Basketball coaching legend John Wooden once said, “What you are as a person is far more important than what you are as a basketball player.”
At Georgia Christian School (Dasher, Ga.), head basketball coach Kent Copeland is a living testament to that mantra.
“Sports are one thing, but my number one job is to prepare these boys for life in general,” he said. “I teach them to win and lose with class. I feel that our obligation, as high school coaches, is to teach our kids life lessons through the sports that they play. Hard work, determination, humility; they can all be emphasized through sports.”
A local product, Copeland was born in Valdosta and was a 1979 graduate of Georgia Christian; he was later a 2-year basketball player while attending Alabama Christian College and Berry College.
He is a link in the chain of Georgia Christian graduates that began with his father in 1948. He and his wife, Cindy (of 31 years), have two sons that both graduated from the school (in 2001 and 2003). He now has granddaughters walking the halls, and it is likely that his first grandson, just born on December 3, 2014, will grace the campus one day as well.
Football is a long-standing tradition in the South. Of course, Georgia is no exception. But Georgia Christian only recently restarted its football program in 2013, and Coach Copeland serves as head coach on the gridiron as well.
“It’s actually shocking that football took off the way it did (at Georgia Christian), because we have always been a basketball school,” he said. “The boys’ team has won numerous state titles, including five straight from 1980-84. Bringing in the football program has simply been an opportunity to grow. It’s bringing in more students and helping the school expand as a whole.”
However, Copeland is a basketball enthusiast. Prior to taking his position at the school, he was able to coach both of his sons as a volunteer. While he loves both sports, he completely understands that the learning curve for him on the gridiron is much steeper than on the hardwood.
“During football season, I make sure to surround myself with an extremely talented, knowledgeable staff,” he said. “But 
when it comes to basketball, I can break the game down to the fundamentals; it’s much easier to do what needs to be done to succeed. On the court, I coach. On the field, I manage (laughs).”
Regardless of the sport, however, his mentality remains the same.
“I am who I am,” he said. “I don’t change. During a basketball game, the gym tends to be much quieter, and, obviously, the weather is nicer (laughs). But other than that my focus is the same. I’m here to help these kids to be the best they can. My goal is to push them to be even better than they think they can be.”
The Generals are poised to build on last year’s impressive season. They are bringing back a nearly identical team, bolstered by 2013 All-State selections Jake Elliott and Jerry Beverly, as well as 2013 All-Region selections Christian Wisenbaker and Keaton Bentley.
“We’re returning all but one player from last year’s team, and the player that we lost wasn’t a starter,” Coach Copeland said. “Our team is coming back better than ever because they are so familiar with what we do here. Also, our boys are in the weight room now, so they’re bigger, faster, and stronger than they’ve ever been.”
Copeland’s mission of teaching the team to reach for the stars has certainly been coming to fruition. The team has made the Final Four in the state tournament in three of the last five years, and as of this writing, is off to a 3-0 start after an astounding 82-38 win over Citizens Christian Academy (Douglas, Ga.).
On top of his responsibilities as the head basketball and football coach, Copeland has also faithfully served as Georgia Christian’s athletic director since 2008. His main duties include scheduling, budgeting, and ensuring that the right coaches are hired to teach the athletes.
“We just want to ensure that our coaches have everything that they need in order to give their best effort,” he said. “We want them to push our athletes to win, but more importantly, we want to be sure that we implement the right people that are going to teach our players life skills.”
While the boys are seeing success on the court, Coach Copeland’s vision reaches far beyond the game itself. He wants his players to be role models, in athletics and beyond. It helps that he leads by example.
South Georgia/January 2015
Coach’s Corner
Kent Copeland
Georgia Christian School
Dasher, Georgia
Generals’ Coach Prepares Players for Athletics and Beyond
by James Washington
