Jack Footer is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Shadow Mountain High School for AZPreps365.com 

In the mid-2010s, former NBA star Mike Bibby led Shadow Mountain to five state championships in six seasons, taking the team to Nationals twice in New York. However, since then, the school has never won more than five games in a season and has been seeking a return to its golden era.

This season, the Matadors’ eight wins were the most since the 2019-2020 season. Pierce Rodgers, a senior of this past season’s team, said he was delighted with how the season went.

“Of course, there are things we could have done better,” Rodgers said. “That's true of every team. My freshman, sophomore, and junior years, we got two and three-win seasons, and this year we got, eight. So I'm happy with the season for my senior year. I can't complain too much.”

The much-needed improvement has arrived for the students just off East Shea Boulevard, thanks to Head Coach Rob Knox.

Knox, who became head coach of the varsity team to begin the 2024-2025 season, has been involved in the game his entire life, starting play in third grade and continuing through college. Even afterwards, he still wanted to be around the game, so he went into coaching.

Knox said even after the season is over, you are constantly preparing for the next one to build on momentum.

“Getting the boys in the gym, that's always part of building a program, Knox said. “But I would say definitely the big thing that I've been trying to do is just getting the boys to buy in, buy into the program, giving them the most confidence that I can give them, let them know, ‘guys that team that can win two games, you guys are not a team that will only win two games in the season’. So just kind of give them that confidence that ‘you guys are a lot better than you guys kind of go out there and play like sometimes.’”

Knox said the team had eight seniors on the roster last season. It was beneficial because having these seniors provided the Matadors with numerous invaluable leaders who helped boost not just the varsity team but the entire basketball program. 

When younger students on the freshman and JV teams see the seniors buying into the program, it shows that Shadow Mountain cares about its basketball teams and they're ready to win. It also gets students excited about what's ahead in their basketball journey.

Assistant head coach Jay Rose, who played basketball in school with Knox, added building a winning team is not just simply about building the confidence of the players. 

When he and Knox took over the program, many of the players weren't finding their groove and had lost interest in basketball. He reiterated that to create a winning culture, you must create an environment where people can showcase their passion for the game and genuinely want to play.

Even with the loss of seniors like Rodgers, Rose said the team has a high basketball IQ and will be able to build on that. He also added that while not following the exact blueprints, he and Knox will incorporate elements of the Bibby Era to help rebuild the team. 

One of the pillars of the era was defense.

From 2013-2019, the Matadors averaged 104.3 blocks per season.

According to The Arizona Republic, during the Bibby era, the Matadors developed their defensive skills through independent workouts. The team never held scrimmages; they focused solely on fundamentals.

Rose said, similarly to the Bibby era, the team was also very defensive-heavy this past season. They totaled 58 blocks along with 87 steals. Many of the top players in those categories, according to MaxPreps, were players such as Rogers and Tate Newport, among others.

"So we're kind of focusing on a little faster pace on offense, kind of little pesky on defense," Rose said. "So that's kind of what we're switching towards, the tall being tall, it's, we want to rebound. We want to slow the game up, get the ball inside. But I think now we're kind of shifting towards that guard. Let's go fast, you know, quick run and all that sort of stuff. So it'll be good to coach the other side of it."

Newport added that this season, the team had a secret weapon.

“We played to the weakness, Newport said after the team's final game of the season against Thunderbird on Feb. 11. “Their weaknesses were their height. And we just went in and drove the entire game.”

Newport was referring to the Matadors taking advantage of their height; however, this is something they won’t have much of this upcoming season. During the offseason, the Matadors will focus on maintaining their defensive mindset, given their lack of height.

The Matadors will also see many players move up from JV to varsity. Some players were ready for varsity this past season, but Knox said keeping them completely on JV rather than splitting their time between both teams helps students play more minutes and gain more reps. 

He also added that most of the players on the JV team have been playing with each other since their freshman year. All will be poised to move up to the varsity team, and having consistency with players and knowing how each one works best with each other is essential because, according to Knox, “they’re learning a great chemistry as a team, and it's been very beneficial.”

He even said players will be more ready to give it their all.

“If I need to have two guys play 40 minutes their entire game, they're able to do that,” Knox said. “So make sure you see a lot faster pace from us, and you guys will see a lot more of us pushing the tempo, a lot more three-point jump shots.”

During the Bibby era, the team featured many notable players who went on to play at the collegiate level after high school, including Jaelen House and Jovan Blacksher Jr.

House played for New Mexico in college and is currently in the NBA G League playing for the San Diego Clippers. Blacksher Jr., on the other hand, played five seasons at Grand Canyon before transferring to Cal this past season.

Having a head coach who is a former basketball player can be beneficial in helping the players transition from high school to college.

While Bibby was coaching the Matadors, he left the team in the hands of his assistant coaches during the summer as he played for Ghost Ballers in Ice Cube’s BIG3, a touring summer 3-on-3 league.

Bibby said that playing in this league allowed him to play the sport at the highest level and bring new skills and knowledge with him back to Shadow Mountain.

Like Bibby, Knox said one of his primary goals at Shadow Mountain is to help the guys ensure they, too, are prepared for their next step in life after graduating from high school, whether they plan to play basketball or not.

Rose said offseason workouts have already begun. He’s been coaching players individually three times a week.

The team aims to continue its improvement this offseason and is eager to keep winning, demonstrating this is not the last time people will hear of The Matadors, and proving to themselves that they can play at their best, no matter the opponent.