There's been a lot text messaging going on in May within the Lady Raider basketball program.
Head coach Dan Lampe, fresh off a rookie season in which he guided Madison County to the Final Four, was eagerly using the cell phone feature to remind his players about the details of summer practice.
Just in case they didn’t already know.
Fact is, some players were already texting Lampe, counting down the days with him.
“They seem extremely hungry (to get started.),” Lampe said. “All those who played a lot of minutes at the Final Four … they’ve been texting me, and telling me, ‘just two more weeks to the (May) 27th’ and on and on and on,” he said. “I think they’re excited and ready to go.”
The early-awaited 27th was Tuesday, when the Lady Raiders returned to the basketball court following a 25-7 season last winter. The team fell by one point in the state semifinals to Fayette County.
As eager as they were to get back on the hard floor, there will be nothing fancy about the first week of workouts for the Lady Raiders.
“(We’re) just trying to get everyone acclimated,” Lampe said.
Following the week of practice, the Lady Raiders will play in around 27 scrimmages in June as they gear up for next season.
Madison County will participate in two tournaments, one at Loganville and the other at the University of North Carolina.
Lampe specifically requested match-ups with Duluth, a Final Four team in Class AAAAA this year, at the Loganville tournament. Meanwhile, the North Carolina camp is supposed to be one of the stronger tournaments in the nation. Facing out-of-state competition will make Madison County’s summer schedule that much better, Lampe said.
“That will be good to see some different styles,” he said. “It’s also good team building — to get out of the state and hangout a little bit.”
The coach has already met with returning players from last year and discussed what’s on the horizon for 2008-2009.
Though the team finished with 25 wins and came excruciatingly close to playing in the state finals, the Lady Raiders and their coach haven’t spent much time reliving last year.
“Not so much,” Lampe said. “We’re just focusing on just picking up from where we left off.”
