Hoops fever in Aledo? You bet!

Winning a district championship is hard.

Well, unless you’re the Aledo Bearcats football team, which has been collecting them every year since 2008. Then it’s about as common as a golf ball being attracted to water.

But for most sports teams, it’s a big challenge to bring that special trophy back to your school to put on display. For example, it had never happened for an Aledo Bearcats basketball team before this season.

But it has now. First-year head coach Brian Blackburn and his team captured the District 5-5A title this season.

The Bearcats finished 27-7 overall and were 11-1 in district.

I realize that it’s hard to believe that at a school that epitomizes championships, it’s hard to believe there existed a sport that had not won its league. But for some reason boys basketball, while it showed a modicum of success at times, had never achieved championship status.

Until now.

It’s not as if the cupboard was bare in Aledo. The Bearcats actually started turning around under former coach JD Robinson, including winning a bi-district playoff game in a 20-13 season in 2023-24.

And, who’s to say if Robinson had stuck around he might not be the coach celebrating that historic title? But he didn’t and so Blackburn is.

And with all due respect to Robinson, his exit created another challenge that is common in sports. Sure, coaches are allowed to take other jobs, just like anyone else in society  — and I even encourage it if it’s perceived as a step up.

But it is also a surety that a new coach means a new way of doing things. Often with that comes a period of adjustment and sometimes even a step back.

Not for these Bearcats. There was no stepping back, no extended transition period. They immediately bought into Blackburn’s system, combined it with their desire to make history, and did exactly that.

“He kind of just saw it and he built around it,” Bearcats standout senior guard Joaquin Pacheco. “He’s a really good coach.”

Indeed he is, as his track record shows. And he’s worked with some great players, including current NBA star Marcus Smart, as an assistant at Flower Mound Marcus.

Also, like many great coaches, Blackburn has the right amount of humility to go with the required amount of ego needed to be successful. He knows he’s good at his job, but he also knows that in any job talent alone won’t bring victories.

“It really starts at the top with the administration,” he said.

And he’s right. Without a supportive administration, no sports program will succeed. Good luck finding more support than athletes get in Aledo.

So, can we say Bearcats fans have basketball fever? We sure can.

I compare what is happening with Aledo basketball with what has already taken place at the University of Alabama with head coach Nate Oates. With the exception of a splotch of success here and there, no one ever thought of the Crimson Tide as a basketball power  — until now.

However, Oates has taken them to a Final Four last season, 30 wins two years ago, a No. 1 national ranking in the past and currently has them poised for no worse than a No. 2 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

And, voila, they have hoops fever in Tuscaloosa.

Also, just to be clear, it hasn’t replaced the popularity of football, but there is room for more than one form of fever on campus there  — just as there is here.

While no one knows what the future holds, and I am certainly not going to guarantee another district championship (admittedly, only football has earned the privilege  — so far), I will predict that next year’s team will be in contention for such, barring unforeseen injuries or such.

This season’s team, led by a handful of seniors, featured five juniors and three sophomores. Most successful programs have a good supply of underclassmen on their roster.

Looking beyond that, Aledo is likely to move up to 6A in two years. However, they can certainly still contend.

“As our community gets bigger, more kids will play. The growth of our student population will be key,” Blackburn said. “A lot of the people in the community have fostered this excitement.”

And now they have a district championship trophy as proof. I assume you can swing by the school and see it if you want  — following proper protocol, of course.

After all, it is a bit of history. And while more could be coming, there is only one first championship.