What was only a line item in a community initiative just a few months ago is set to become reality.

Northwestern Technical College’s men’s basketball team will take the floor on Saturday, marking the debut of athletics at the Rock Spring school for the first time in its 40-year history.

The Mustangs will take on the Coosa Valley Tech Bruins at 1 p.m. at Pepperell High School in Lindale. At 2:30 p.m., the Golden Knights of West Central Tech (Carrollton) will take on the Griffin Tech Tigers.

The four schools, which are all starting athletic programs this year, will face each other in a 12-game schedule that will conclude on Mar. 15. Northwestern is scheduled for four games at home at LaFayette High School during the season.

Head coach David Stephenson said he and the players cannot wait to get started.

“It’s finally here,” Stephenson said after a practice session on Tuesday night. “We are all so tired of practicing. I’m ready to play and they are ready to play. We’ve been kind of limited as to what we can do because we haven’t had much time, but mentally, we’re ready to go.”

The inaugural roster consists of 11 players whose names will be very familiar to high school sports fans in northwest Georgia.

Trion High School has the most former players on the roster. They will be represented by former standouts Casey Day, Matt Hill, Dustin Rosser and Bud Todd.

Also on the squad are Colton Gorrell and Casey Hall from Gordon Lee, Brandon “Skinny” Harris and Nate Smith from LaFayette, Tim McKeever from LFO, Manny Davis from Ridgeland and Anthony Lumpkin from Ringgold.

While the Mustangs will be somewhat undersized with the tallest players standing only 6-foot-5, Stephenson, a 20-year coaching veteran, said he plans to use the team’s speed and quickness in a fast-paced, pressing style of basketball.

“With just 11 guys on the team, you never know what can happen,” he said. “Because of our size and numbers, some of the guys may be playing positions they’re not really used to. We’re not in the shape I’d like us to be in yet, but we’ve got really smart guys with tremendous work ethic.”



The players range from recent high school graduates to former Rambler Nate Smith, the “old man” of the team at age 23.

“Nate’s married, has a kid, works full-time and goes to school, but he’s missed just one practice,” Stephenson said. “He’s living the dream of playing college basketball. Like I told them the other day, two percent of Georgia high school athletes get to go on to play college basketball, according to the last calculations. These guys are excited to be in that two percent and they have an awesome opportunity to go out and represent their school.”

One of the team’s most valuable members thus far has been Lumpkin. The former Ringgold standout played at Chattanooga State and brings a physical inside presence as well as experience and knowledge of the college game.

“He reinforces things that I tell them that he’s experienced before by playing in college, like getting in better shape and getting ready to play two 20-minute halves instead of four eight-minutes quarters. These guys are responding and they have the right mentality.”

Part of that mentality, Stephenson adds, is team chemistry, which he feels will be another key component to the season.

“Three or four weeks ago, some of these guys didn’t know each other’s names,” he said. “Now they are really playing well together and jelling as a team. The chemistry is really coming together and everyone is just excited and ready to get going.”