After a disappointing loss to East Laurens in the Elite Eight round of the Class A Division I state playoffs last February, the Putnam County boys basketball team started its summer schedule earlier this week.
The War Eagles have a packed schedule over the next four weeks, which includes practices, camps, workouts, and summer league games. They are aiming to develop as a team and get ready for the 2025-26 season.
Putnam County head coach Patrick Marshall was happy to see his guys hit the court again.
“We’ve got a real big schedule,” Marshall said. “We are returning four starters. We’ve got some players who were role players and are expected to play bigger parts this year, and others who started are going to be enhanced in some of their roles. So, we’re challenging ourselves this summer to work hard every day.”
Putnam County lost starter Jaylin Harper, as well as role players Omauri Wright, Bryce Brabham, and Kayden Solomon to graduation.
Still, the War Eagles will be loaded in 2025-26, with their three leading scorers — Jmari Greene, Tamaud Woodson, and Jeremy Banks — back for this season. Shamar McClendon also returns. They also bring back other contributors, such as Zay Hargrove, Jaylen Nelson, and Koleman Foster.
Even though Marshall knows his team returns a lot of depth, he has stressed to his players that this season’s team will be different. He wants them to grow as a new unit this summer, which is one of their main team goals.
Marshall wants to see his older players step up and guide the younger guys and incoming freshmen, whom he’s excited about. He’s particularly interested in seeing how rising ninth-grader Braden Smith adjusts to the high school level.
“I want to see him play at this level,” Marshall said of Smith. “So, I’m going to try and baptize him [this summer].”
Marshall said the team has been playing together for a few weeks now.
“We invited the eighth and ninth graders to come over and play with the girls and people in the community,” he said. “They come out, and the guys run, and they’ve been looking great. The guys have been looking good. We do four-on-ones, and we try to get open runs at least two days a week.
“The guys are still doing their individual workouts,” he added. “About 70 percent of my guys are playing AAU, so they’ve been hooping just non-stop.”
Putnam County held two practices earlier this week before playing a few games at Langston Hughes High School in Fairburn. The War Eagles will attend a camp this weekend before hosting a few games next week.
Next weekend, the team will travel to Atlanta to compete at a camp hosted by Georgia State.
“It’s a fun time of the year,” Marshall said. “We get to see how we compete and also what we need to work on.”