The Scorpions are welcoming a new face to their athletics department as Sedona hired George Gleason to coach boys basketball.

“We will get up and down the floor, the key to basketball is making sure they can run and play consistently solid defense,” Gleason said. “The game has become a lot quicker paced over the last 30 years, so the kids must be conditioned to keep up.”

Gleason moved to Sedona in 2018 after visiting the area during spring break.

“Last year, I took the highway from Detroit to Los Angeles and took a pit stop in Sedona on my way,” Gleason said. “I enjoyed it so much I bought a house without a job during my second day here.”

Gleason currently teach-es at Sedona Red Rock High School after previously working in Prescott.
“I was a coach in Michigan for 26 years and it was part of the conversation when I came in,” Gleason said. “I will be honest with you, basketball has changed a lot where I am from over the course of my career.”
Gleason coached boys and girls basketball in Michigan and, most recently, worked at Ferndale High School.

“I come from a coaching background and one thing my father stressed to me was adaptability,” Gleason said. “You will see college coaches that will stay within their system while also having athletes, but they also have the athletes to get after it,” Gleason said.

Gleason also had stints at Lapeer West, Burton Atherton, Flint Southwestern Academy, Flint Carman-Ainsworth, Flint Kearsley, Dryden and Ortonville Brandon.

“Flint and Detroit are basketball hotbeds and we saw the game transition from having a couple of big men to a perimeter-oriented game,” Gleason said. “Teams still recruited back to the basket-type big men and now you can have a 6 foot, 9 inch player running your offense.”

Last season, the Scorpions finished 4-14 overall and 4-11 in conference play.

“To be honest, I do not look at records or how many games we will win,” Gleason said. “Whether that is a three-game improvement or eleven games, our success will come down to how hard we are willing to work.”

Sedona ended the year sixth in the 2A central and 33th in the state.

“The game has become more uptempo and less about finding opportunities inside for your post players,” Gleason said.
Gleason said he envisions a high-octane Scorpions team in 2019.

“You will see a lot more pressing and full-court defensive strategies next season,” Gleason said. “I try to keep the game as simple as I can, while too many coaches are focused on what offense and defense they want to implement.”

For the Scorpions, it is about getting back to the basics on the hardwood.

“The first [thing] you have to teach your kid is man-to-man defense and then you build from there,” Gleason said. “If your kids do not have the basic skills, then your system can be nullified.”

Though 3-point shooting has become more prevalent today, Gleason does not see the Scorpions relying heavily on it.

“I do not focus on 3-point shooting as much; we will practice it and spend time on it, but it is not a top priority,” Gleason said. “A few of the teams in the area spend an awful lot of time shooting threes and you can live and die from that philosophy.”

“If you cannot penetrate to the basket, you will face some difficulties from behind the arc,” Gleason said.

The Scorpions return juniors Micha Johnson and Jackson Coughlin, who both earned 2A Central all-region recognition.
“I would say the beginning of summer because I like kids to remain focused on their spring sport,” Gleason said. “If we have kids in track and baseball in the spring, then we will wait until their season ends to really get going.”

“Offseason workouts will begin as soon as I can get everything organized,” Gleason said.
Sedona loses 2A Central first-teamer Evan Favorite to graduation.

“I am not into having a motto or saying, I prefer to lead by example,”