Since the program’s inception in 2014, the LSUA Generals Men’s Basketball program has exceeded everyone’s expectation in a short period of time. Head coach Larry Cordaro and his team have recruited and developed stellar talent that has enabled young men to not only earn a quality education and experience personal growth, but has also helped them fulfill their dreams of playing basketball in countries like China and Finland.
The talent does not stop with the players on the General’s Team. Coach Cordaro has a phrase he uses often with his players and at his camps: “Surround yourself with people that make you a better person.” And wisely, he takes his own advice, having done a remarkable job of recruiting talented assistant coaches to help complete the team. Over the past three seasons, the basketball program has planted roots with a strong foundation and now it is starting to see branches spread as some of the coaching staff are moving towards fulfilling their goals in head coaching positions.
Brian Terwilliger joined the coaching staff the first year the team was formed. As a student assistant coach he learned the fundamentals of coaching, tailoring a basketball program around the talent of the team and how to instill core values in young men that would follow them throughout their lives. Upon graduation, Coach Twig, as he is called, was offered and accepted the head coaching position at Holy Savior Menard Catholic High School. Coach Twig is sharing his passion with young high school students and teaching them core values he learned as assistant coach at LSUA.
Taylor Smith came to LSUA from Pearl River Community College, where he was the team manager for the men’s basketball program. Taylor spent three seasons with the General’s as a manager and was promoted to assistant coach in 2016. Shortly after graduation from LSUA in December 2016, Taylor was offered and accepted the head coaching position for the men’s basketball program at University Academy in Alexandria, where he, too, will have the opportunity to influence young lives and share his knowledge and love for the game of basketball.
Jay Smith joined the coaching staff in March, 2014. Prior to arriving in Alexandria, Jay spent eight seasons as an assistant at Comeaux High School, where he helped lead the Spartans to six winning seasons. Jay’s responsibilities at Comeaux included player development, scouting and on-court preparation. The opportunity to coach at the collegiate level is a lifelong dream come true for Jay and he has excelled at it. As assistant coach for the General’s, Jay has an uncanny ability to see potential talent in a player, or if a player is struggling with something, like a great mechanic, Jay can diagnose the problem and work with the player to correct it. Many times, he will work one-on-one with the players to fully develop their skill. Those sessions are fondly referred to as “working in the lab”. Given those attributes, it is no surprise that Wiley College approached Jay with an interest in hiring him as the head coach of their men’s basketball program and he gladly accepted. If Wiley College sounds familiar, it’s because they are in the same conference as the Generals. This means we have not seen the last of Jay Smith.
Coach Cordaro would like to thank each one of these men that have given their time, insight and talent to build the General’s basketball program. He believes that, in these men, he has surrounded himself with people that make not only him, but the LSUA Men’s Basketball team, better and they will continue to make better the teams and lives they touch in the future as they put down new roots and continue to grow new branches.
