While seniors are almost always important on high school teams, the seniors on Sedona Red Rock High School’s boys basketball team shoulder a big responsibility. Not only do they handle much of the team’s load, but since much of the team is young and still learning the game, they also serve as role models for many teammates.
One of those players for the Scorpions this year is Jackson Coughlin. The senior guard is Sedona’s primary scorer and is one of the players that his teammates look up to.
“It’s always really important to have someone who’s like a role model,” teammate James Alagna said. “Especially someone like Jackson who’s been playing for as long as he has. As long as people keep following what he’s doing, we’re going to have a really good team.”
“He’s a team player — the energy of the team,” Joey Johnson, another teammate, added. “And he can pretty much shoot from wherever he wants.
Prior to basketball season, Coughlin had a similar role on a similarly young SRRHS football team. He was not only one of the better players for the Scorpions on the gridiron but also someone who could help the more raw players on the roster develop.
Unfortunately for Coughlin and the Sedona team, his football season was cut short due to a collarbone injury. That also placed his basketball season in jeopardy. But at the beginning of the season, Coughlin was cleared to play basketball.
“I haven’t seen anything hindering him at all,” coach George Gleason said. “He did not want to sit out his senior year playing basketball. I know he probably feels some pain and probably has some struggles, but he gets through it really well.”
Teammate Jaiah Grondin concurred.
“I do not see signs of any injury there,” he said. “He’s recovered like crazy. He’s amazing — a really tough kid.”
When Coughlin’s time at SRRHS is complete in the spring, he hopes to attend a college where he can play either football or basketball. Academically, he wants to major in sports medicine and after college work in sports medical sales.
In the more immediate future, he wants to have a basketball season that will leave him with good memories going forward.
“I want us to come together as a group,” Coughlin said. “All of us are great friends. We bond together. I just want this to be fun for everyone and have a lasting memory. As a senior, this is the stuff I’m going to remember for the rest of my life. I want to enjoy this moment with my guys and play hard this season.”
The Scorpions have experienced some growing pains through the season but have also found ways to hold up against other 2A schools, as they sit at 2-2 in those games.
One of the goals of Coughlin’s younger teammates is to continue to improve so that Coughlin and his fellow seniors can finish their high school basketball careers on a high note.
“It’s a big goal of mine to try to give them the best experience I can,” Johnson noted. “It’s their last year and I don’t want them to lose.”
Regardless of how the basketball season does end, those who work with Coughlin hope he’s remembered well at the school.
“I would want people to see him for all of his achievements,” Alagna said. “Not only in basketball. He’s done a couple other sports before. His academic achievements, as well. He’s just been all around successful.”
“He’s a good representation of what we’re trying to do here,” Gleason added. “We’ve come in with some pretty abrupt changes to what they were used to. We have some standards that we’re trying to set and keep in place. Jackson is one of the people that’s doing it for us and helping others get there.”
