A former member of Rick Barnes’ Tennessee staff made his Tennessee high school head coaching debut with a victory Tuesday.
Aubin Goporo, UT’s former Director of Student-Athlete Development, coached his first game for Knoxville’s West High School.
He and the Rebels were victorious as they defeated Austin-East, 77-48, before a spirited crowd at West High School. Goporo replaced former Tennessee player Chris Kesler as the Rebels’ head coach last spring.
Despite seeing his new team post a seemingly impressive victory, Goporo said that West has much to improve upon as the 2020-21 season progresses.
“These kids were under a lot of pressure tonight,” said Goporo, who was a member of Barnes’ staff from 2017-20. “It was our first game. It was our first home game and it was also our senior night.
“Nobody wants to lose on your senior night. These kids didn’t play well tonight, but I understand why. We have a lot to work on. For us, it’s about keeping things simple. We want to keep things simple, but we don’t want to be predictable.”
West (1-0) had three players score in double figures. Will Biven led the way for the Rebels as he scored 18 points. Eriam Cuevas added 16 and Taylor Preston finished with 10.
West will next play Farragut at home Friday.
Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. EST for the District 4-AAA opener for both schools.
The Admirals are coached by VFL Jon Higgins and are 1-2 out of the gate this season.
Goporo played at Florida Tech and previously coached at Florida Air Academy in Melbourne Beach. There, he won 309 games and five state championships.
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