Frankie Sullivan’s style sparks his second James Clemens squad to Sweet 16

Frankie Sullivan, a game-changing player at R.C. Hatch and Auburn University, is looking to be an agent of change in his first job as a head basketball coach at James Clemens High in Madison. From Year One to Year Two his mission has been accomplished. Sullivan’s Jets are 17-9 headed into Friday night’s Class 7A Sweet 16 tournament game at home against Oak Mountain. Sullivan’s first team a year ago finished 9-16. “I knew we were going to be better this year on day one of tryouts,” he said. “The guys we brought back had bought in to our system. Their parents, too. Their work ethic showed a tremendous change. “Most of these guys have been playing together since middle school and they wanted to do something different for James Clemens. It started after our last loss of last season.” Sullivan, the third-leading scorer in Alabama High School Athletic Association’s history (4,224 points from 2003-08) and Auburn’s ninth-best scorer (1,556 points from 2008-13), worked for three years at Auburn after playing professionally overseas. He worked one season under legendary coach Danny Perry at James Clemens before getting the head coaching job. He said he’s learned plenty from his experiences thus far. “Number one is understanding that I have to be a players’ coach,” he said, “of course, you do have to stick with what you do, but you have to play off what you have. I try to be a father figure to these guys. “You have to have confidence in yourself. I want to give my guys confidence. I played with toughness and I try to coach with passion. I think it helps a lot when it comes down to a tough game.” RELATED: Power 10 rankings That toughness has shown on the scoreboard for the Jets, especially of late. James Clemens has won 7 of its past 10 games, and avenged two of the three losses in rematches – including an 80-71 win over Florence in the area title game. The Jets are also thriving in Sullivan’s up-tempo style. “Coach Petty was more of a motion, flex kind of guy,” Sullivan said. “I want to get it up and down more. The more pressure we apply, the better it is for us. I want to get more shots up where some coaches are more deliberate and want to protect the ball. We know we’re going to have a chance for more turnovers with the way we play. “The guys coming off the bench for us have helped us tremendously. For most of the season, we played platoon and subbed all five in. Lately, we’ve changed up depending on the matchups and situation and might sub three at a time.” Sullivan is getting lots of leadership from seniors this season, with four senior starters and a senior sixth man. The Jets are led by junior Jordan Frazier’s 12.5 points a game, with seniors Tyrik Walker scoring 8.2, Nicholas Jennings scoring 7.5 and point guard Kaleb Green at 6.2 per outing. “Brody Davis is scoring 6.1 a game,” Sullivan said, “but what he brings to the game helps us tremendously. He’s 6-foot-10 and of all the guys when we got here, he was the biggest project. He’s had three foot surgeries and he had a ton of weight on him. We challenged him to change his body and he did that in one year. He lost 40 pounds and got his body healthy. “He averages 1.2 blocks a game, but he’s a shot-changer. He took three charges against Austin (a 71-68 win to open the area tournament) and he’s one of our captains.” Sullivan’s scouting report on 20-9 Oak Mountain starts with breakout big man Will Shaver. The 6-10 four-star prospect does it all, Sullivan said. “He moves well, he can step out and make the jumper and break the press on the dribble,” he said. “Oak Mountain can slow it down and they do up-tempo. This will be a hard-fought game and should be a great scoring game. Both teams can fill it up.” The game tips at 6:30 at James Clemens on Friday.

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James Clemens High School Athletics

FRANKIE SULLIVAN’S STYLE SPARKS HIS SECOND JAMES CLEMENS SQUAD TO SWEET 16

MIKE PERRIN

www.al.com | 2/16/2021