With East Bay High, Billy Teeden’s biggest issue was making the drive from Plant City to Gibsonton. The 60-mile round trip was worth it, given the success he saw while leading the Indians basketball program from nothing to something. But he always wanted to be a greater part of the community.
Now he has been given the chance to do that.
Plant City High and Teeden announced April 3 that the East Bay head coach will be taking over the Raiders program in the winter, giving him an opportunity to not only get more involved in the community he’s called home for 14 years, but also to tackle another rebuilding project on the court.
“I’m really excited to have this opportunity to coach a school in my own community,” Teeden says. “It was really tough to leave East Bay because of the number of great people there.”
Raider fans probably remember Teeden’s 23-7 Indians squad picking up 70-53 and 73-37 wins over Plant City in 2014, a handful of stepping stones en route to the Indians’ run to the FHSAA Regional Finals, where they took a 52-50 overtime loss to state runner-up Osceola. But the team wasn’t always that good: It took a lot of work to get to that point, and Teeden feels he can certainly use what he learned for his new gig in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World.
TOUGH TIMES
Teeden actually began his coaching career with East Bay in 2005, serving as the JV team’s head coach, before transitioning to the girls game at Armwood High after two years. He came back to East Bay two seasons later to run the boys program, which hadn’t seen much success since his departure.
“When I took over East Bay, they had only won six games in the previous three years,” Teeden says. “There was a big rebuilding process in that school. I enjoy starting from scratch and trying to rebuild a program.”
Teeden knew that the team wasn’t set up to start winning right away, so he started by fixing the team’s attitude. A culture change, brought on by aiming for several small victories, got the kids to start believing in themselves. Once they get that self-confidence, Teeden says, the rest of the rebuilding process becomes much more manageable.
“You have to change the culture,” he says. “You have to change the idea of, ‘We’re never gonna win.’ It starts with the little things — small victories. You can’t go expect to win a state title in your first year.
“We went 7-15 in my first year, and were competitive, but we just didn’t know how to win. Once you get it going, they believe in themselves and you can set higher goals and standards.”
The team eventually morphed into the district powerhouse it is today, and the players garnered collegiate attention — most notably star point guard Jonathan Jean, who averaged 20.3 points, 6.4 assists and 2.7 steals per game, and recently signed with Furman University.
Of course, all good things must come to an end.
CLOSER TO HOME
Teeden is a family man, with two young children, and has long wanted to be more active in the community they’re growing up in. So when previous Plant City coach Jerry Yoder left the position, Teeden took an interest.
Only one coach, Pee Wee Callins, remains from Yoder’s tenure. Teeden has already put his staff together for the upcoming season, and is currently holding practices to get the Raiders ready for summer league games in Hillsborough County and collegiate camps at USF and Eckerd College.
“It was pretty easy to get some guys to work here,” Teeden says. “That’s the thing about this area: They’re hungry for a good team.”
He knows that, as with East Bay, a complete turnaround probably isn’t going to happen with this team in year one. Teeden does, however, expect nothing but the best effort from his players, regardless of what the score looks like at the final buzzer.
“We have to compete,” he says. “We have to be in every ball game. It’s just about setting standards. My first year at East Bay, I told the guys that they are the foundation. We might not win ‘em all, but we’d better be competitive.”
Teeden hopes that letting the players learn to trust themselves on the court will lead to the desired result, and he does believe that the Raiders currently have some truly talented players.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, they say, and Plant City’s program also won’t be. But if the school administration, players and fans wanted someone with a proven track record in this kind of situation, they got him.
“It’ll all work itself out,” Teeden says. “The moment they’ve got that belief in themselves, the wins will come.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.