High School Sports Grill: Millbrook’s head coach and biggest cheerleader
Millbrook head girls basketball coach Chris East talks to his team during a game (Photo by: Greg Mintel, VYPE High School Sports Magazine/VYPE.com)
By Teri Saylor, VYPE High School Sports Magazine/VYPE.com
Ask any of the high school women’s basketball coaches in these parts, and you’ll find Millbrook High School’s Lady Wildcats on their wish list of teams to beat. Millbrook has a young, dynamic team and is blessed with winning ways, thanks to Head Coach Chris East. Coach East also coaches the Millbrook Men’s Golf Team, and enjoys the diversity of the sports. last winter, his basketball team made it to the Regional Playoffs and lost to eventual state champions Westover. The Lady Cats were 25-5 that year, and Coach East admits that season will be tough to match. But he’s taking the season one game at a time and with a team of unlimited potential, the best may very well be yet to come.
Tell me about yourself. your background. your coaching experience.
I grew up in Northern Virginia in a town called Sterling. I went to Park View High School and played with former Duke player Billy King during my high school years. I went to Virginia Tech and came down to North Carolina to find a teaching job. I was lucky enough to land a long term substitute position at East Millbrook Middle in 1991 and that turned into a full time job. I moved to Millbrook High School in 1996 and have been here since.
I starting coaching high school golf in 1996 when then Millbrook athletic director Earl Smith hired me. I was also a volunteer assistant basketball coach for Dexter Cooley and Mickey Bissette at Millbrook with the boy’s program since 1991. I took over as varsity coach for the women’s program in 1997.
Did you play sports in high school? if so, what sports did you play, and how did your high school experience shape your efforts as a coach?
I played four years of basketball, four years of golf, and one year of tennis in high school. As I’ve mentioned before I played along side Billy King who went to Duke (actually I was the “victory cigar” my junior year – when I went in the game was basically over!). As a player my junior year I was the last man on the bench (because we were so talented), and I got to play a lot my senior year. This experience helped me as a coach because I know how it feels to “ride the pine” and to get playing time. it is important as a coach to make all your players feel a part of the program, regardless of their playing ability – all players are important to our success. your role on the team may be to practice as hard as you can and make the first team better, which ultimately will lead to our team’s success.
How did you get to the position of coaching the girls basketball team?
Earl Smith was looking for a Varsity Women’s coach after a coach stepped down. I had been helping Coach Cooley and Coach Bissette with the boy’s program and he offered me the job. it was different at first, because I’ve always coached the boys. I was told that I couldn’t “talk to the girls the same way to you talk to guys” and tried it that way at first, but it didn’t work. a few games into the season I told myself that if I didn’t coach the girls the same way I would coach the guys, I was doing these young ladies a disservice. it came down to the simple fact that I was coaching basketball, not boy’s basketball or girl’s basketball – just basketball.
You coach boys golf and girls’ basketball. That’s quite a diverse spectrum. How challenging is it to switch gears between the two sports?
I enjoy coaching a diverse spectrum with Men’s Golf and Women’s Basketball. I get to interact with a wide variety of Millbrook students outside the classroom – not everyone is as lucky as I am to do this! To be quite honest with you, I enjoy the change of gears after basketball season switching over to golf season. Basketball is intense and emotionally draining, whereas golf season is a little more laid back. my “coaching” in golf deals with more course management and swing corrections on the range before the kids go out to play. I don’t think they will let me call timeouts in golf like I do in basketball in the middle of a round!
How is it different coaching girls versus coaching boys?
As a young coach I had mentors and I had the chance to observe a variety of coaches that showed different ways to motivate their players. Some were quiet and direct while others “aggressively counseled” their players as I like to say. As a coach of both males and females, I’ve realized that different players respond to different methods of coaching, and it is up to me to find the best way for each player. But the bottom line is this: Do the players know that I care about them on and off the court? before they will respond and accept criticism from me, they have to know that I care for them outside of the player-coach relationship. one of the best parts of coaching is when former players come back and have interest in the program. that lets me know that I am doing something good or right.
Your season has gotten off to a good start. Going into the holiday break, you had lost to just two schools: Broughton and Wakefield, and both are well known as very strong girls’ basketball programs. How do you see your season playing out?
Actually we have only lost to Wakefield once and Northern Durham twice (we beat Broughton at their place in double overtime). I am pleased with how the season is going because we are so young this year (four freshmen and three sophomores on Varsity that get a bunch of minutes) because of the three games we lost we had a chance to win them. We lost to Wakefield in overtime and had 10 and six point leads in the Northern Durham games. and I’m pretty sure that we won’t be the only teams to lose to these two fine programs, that’s for sure. We play in the tough CAP 7 League, where there are no nights off or easy games. Our league should prepare us well should we be lucky enough to make the playoffs this year. We’ve also have a tough non-conference schedule too with games against Apex, Hoggard, Green Hope, and of course Northern Durham.
Last year, your team made it to Regionals. Do you expect to go at least that far again?
It was two years ago that we made it to Regionals and lost to the eventual state champions Westover. We were 26-5 that year (the loss to Westover, three to Wakefield, and one to Broughton) so that will be tough to match. But with great senior leadership from Samiyah Williams and Courtney Spearman and a deep and talented team, this team has unlimited potential. With that being said, we just need to keep playing one game at a time and see where we wind up at the end of the conference season.
Millbrook has a talented boys’ team this year. How do you keep the boys from overshadowing the girls within your school environment?
I have been fighting that demon ever since I’ve taken over the Women’s Basketball program. Scott McInnes, Chris Davis, and Chris Grimes have done a wonderful job with the boy’s program here at Millbrook. my team and I enjoy supporting the boy’s team – I just wish some of those Millbrook Maniacs would come earlier and support us as well! I think we put a very entertaining product on the floor and people are missing out on a chance to see a truly special team. The game of Women’s Basketball has truly grown in the last few years and the level of play has increased as well. I’m pretty sure my team works just as hard as Coach McInnes’ team in the preseason, post season, and in the summer – I just wish we could get more support!
What are some of your favorite coaching moments?
Just being in the gym or on the course with kids who want to get better are some of my favorite moments. one specific moment was back in 2003. The Women’s Program at Millbrook had been down for a while, and that group of the 2003 seniors won the conference regular season and the conference tournament. I remember standing back as the players rushed the floor at the end of the conference tournament championship game, watching all the pandemonium. their goal of winning it all came true! I remember winning the school’s first Sectional Championship in 2007 – that was a special team! aside from that I enjoy having scholarship signing parties for the players that went to play at the next level, a sign of a goal accomplished. As I’ve mentioned before it means so much when the former players come back to see me and let me know how they are doing – it’s the best gift ever!
When you were a kid, what did you want to grow up to be?
At first I thought about being a lawyer when I was growing up. But my parents, who were excellent role models for me, and a few teachers I’ve had along the way showed me the profession that had the biggest impact on the future – teaching. I can’t think of a more important job than teaching.
And if you were not coaching and teaching, what would you be doing?
I honestly have no idea what I would be doing if it weren’t for coaching and teaching! my brother and uncle are in law enforcement (SBI), and my other brother and father are in the automobile industry. I don’t know how well I would fare in those areas! if it weren’t for teaching I doubt that I would have met my wonderful wife Taela (WCPSS employee for close to twenty years) and my two children Carly and Will. I would eventually like to become an athletic director at a school – does that count? I can’t imagine not being in the school setting!