Yoemen looking for another good year in 2023

The Cameron Yoemen are looking for another successful season under the direction of new head coach Calvin King.

Last year, the Cameron Yoemen basketball team finished the year with a record of 24-8 with a district record of 10-2. They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last season in a 60-58 heartbreaker against the Groesbeck Goats. 

This year, they will have a new head coach at the helm, Calvin King. King graduated from Brenham High School in 2004 and graduated from Sam Houston State University. He will be going into his tenth year in teaching and coaching, and his first at Cameron ISD. He is very aware of Cameron’s history and actually played in the Cameron Classic in his junior and senior year of high school. 

“I have known about the strong athletic and academic standards that Cameron ISD has developed over the years,” King said. “I feel very privileged to be able to teach and coach here in Cameron, and I have definitely felt welcomed by the staff and community since arriving here. I am looking forward to teaching this new group of players and helping them excel not only on the court but in the classroom.” 

The Yoemen will have five returning players from last seasons roster: Trayjen Wilcox, J.W. Hollas, Charlie Mayer, Braylan Drake, and Damon Flemings.

“J.W. Hollas, Charlie Mayer, Braylan Drake, and Damon Flemings have given most of our experience from last season’s team,” King said. “All of those guys performed very well in this past weekend’s Kolache Classic in West where we went 4-1 and a second place tournament finish. We are going to have a few new faces this season, but we have a lot of seniors that provide really good stability and leadership for the program. From the few weeks that we have been able to get into basketball, I have seen some really good flashes of what we can become this year. It is obviously still early and with me being new to Cameron. It’s going to take a little bit of time for the kids to learn the new terminology, and start fully jelling together. We have some really hard-working kids this year, and I have a lot of confidence in saying that this group will continue to get better and better as the year goes on.” 

For the next two years, the Cameron Yoemen will be having a new set of district opponents due to the new district reclassification and realignment. The Yoemen will not be moving anywhere as they will remain in Region 3 District 19. They will have many familiar opponents: Lexington, Little River Academy, Rogers, and Rockdale. They will be losing Caldwell to 4A and in their place they are getting three new teams. Those three teams are McGregor, Lorena, and Troy.

However, the district opponents are not on the top of King’s mind early in the season. As of now, he plans on the matchups coming up, and also feels it may be a tough district, but he believes his squad can be one of those teams to be feared. 

“I try and focus more on us then the other teams, especially early in the year,” he said. “There are some very talented teams in the area, but I feel like we are one of those teams that can be dangerous if we keep developing. We have a number of guys that can score and play defense, tough defense. We will be ready when the time it comes to tip off for district, but for right now we are getting a lot of games in during tournament season. This will help me evaluate our strengths and line ups as we move forward. I think it’s going to be a fun year, and I look forward to the challenge.” 

As recently stated, they went 4-1 in their appearance in Kolache Classic in West, then took on the Groesbeck Goats on Tuesday. 

This weekend they will be hosting the Cameron Classic. The Yoemen’s first game of the Classic will be the Waco Lions JV team on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the main gym.