The Blue Ridge boy's basketball program has a new head coach this year and he's ready to hit the ground running.

Colton Reeves comes to Blue Ridge by way of Heyworth last year. Just searching for other assistant coaching jobs in central Illinois, Reeves found the varsity job available and Blue Ridge and decided to take a shot at it.

According to Coach Reeves, Coach Tom Eller at Heyworth was very influential in his development as a young coach. 

Coach Reeves says he is looking to have a team that gets out and pushes the basketball in transition. He says with a mostly guard-oriented lineup, it will be important for them to utilize their guards' skills.

Because Coach Reeves was hired in later in the summer, he missed the traditional summer season coaches usually get with their teams. He was not sure if they would have enough numbers to field a freshman team, but he indicates as the open gyms moved along, they kept getting growth in numbers and will be able to have a freshman team this year.

The Knights open its 2021-22 campaign next week at the Cerro Gordo Thanksgiving tournament.