AHOSKIE – Isaiah Lankford may be a young rookie head coach, but with the experience he has gained over a short period of time he feels ready to lead.

Lankford was named last week as the head coach of the varsity boys basketball program at Ridgecroft School.

A native of Franklin, VA, Lankford is a 2017 graduate of Southampton County High School. There he was the point guard on the basketball team, playing at the varsity level from the 10^th grade through his senior year.

“We had good seasons while I was there. In my senior year we were 17-4 and finished second in the district. We went to round three of the state playoffs,” Lankford said.

His head coach at Southampton was Sharone Bailey and Lankford later served as one of his assistant coaches.

After attending Hampton University for three years, Lankford transferred to Virginia Wesleyan where in 2022 he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Sports Recreation Management.

He taught one year at Norview Middle School before coming back home to Southampton High School to launch his coaching career. He also taught Special Education for one year and this past year he taught a gym class and weightlifting classes.

Under coach Bailey, Lankford said the most important thing he learned was patience.

“He taught me how everything does not need to be addressed directly and in that moment,” Lankford shared about his mentor. “He also instilled discipline in me and all his players. That discipline is constant, in the gym or outside the gym. You learned how to listen and respond with respect.”

It didn’t take Lankford long to earn the respect of his head coach.

“He gave me all of his spring, fall, and summer training and he was very open with me this past season with helping him prepare game plans,” Lankford said.

Like it was at Southampton, Lankford said his Ridgecroft team will play an up tempo style.

“We’ll get out and run in transition, more of a Roy Williams type of offense,” Lankford said, noting the style of the now retired UNC and Hall of Fame coach. “But we will be a defense first team and we won’t sit back in one type of defense, we’ll mix it up.

“Whatever we’re using, defensively or offensively, I want to teach the players why we are using this particular setup. That way they’ll learn more about the game itself,” he added. “When you teach action and not just running to a particular spot, it makes the game a whole lot easier to understand.”

Lankford said he isn’t nervous about being a head coach for the first time.

“There were times this past season where coach Bailey would subconsciously allow me to be the head coach,” Lankford said. “He still had the final say, but he would ask for my opinion on certain things. He was preparing me for this moment here at Ridgecroft. I feel I’m well prepared for this job.”

Lankford said he looks forward to his first year coaching in the Tarheel Independent Conference and the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association.

“I’m aware of the level of success enjoyed by schools in our conference and across the state, but I’m a competitor and I’m up for the challenge,” he stressed. “You can’t teach athleticism and you can’t teach height. But you can teach discipline and have a coachable team who are prepared to face whatever challenge lies ahead in your next opponent. I’m looking forward to the start of high school basketball later this year.”

Lankford was introduced last Thursday as the new head coach during a brief ceremony held in the Ridgecroft gym.

“This is an exciting day for Ridgecroft basketball and an exciting day for me personally,” said Billy Jenkins, the school’s Athletic Director as well as the head coach of the varsity girls basketball team and the baseball team.

“A lot of times, sports programs are the face that everyone in our community sees,” Jenkins continued. “It’s important to find someone with character who does things the right way and win basketball games. I feel like we have found that person.”

At his former job, Jenkins was a coach and teacher at Southampton County High School.

“I coached Isaiah for five years; he was a program-building athlete,” Jenkins recalled. “When I knew we were going to have a job opening for our boys basketball program here at Ridgecroft, he was the first phone call I made. I told him I wasn’t going to make another phone call [to another coach] until he told me no. And so, here were are today with Isaiah Lankford.”

Jenkins made the announcement with members of both the boys and girls basketball present.

“I think that’s important because we are a basketball family. We will do things together; we will work to make each other better,” Jenkins said.

At the outset of his remarks, coach Lankford first and foremost gave praise to God for giving him this opportunity.

“This [job] was not one of the things I had written down in my yearly plans,” he said. “The fact that this job opened up with someone I knew in coach Jenkins made it an easy choice. This move is good for me and I thank coach Jenkins for this opportunity.”

The newly hired coach thanked his family – wife, daughter, and grandparents – for coming out and supporting him on such a special day.

“I’m excited to be here,” Lankford said. “I can’t promise you a championship, a conference title, but what I will promise you is that I’ll teach you how to handle adversity, how to do things correctly, the right way, when no one is watching.

“We will be disciplined; we will bring passion, effort, energy, and dedication to the game. Those are the intangibles that not only make you successful on the court, but also in life,” Lankford concluded.