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Hahn to take winning ways to Greenville
Former Delta boys basketball coach Chris Hahn will continue his career coaching the Greenville girls.
Hahn, who helped lead the Delta boys to two straight district championships and an overall record of 42-17 during his two-year tenure with the Bobcats, is excited to transition from boys to girls basketball.
“The girls game has kind of been something that I’ve been interested in the past couple of years,” Hahn said. “My fourth year at Holcomb I actually had to fill in for the girl’s coach one game, and it was the most fun I’ve ever had coaching. Moving over to the girl’s side, I think it should be pretty fun.”
Greenville had just three seniors and three juniors on this past year’s 9-13 team, leaving Hahn with mostly underclassmen going into his first year as the Bears’ coach.
“I think if you’re coaching a team that’s super young – like my last year at Holcomb we had one senior, three juniors, and the rest were freshmen and sophomores – it’s negative from the standpoint that you don’t have any experience,“ Hahn said. “It really hurts you in games and you kind of have to roll with the growing pains with those young kids.
“On the flip side, if you come in and they’re a younger team (then) they’re more apt to buy into what you’re doing and listen.
“This is my experience with boys when you come in with upperclassmen they’re kind of set in their ways. If they’re younger they’re more willing to buy into what you’re doing, and then you’re kind of excited when they’re younger, too, because you get a few more years with them.”
Hahn is known for coaching a fast-paced, run-and-gun style of basketball, and plans to implement his style into the program at Greenville.
“I don’t know if it’s good or not, but I probably won’t change from the kind of style I want to play,” Hahn said. “I’ll have to make adjustments based upon the skill level and the type of kids that we have, but it’s always going to be the same premise of just trying to get more points in the game.”
Hahn hopes to be competitive right away despite the competition the Bears face in the Ozark Foothills Conference.
“I think we’ve got a chance to be pretty good but we’re in, what’s got to be, the hardest girls conference in the state,” Hahn said. “District-wise I think it’s pretty tough too. It’ll be a good job where we’ll have some competition every night.”
While he wants to compete and potentially win a district championship in the near future, Hahn said his ultimate goal is getting more girls on the team.
“I just want to come in and try and get the numbers up with how many girls are participating,” Hahn said. “I know they haven’t had a JV team in a while. That’s key number one. I just want them to fall in love with basketball and the way we play. I really want to try to win a district, and I think that’s pretty attainable for us next year if we come in, buy into what we’re doing, and put in some hard work.”