December 30, 2021
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
HUNTSVILLE – It was about 45 minutes before tipoff and Jeremy Bynum was sitting on the bench watching the morning’s opponent – who had already been in the gym an hour – warming up on the goal at the other end of the floor.
He knew most of the players over there as intimately as he does his own, which made the exercise they were about to undertake even more intriguing. A few of players even wandered over to exchange pleasantries and even offer an opening shot that Bynum, for sure, knew was coming.
“Good luck, coach,” Oxford forward Rylan Houck offered, with a quick P.S. and sly smile. “You’re going to need it.”
Maybe Houck knew something.
This was one of those special games. A meeting between mentor – Oxford coach Joel VanMeter – and protégé, Bynum, a former Oxford player and VanMeter assistant in his first season as a varsity head coach, at Mae Jemison.
It didn’t take long for Bynum to recognize the irony.
“I hope he doesn’t have a Nick Saban effect on me,” he said, referring to the Alabama football coach’s history of success against his former assistants.
You can put Bynum in the same class with Kirby Smart after the Yellow Jackets stifled Mae Jemison 40-28.
It was the first time VanMeter had coached against one of his former assistants and the first time Bynum, who played for Larry Davidson at Oxford and VanMeter at Jacksonville State, had coached against one of his former coaches. The game wasn’t set up that way when tournament organizers went looking to give teams a third game against an opponent they have not or won’t play already; it just worked out that way.
So, what started out as a fun matchup between teacher and student turned into another Oxford defensive clinic, which Bynum said he “very much expected.” The Jags had scored 56 points in an opening-night win over Anniston and 47 in a loss to eventual tournament runnerup Grissom, but the Yellow Jackets held them to 3-for-21 shooting and 10 points in the first half while opening a 21-10 lead.
Bynum said nobody has done that to them this year.
Neither coach played it any differently because of who was sitting on the other bench or how much they knew of the other’s approach. There were no secrets here, really. The two talk about basketball on the phone virtually every day.
“We played the way we played because our guys wanted to play that way,” VanMeter said.
The Yellow Jackets (10-8) just kept the Jags (10-8) from doing what they do. They forced them into 17 turnovers and were more physical on the boards. Playing at 9 a.m. or sitting two of your most productive players for not being productive didn’t help the locals, either.
“Those guys had something to play for – the opportunity to play against me,” Bynum said. “It was just harder for my guys to get up and play a 9 a.m. game because they don’t have anything to play for.”
VanMeter called his team’s showing “the best we’ve played since we’ve been here (in Huntsville),” and Houck said it was all because of the preparation.
“I don’t really think the mindset was any different beside we just lost yesterday and something’s gotta change,” Houck said. “We have to be better than what we were yesterday. That is our mindset, but not specifically just for (Bynum).
“We played really well. Coach Van yesterday talked a lot about preparation, and preparation is everything. We woke up at 6 this morning, ate breakfast, prepared, came in here about 7:30, got shots up, got ready for the game. Our preparation was right and it goes a long way.”
VanMeter wanted to stay as far away as he could from any reference to him resembling Saban, but he did like the idea of having a coaching tree.
“Trust me, my name and Coach Saban’s name should never be mentioned in the same sentence,” he said. “But here’s what I’ll say. Jeremy Bynum is a star. He is a flat star. He is really, really good. He understands how to do things. He has a great offensive mind. He does a great job defensively. He learned from Coach Davidson, who is in my opinion one of the best coaches maybe to coach in the state of Alabama at any point.
“So, we have a pretty good (coaching) tree, and I’m glad we have a tree. I’m glad we have a couple guys. It’s a proud moment for me to have people who were under me have success because hopefully that means I was able to help them in some way and that’s what I’m here for.”
And what of that idea of feeling like one of Saban’s former assistants being taken to the woodshed? Bynum would prefer to defer.
“It’s hard to say that yet,” he said. “I think we’re going to be in crossovers next year. Ask me that next year and I’ll let you know.” [**read more]
**When you click read more you will be taken to the EA Sports Today website. Please make sure to come back to read more Calhoun County News.
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