Rickman takes Stewart Co. hoops job

By GEORGE ROBINSON The Leaf-Chronicle

Two coaches going in opposite directions have the same desire for Stewart County's boys' basketball team.

To see the Rebels succeed. 

That's the reason why Stewart coach Brian Bramlett resigned from his position two weeks after the season ended in March and that's the reason why Stewart County hired Bob Rickman on May 9.

"I'm looking forward to this opportunity," Rickman said. "I grew up in a small town called Milledgeville and I wanted to get back to that small town type of atmosphere." Rickman was recently the assistant boys' coach at Memphis Central after spending the 2004-05 season with Memphis Ridgeway, capturing a state title. He was also the assistant coach at Wilson Central during the 2005-06 season.

"My wife and I talked about where we wanted to live, especially with a 15-month-old son," he said. "We wanted to get out of the Memphis area."

Rickman never dreamed that his journey would bring him to Dover, although he admits he is somewhat familiar with the town, having spent his college years as a student at Tennessee Martin.

"Dover wasn't a place on my radar," he said. "But looking for head coaching opportunities brought me here. I interviewed and had a good, positive feeling about Stewart County during that first meeting and I felt this was the place for us."

Rickman will have his work cut out for him. The Rebels finished 15-11 last season and lost one of the top scorers in school history, Jake West. The senior averaged over 22 points last season, graduating along with 6-foot-5 center Jared Lancaster.

"I know going into it with all of those losses, it will be tough," he said. "And we may take some beatings early on, but come early February of next year, you'll see some great things from Stewart County."

Rickman has already met with his returning players and plans on making a summer workout schedule that will begin this month. He takes over the program left vacant by Bramlett. Bramlett expressed his heartache in deciding to step away from basketball for a while.

"It just became too much," Bramlett said. "I lost my mother in September. She was 57 years old, and me and my brother were left with handling her estate. We're dealing with courts and lawyers and everything. I was dealing with all of this during last season. I was lucky to have survived through it. It was a little overwhelming to say the least."

Bramlett, whose family is from Memphis, spent countless weeks driving back and forth from Dover to Memphis, fitting in practice time along the way.

"I just felt like it wasn't fair to the players and my family," he said. "I don't think its fair to the program if I can't give my best effort each and every day. The kids deserve better than that." Bramlett, whose wife, Kelly, is the girls' head coach, will remain on her staff as an assistant, and he did not rule out returning to the hardwood as a head coach.

"I'll be back," he said. "Now, where that takes me? I don't know. But I have to settle my situation with regards to my mother's estate before I can begin to think about getting back into it." "It was absolutely heart-wrenching to let a program that I poured blood, sweat and tears into go," he said. "But due to circumstances beyond my control, I have to step away for a while."

Rickman said his style will differ from Bramlett's matchup 2-3 zone defensively. Rickman will favor a more full-court pressing style, using a variety of half-court defenses.

"Most of what people will see different about this team will come from the defensive end of the floor," Rickman explained. "We'll change it up quite often. As for offense, I'm not sure how we'll handle that. I haven't had a chance to see the kids in action yet."