The bond of family is a most unbreakable thing. Oftentimes no matter how far apart a family may drift, there is always something that brings it back together.
Turner County Rebels basketball is brought together by its strong-willed coach who wears his passion on his sleeve. Meet Shedrick Office.
Office, an 11-year coaching veteran, is the head basketball coach for both the Turner County boys’ and girls’ varsity teams. Born and raised in Turner County, Office has coached basketball at the middle and high school levels most of his career. While leading both teams, Office and his staff want to give value to the meaning of family with their players.
“The true meaning of family is that at the end of the day, you can go to the left, you can go to the right but you can always come back home,” Office said.
As a father of two, Office understands he must do everything in his power to provide and come through for his family. As a basketball coach, Office empowers his players to take similar ownership to look after each other on and off the floor.
“If I have a light bill that’s $300,” Office explained. “I have two children—if I’m not putting in the work as a family member, those lights will get cut off. It’s my responsibility to take care of my family. I’m teaching my (players) not just about basketball but to be a better husband, a better father, a better sister, a better brother.
“I want to hold them accountable to say my brothers, my family depends on me to go get that rebound, to go hustle and dive on the floor for a loose ball. If my job is to rebound, that’s what they count on me to do. If they count on me to score, that’s what they count on me to do. Everyone gets tired, but the ones that push through show that hard work pays off.”
No one has probably taken to Coach Office’s family first mantra more than his daughter, Zakiyah. Zakiyah, a junior small forward for the Rebels, is one of her father’s most trusted players on the floor and a key player on the Rebels’ undefeated state championship team last season. With strong defensive and shooting ability, Zakiyah aims to help a team with several newcomers get to another level.
“He pushes us to go harder,” Zakiyah said. “Some of us just started so he tells us to try our best and do the best that we can do.”
Coach Office holding the dual post of coaching both varsity teams offers a unique opportunity to incorporate a competitive, collaborative element into his practices. Office suggests having both teams learn from each other is essential to building a winning culture with both programs.
“With me coaching both teams, what I’m teaching one group the other can see it in practice if anyone is missing a beat,” Office said. “With the girls, they’ll run what you call 90 percent of the time to a T. The boys rely more on their athleticism so they might break things off. We’re teaching each other so the players can coach each other if a player isn’t getting something.”
Intrasquad scrimmages are not uncommon during practices either and as Office’s daughter Zakiyah and teammate Mia Carithers explain, competitiveness runs hot as game days approach.
“When it’s getting close to game days, we scrimmage first five against the second five,” Carithers said. “It gets really competitive. It’s fun but at the same time, it builds us up for real game situations. There’s a lot of competition. It’s a pickup game but everyone wants to win.”
Zakiyah added: “The boys are faster, quicker and more experienced than we are so we’ve got to play up to their level.”
As student-athletes, the Rebels are also responsible for winning and maintaining a high level in the classroom and as role models off the court.
“We understand that we have to stay focused,” Carithers said. “We can’t be acting up in school because that can carry over to game time. We have to stay focused on and off the court to be successful. Coach makes sure we get our work done. Everybody gets it done because everybody wants to play.”
Office organizes team-building activities for both of his teams. The teams attend church with Office during the season as well as going out to dinner. The boys team has an annual lock-in while the girls hold a team sleepover. In addition to team-building, the teams also hold team meetings to air any grievances they have over the course of a season.
“We have meetings and we ask questions,” Rebels senior guard Ontario Wilson said. “Coach asks us, ‘what can you do to bring us closer together as a family?’ He lets the seniors speak up. We’ve got to treat everybody equally. No one can treat another person any better than the other. As seniors, we know we have to lead the young guys and build them up.
“Coach preaches that we can’t have a ‘me’ attitude—it’s got to be about the team.”
On Thursdays, the Rebels’ boys varsity team gets together to fellowship, sell hot dogs, pork chops and sodas during lunch.
With both teams off to 1-1 starts this season, Office likes the potential of his teams led by a talented group of players. On the boys’ side, the Rebels are led by forward Tamorrion Terry; who averaged 20.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.8 blocks last season. Terry is flanked by guards Jarvis Hall and Ontario Wilson, who also happens to be Office’s nephew.
“Tamorrion Terry is a very physical and competitive guy,” Office said. “He doesn’t like to lose in anything. He has a certain swagger about himself that says he wants to be the best—on the court, in the state. When competition arrives, he doesn’t want to go against the worst. He wants to go against the best every single night. The one thing about him is that you have to tell him to tone it down. We have to pull him back because he wants to win so bad. He wants to be a state champ and create that legacy.”
When asked about his guards, Office lauds them for their savvy play, leadership and defensive toughness.
“Jarvis Hall, our point guard, is very crafty,” Office said. “(Jarvis) has sneaky speed and great ball-handling skills. He’s a sharpshooter and he’s a true leader from a verbal standpoint. He has that charisma to talk and lead and get guys in the right direction. Ontario Wilson is our glue guy defensively. He’s going to make you play hard and he’s going to come for your throat out there. Most of our guys are all about defense and that’s contagious from top to bottom.”
With the girls’ team, Office relies on his daughter Zakiyah, as well as Carithers and post player Aerial Hamilton to lead on the floor.
“Zakiyah is probably one of our best ball players,” Office said. “She’s one of our best defenders, best shooters. Aerial Hamilton is our best post player—probably is going to be a double-double player for us. She’s big, very physical. She’s our emotional leader.
“At the end of the day, (these girls) are the defending champs. We want to improve every day. We lost 7 seniors from last year. We’re trying to get our bench right but we’re all in this together. When our boys aren’t playing, they’re praising the girls. Nobody wants to see anybody fail.”
The best coaches in sports are exceptional at getting players to buy into the message they pushes and getting the most of out their players. With an emphasis on family, relatives that play for Office love how he fosters unity and equality throughout his teams.
“Coach Office is my uncle so we’re already family,” Wilson said. “I’m his nephew and he treats the whole team like we’re his sons (and daughters). He treats nobody differently and he’s good to everybody.”
Ultimately in life, there is a lot to be said about people who practice what they preach. As the Rebels’ family treks through next season, Wilson believes they are not just talking the talk, but prepared to walk the walk.
“Every team wants to win a championship and we practice like a championship team,” Wilson said.
Following up an undefeated season for his girls and a 23-7 season for his boys, Office insists his family’s goal is to build on smaller feats over the course of a season.
“Our expectation is to have small goals that get us to our bigger goals,” Office said. “Our first goal is to win the Christmas tournament that we host. Our second goal is to win a region championship. The third goal is to win state. When the team sees what you’re preaching and gets deeper into it, they start to believe and want to fight for every inch of it.”
A Family That Plays Together
(Turner County Feature – ITG January)
By Shane Thomas
