When Josh Mathis took the job to coach the Delta C-7 Chargers boys basketball program last summer he wasn’t sure his numbers would be high enough to have a junior varsity and varsity squad.

“I was told I’d be lucky to have seven or eight players,” Mathis said. “Right now we’ve got 15 guys out there so everything is going alright right now as far as numbers go.”

Mathis, who played high school basketball at nearby Clarkton High School over a decade ago, is no stranger to the region.

“I’m thrilled to be given a chance to take over this program,” said Mathis, who graduated from Arkansas State University in 2018. “But I’m not going to lie I’ve been out of the game for a little while. When we had our coach’s meeting earlier today and we were talking about players and it was my turn to talk I was the first to admit the other coaches know more about the returning players than me because this is my first year back.”

Delta C-7 has eight upperclassmen on its roster despite graduating most of its starters off of last season’s varsity squad that went 6-15.

“We have some guys coming back but most of them didn’t get to play a great deal last season,” Mathis said.

The Chargers roster makeup consists of three seniors, five juniors, five sophomores, and two freshmen.

“We do have a sophomore that has moved in from Dyersburg, Bryce Manley, who is pretty athletic,” Mathis said. “Some of our most athletic guys are underclassmen. We plan on having two teams so we can focus on the junior varsity and varsity separately. I want our younger guys to play together and develop together as much as possible.”

Mathis said ball-handling and defense have been focal points in preseason practices.

“We’ve been working on not turning the ball over and executing on defense,” Mathis said. “We are coming off an eighth-grade season in which we went 12-1. Our only loss was to South Pemiscot. The reason we had success in the eighth grade is because our guys love to play defense and we are trying to make that a focal point for our high school guys as well.”

Delta C-7 opens its season at the Bulldog Classic at Gideon High School Nov. 29 - Dec. 3.

“The top three or four teams in the Bulldog Classic are returning some talented players so it will likely be a challenging tournament,” Mathis said. “But we are going to try to grind it out and compete hard. I am grateful for the opportunity to coach these guys and proud to be a Charger.”