VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) — You’d be hard-pressed to find a hotter team in the Central Valley.
With a perfect (20-0) record on the season, The College of the Sequoias (COS) women’s basketball team is currently the No. 1 ranked CCCAA team in California.
“We’re about winning,” first-year Head Coach Tyler Newton said. “I never really put an emphasis on record.”
You can’t see it at practice, but there’s a giant target on the girls’ backs.
Coach Newton says their games have become everyone’s ‘Super Bowl’.
“We prepare the same for every game,” Newton said. “We prepare like it’s a state championship game.”
Coach Newton comes to Visalia after four straight Golden Valley Conference titles at Butte College.
He’s also brought in his entire staff, including multiple players from last year’s team at Butte.
Sophomore guard Jocelyn Media says it was a no brainer to follow Newton to the Central Valley.
“There wasn’t s second thought in my mind of staying,” Medina said. “I already had a year with him. I knew what we were capable of.”
One of those former Butte players also happens to be a former local high school prep star.
“She’s a great leader,” Newton said. “She’s a great human.”
Former Caruthers High School sharpshooter Morgan ‘Mo’ Trigueiro followed Newton, bringing her a few hours closer to her hometown.
“Obviously it’s a small town,” Newton said. “But, if you know anything about Caruthers, they’re about their basketball.”
“It was kind of a no-brainer following this coaching staff.” Trigueiro said. “I mean I ride for them. they ride for us.”
Despite his continued success on the court, Newton is still waiting to hang his first state tile banner.
For now, he says he’s focused on the next game and making sure his girls get a scholarship at the next level.
“I wasn’t just naturally gifted. I had to work really hard to get where I got athletically,” Newton said. “I think I try and instill that in these young ladies.”
As a former collegiate big man and international professional, Newton says he’s there for the COS experience and beyond.
“I feel like it’s my duty to give back and share some of those things with these young people so they can chase their dreams as well.”
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