Before coming to Rose, Duck was a coach for the women’s basketball team at South Central High School (SCHS), so having a change of scenery takes some getting used to. Although he now coaches for Rose, SCHS is still his home. With him accomplishing so much at his old school it was difficult to leave, but Duck is a strong believer in God so when he had a calling for a fresh start, he had to take it. 

     “It was very, very hard; it was a decision I definitely didn’t take lightly," Duck said. “I prayed a lot about it and the Lord led me to step out on a leap of faith and come this way and accept the challenges.”

     Relationships are hard to build but Duck has been doing just fine. He has already begun forming relationships with his new team. Duck’s team is his number one priority, so building a relationship is very important.

     “We have a fairly strong relationship right now,” Duck said. “Trust and loyalty...can be easily broken, and it’s hard to build, [but] we're heading in the right direction.”

     During the summer and pre-season games, the team has had its share of ups and downs and getting used to the change of coaches. Duck had the opportunity of seeing his team on the court at their jamboree which was held at Rose on Nov. 11th.

     With Duck coaching for Rose, this season should be interesting especially with SCHS being Duck’s old school and Rose being a known rival. Duck is becoming more comfortable with Rose and staff members and he is interested to see how this season will turn out.

     As the men’s basketball team is preparing for the up and coming season so are the women. Varsity's head coach Danian Carr has been coaching Rose basketball for a total of 10 years. Besides Rose, Carr has coached at a number of schools including E.B. Aycock, C.M.Eppes, Wilson county, and many more. Last season wasn’t the best, but in the team's off-season Carr has seen the players working hard.

     “We do a sumerleague in Kinston and we play like five games,” said Carr. “We practice Monday and Tuesday throughout the summer and we play every Wednesday.”

     On Nov. 9th the women’s basketball team had a jamboree at Kinston High School and the score was 2-1. During the summer they had a jamboree the teams score was 4-1. Carr welcomes five freshmen with a great deal of determination, which could take them to the playoffs. This gives Carr high expectations for the season.

“We got five freshmen and if those five freshmen do what they are supposed to do on the court and in the classroom, in the school and stick together, they’ll be strong their senior year,” said Carr. “Pretty much, I'm excited about this year.”