ALL-AREA: Spring Creek's Cotten named Girls Coach-of-the-Year

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on April 18, 2016 1:48 PM

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"(But) he took me under his wing, started teaching me the fundamentals."

And Cotten proved an apt pupil.

Along with a few teammates, he routinely stole away with his coach to places scrawled on our state's tradition-rich basketball road map. There were trips to Campbell University and games in the mecca of Chapel Hill.

Finally, the sport was his.

He stepped beyond the basics. He trained in higher-order hoops concepts, and even thought of coaching. That fun, however, was short-lived.

As a green, 19 year-old E-1 basic airman in the United States Air Force, Cotten was about as far away from anything or anyone in his life that ever looked familiar.

Mountain Home, Idaho.

There were no plank-wood barns. No tobacco leaves. No humidity at choke-point levels. Just meat-locker temperatures and a roster full of homesick teammates.

"(It was) cold," he recalled with a mock shiver, "but I learned a lot."

About himself, yes. About others and service, absolutely. About how much he missed the game of basketball. Amen.

His career expanded from there, ultimately treading four continents. And at every turn, in every hangar, he managed to pick up with an old friend.

"Each service has intramurals, then varsity -- especially overseas," Cotten said, "It's high-level play, very serious... and I stayed connected through (those games)."

Upon retirement, coaching would become his life. Finding the right opportunity, however, would be another matter entirely.

The whispers were audible. Loud, actually.

No one can win at Spring Creek, they said. All the best athletes play other sports. They haven't won a game in years.

Good luck, the chorus offered.

But Cotten was smart enough to know better. He'd seen first-hand the shine of teams rooted in the mastery of basic fundamentals.

It worked in high school when he made varsity. It worked in Idaho when he was learning the ropes of a new life. And it worked in Panama when he operated tactical during the extraction of Manuel Noriega.

"This is just basketball," he thought to himself.

His first campaigns -- a combined 21-48 over three years -- didn't call for a raise, but they didn't get him the door, either.

So he pressed for more.

More conditioning. More footwork. More corner shooting and weaves and by all means, more defensive rotations. Slide. Help and recover. All without raising his voice, tossing a jacket or cursing a blue streak long enough to signal-fire the end of Seven Springs.

It worked.

The 2015-2016 Gators started 0-4, but turned a corner following Christmas. They beat Princeton at home, the first such victory of its kind in the Cotten era. Six consecutive victories followed, also a first.

And further, a question -- could this team make the playoffs?

Led by Amber Buchan and Tysha Teachey, Cotten's first graduating class did just that. The group wanted by no one four years ago finished 9-5 in Carolina 1-A Conference play, then appeared in the N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs for first time in nearly a decade.

They would lose in the first round to East Carteret, 54-49, but no fuss. By that time, Cotten and Co. had restored the program's culture, its pride and made hoops on Highway 111 more than a cupcake for opponents.

Together, they fought the good fight.