The Red Devils boys basketball team, by head coach Eric Smith’s own admission, is not known for their height.
However, they make up for this with speed, tempo, good shooting and a great work ethic.
“Offensively, we are not blessed with a whole lot of height at Elkmont,” Smith said. “I have kidded with the people in Elkmont that I don’t understand, because Ardmore usually has a lot of height on their teams. We go to West Limestone and they have a lot of height. It just seems to skip over the Elkmont area. I have kidded with the kids about it and the adults around here. Our kids know that.”
Because of the lack of height, they are forced to up their game in other areas.
“We like to play up-tempo, there is no secret about that,” Smith said. “We don’t usually play a lot of half-court basketball unless it necessitates. We do like to spread it around with a group of unselfish kids. It is a complete team effort on both ends of the floor. We do like to play a lot of man (defense), there is no secret about that.”
Elkmont is led with 6 seniors who provide great leadership and make Smith’s job of keeping everyone in line much easier.
“I am blessed to have 6 seniors this year,” Smith said. “There are 3 and possibly 4 that started and played a good bit for us this last season, so we have some experience coming back. I am lucky to have a good mixture of experience, leadership and fresh faces. Hopefully, it is a good mixture, as it has shown in the first few practices.”
The early season schedule is “pretty tough” according to Smith.
For example, they took on Wilson on Thursday night, and take on Rogers the following week.
Following that, they will take on the likes of East Limestone, Priceville and Central Florence, all teams of higher classification than Elkmont.
“I guess it is from my playing days, playing a lot of the bigger schools. Come tournament time, we were tested, seasoned and nothing really surprised us,” Smith said. “When I became a coach, I made the schedule as tough as I could. We didn’t backload the schedule, we didn’t frontload the schedule; it is just tough throughout.”
Their mantra they hang their hat on is “outwork yesterday.”
“We don’t make excuses. We are here to play,” Smith said. “The kids are hard-nosed, they listen and work so hard everyday. That has its benefits, because they make up for their lack of height with effort.”
Smith is in his 7th year being at Elkmont and his 5th year as head basketball coach.
This makes him one of the longest-tenured coaches in the county, as he is rich in basketball experience and knowledge of the Limestone County area.
“I love coming to work every day and it never gets tiring to me,” Smith said. “I love what I do and love the kids that continue to work hard and be a blessing to me. It is hard to think of me as a veteran.”
Smith says he loves the Elkmont area, which is a huge reason why he has been with the Red Devils for as long as he has, doing what he loves.
Players during the offseason frequently are up and at workouts as early as 5 in the morning, a commitment to getting in shape physically and mentally before the start of the season.
“It is a blessing to have a group that wants to work that hard,” Smith said. “We have gone as early as 5 in the morning. The players are here and they are ready to go (every day). It really is a blessing.
With Elkmont still in the very beginning of their season, updates will be provided on their games with scores and stats as well.