Tim Shepler is the head coach of the Homewood High School Patriots of Homewood, Alabama. Homewood's star player is senior point guard Ronald Nored, a highly recruited point guard who recently committed to Coach Darrin Horn and the WKU Hilltoppers..........
HH: How long have you coached Ronald?
TS: I've coached him for four years.
HH: How did the team do last season?
TS: We finished 24-8 and lost in the Sub-Regional.
HH: Who was Ronald recruited most heavily by?
TS: Well, it really heated up late but he was recruited hard by several schools....Ga. State, South Alabama, Wichita State, Harvard, Tulane, MTSU, Bradley and many others were after him. Western had been recruiting him for about the last year and they really picked it up in the spring.
HH: What impressed you the most about Western's recruitment of Ronald?
TS: Coach Berry did a really good job with him, he was the one most involved in the process. And Ronald took an unofficial visit to Western back in April I guess it was and he was just really impressed with the campus, the facilities and the staff. He also spoke with the President and AD and he was just real impressed with the whole presentation. He's also interested in the Communications program. I think they recently built a new building for the program there and he was also very impressed with that. I think he met with the department head there. Ronald is an outstanding student. He has around a 3.8 GPA and is just a very intelligent kid. He comes from a great family as well. His father, who passed away about five years ago, was a minister.
HH: What do you think are his biggest strengths as a player?
TS: Just his intangibles. He's a natural leader, he plays hard all the time and he's also a very good athlete.
One thing you always hear is, "The team plays better when Ronald's on the floor." He can really lock down and guard on defense as well. He's just a very good all-around player.
HH: Is he a very good outside shooter?
TS: He has good offensive skills. He definitely shoots well enough for the opposing team to respect him. I think he shot in the mid 30's from three-point range last season.
HH: What do you think he needs to work on the most to get ready for college?
TS: Well, I think there's lots of adjustments every player has to face when they get to college. One thing I think Ronald may need to work on is his shooting off the dribble. He needs some work in that area. He's a very hard worker though and that will continue to improve. Something else I should mention is that he's a very strong rebounder for his size. He was our leading rebounder last season as a 6' 0" guard. He rebounds off of two feet and he really gets in there and goes up strong for the ball and he has a very good vertical leap. He's just a strong rebounder.
HH: Where do you think Ronald rates among the top senior players in Alabama this season?
TS: Well, they have the "Super Dozen" here that ranks the top players in the state and he's listed on that. I definitely think he's one of the top 10 players in the state at least.
>> 2007-08 Homewood basketball schedule
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