also alone in first place in the American Conference.
“Coach always brings the intensity,” Tyler said. “He gets on everybody. It doesn’t matter if it’s the star player or a bench player. He believes in us. That means a lot. It gives you freeness. You believe in any shot you take.”
Season-opening loss to Revere showed Barberton how good it could be
As strange as it sounds, the belief started in the first game of the season, a 61-60 loss to reigning SL champion Revere.
“They won the league and had already played a couple games before us,” Jones said. “We came out a little shaky, but it was a good game. We believe. These group of coaches changed the team and changed the culture.”
That "why not us?" attitude permeates from the starters all the way through the bench as floor burns and hustle points lead to buckets on the other end.
It’s a belief Hazard has instilled in the team and one the Magics don’t plan on letting disappear anytime soon.
“We’ve played hard since Practice 1,” Hazard said. “Our practices are insane. We don’t magically show up on gameday and play like that. Our practices are wild. They buy in and play as hard as they can. That first game they wanted it so bad.
“We played as bad as we could play on offense in that first game. We went 4-of-15 from the foul line and only lost by one. That’s when I knew I knew we would be pretty good.”
Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Barberton High School boys basketball is back where fans expect it
