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By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

Davie boys basketball has a new JV coach, but Tracey Arnold is hardly new to coaching. He’s been coaching Davie Fastbreak travel teams for many years. He coached the Ellis boys to an 11-0 season in 2016-17.
He has taken over for Tim Kenney, who guided the JV last year before retiring from teaching. Arnold, 51, is a 1988 Davie graduate who played for the War Eagles when Denny Key was coach. He was a senior when Davie went 18-7 and finished second in the Central Piedmont Conference, which were the most wins in 19 years.
“He’s got, what, 28 years of experience?” Davie head coach Bruce Wallace said. “He’s up and down the floor all practice. The kids in Davie County love him and the parents love him. I’ve had people tell me: ‘That’s a good hire. That’s a good hire.’ He’s getting after it. I’m really glad he’s on our staff. I’m super excited about him.”
And then: “That was an idea that me and Shane Nixon came up with, and I’m just pumped to have him on the team. The JV and freshman teams look like they’re ready to roll already.”
Arnold, who spent the last few years assisting Germain Mayfield at South Davie, is cautiously optimistic about 2021-22.
“Depending on who the varsity takes, we could be pretty good,” he said.
Right now Arnold does not have an assistant. “We’re hoping to add an assistant on JV,” Wallace said.
Kevin Revels, who assisted Kenney last season, has joined Nixon on the varsity bench. Mike Dinkins returns as the freshman coach. Wallace was a seven-year assistant for Mike Absher, who left after carving out the most wins in program history during a 19-year run. Now Wallace is calling the shots at age 29.
Watch Out For McCormack
Owen McCormack was among the main guns in 2018-19, when the War Eagles won a record 24 games and claimed the first regular-season title since 1970. Now the 6-9, 230-pound junior from Advance is primed for a big season for the Presbyterian Blue Hose.
Last year he averaged 9.5 points, 5 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He couldn’t have ended his sophomore season any better, scoring 22 points while playing all 40 minutes against Hampton.
“He said he thinks he’s going to be the sixth man, but the coach said he’s still going to get about 25 minutes a game,” Wallace said. “So he’s going to be one of their main contributors.”
Wallace spent time in the gym with McCormack last summer. He was often shaking his head in amazement.
“I worked him out in the summer,” Wallace said. “What has gotten me excited about him is his shot-making ability. You think he could shoot in high school, his shot-making ability from the 3-point line is ridiculous. When we did drills, he was lights out. So I think he’s going to have a big year.”