David Mundy
New Geneva boys basketball coach Kelsey Prestwood is looking to move the Panthers' program in a positive direction.
The former Ariton and Elba head coach, who was hired by the Geneva School Board Thursday morning, replaces Rodney Jackson, who led the team to 40 wins and two regional tournament appearances over the past two seasons before Jackson left to take the coaching job at North Alabama.
Prestwood, who led Elba to a 15-12 record last season, knows his first year could be tough as the Panthers lost a talented group of seniors, including Class 4A state player of the year finalist Evan Griffin.
“We graduated eight seniors last year and we're coming off a 21-win season, so we know it's going to be a little bit of a rebuild,” Prestwood said. “But I'm excited for the opportunity to join the team and carry on the success we've had over the last few seasons.”
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“I think Geneva is a great place and it's a great opportunity for me to further my coaching career. I'm excited about the opportunity.”
Prestwood will also coach Geneva's junior varsity football team and teach physical education at Geneva Middle School.
A 2007 graduate of Ariton High School, Prestwood attended Troy University while beginning his coaching career as an assistant coach and JV coach under Head Coach Terry Goodson at his alma mater from 2014 to 2015. In his two years at Ariton High School, he led the JV Purple Cats to a 33-7 record.
He was the head boys basketball varsity coach at Zion Chapel in 2016-17, returning to Ariton a year later to lead the Purple Cats varsity team for four seasons (2017-21). He then moved to Elba, where he led the Tigers for his final three seasons coaching the junior high, JV and varsity teams. In his three years there, the Tigers went 40-44 and finished with a 17-14 season in 2022-23.
“Kelsey has played for varsity teams at three local schools and comes in with that experience, plus experience working with the entire program from seventh through 12th grade, which I think will benefit the program,” Geneva Principal Michael Cruz said. “I've done all three myself for many years, so I think he'd be happy to do it if needed.”
But while Crews expected Prestwood would only need to be in charge of one or two teams, he still wasn't sure how the basketball staff would fare.
On the court, Prestwood said he will focus on a defensive-minded team.
“We're going to play hard on the defensive end of the court,” Prestwood said. “On the defensive end of the court, I think it's about playing good defense and playing hard. I think that sets the tone of the game. Obviously, we want to play a physical style of defense, getting in there and putting pressure on them and forcing them to take difficult shots.”
“Offensively, we're going to be looking at a continuity-focused offense with a lot of ball movement, man movement and screens. The biggest thing offensively is moving the ball and sharing the ball. I want three, four, five guys to score in double figures every night.”
Prestwood’s first day with the Geneva basketball program is scheduled for Monday, June 10. He knows he has a lot of work to do in a short amount of time over the summer.
“We don't have a date set for tryouts yet, so we have to get the kids together and put together a team,” Prestwood said, noting that this will be an entirely new team after the loss of a large number of seniors. “We may not have as many games scheduled this summer, so we'll be focusing more on practice, fundamentals and working on ourselves as a team.”
The Panthers' new head coach expressed his gratitude to the people of Geneva for the opportunity to lead the program.
“I want to thank Superintendent Ron Snell, the Geneva Board of Education, Principal Michael Cruz and Assistant Principal Brent Johnson (AP),” Prestwood said. “I'm very grateful to them for giving me this opportunity. Michael Cruz and Brent Johnson both coached basketball there, so they know basketball inside and out. I think it's going to be a great opportunity to work for them.”
He also expressed his gratitude to Geneva Middle School Principal Jerid White and Vice Principal Donnie Smith.
“I'm grateful for the opportunity to teach middle school and coach high school,” Prestwood said.
Geneva Baseball Opening: While Geneva is filling the varsity basketball position, the school is still working to fill the vacant baseball director position, Crews said.
Former head coach Daniel Hart stepped down after last season to lead the baseball program at Kinston. Hart coached the Panthers baseball team for three seasons after serving as an assistant coach for the program. He was the head softball coach at Geneva from 2007-2012 before moving to Kinston and then returning to Geneva.
