Pace Academy’s Men’s basketball season started off with a bang. With the season’s first games already complete, the team is looking forward to another exciting season. To take a look forward to this new season, the Knightly News first sat down with Coach Sharmon White, head coach of the Pace Basketball team. The Knightly News discussed the impressive accomplishments, as well as some of the difficulties, of this past season.
Last year, the Pace team secured the AAAA region champion title during the 2024 season. The team also won the state championship during the 2023 season and placed second in the state the year prior during the 2022 season. The Pace Academy Men’s basketball team has earned a total of five state championship titles, three of which have been earned in the past four years.
Coach Sharman White has been the Pace basketball coach for the past six years. Coach White has been a tremendous help to the Pace basketball program and helped elevate the team. This past season, with Coach White’s help, the team placed first in the region and second in the state. “This past season we were really working on creating an identity as a team, especially after losing a good amount of seniors, we needed to come together as a team if we wanted to defend a state title,” shared Coach White. He believes that for the team to be successful and continue to win impressive titles, they need to come together and understand their “identity” as a team. “We didn’t reach our goals this past season of winning another state championship, but I think that if we really work on our team’s identity this season to figure out who we are when we work together, we can really grow,” added Coach White.
With the wins and losses, Coach White still believes that basketball is all about having fun and loving the game. “One of my favorite memories from last year was when we played Mcdonough at their court and had one of our best performances, which resulted in us beating them with a 20-point lead,” said Coach White. The knights had previously lost to McDonough earlier in the season at home, so spirits were low, but no matter the circumstances, the team committed to giving their all, and in this case, it ended with a lively win.
This 2024-2025 season schedule is lined up with lots of difficult competition and teams that will put up a fight, but Coach White says that his team is ready. “We are playing a few high-level local games as well as some national games with teams like Holy Innocents and other highly ranked schools, and it’s challenging, but it will really prepare us for the postseason,” shared Coach White. Coach White believes that taking on such a challenging schedule is beneficial for the team, rather than hurtful because it will prepare them better for playoffs and other competitions, that an easy schedule would not help prepare them for.
Coach White as well as the players are looking forward to an eventful and productive season and hope to improve upon last season to make the team even better. “I hope to continue to raise our standards this season and help to make a strong connected team that gels together so that we can all work together to reach new heights,” concluded Coach White. No matter the outcome of the season, the success of this team is inevitable if they work together and continue to grow.
Pace Academy basketball team after winning the 2023 state championship