Can You Ever Have Enough Guns?

In 2013, the Romulus Eagles reached the pinnacle of success by winning the Class A State High School Championship in the state of Michigan. Under the leadership of Head Coach Nate Oats, the 11 year journey toward that climax was a remarkable one.

In Coach Oats’ first season at Romulus, the Eagles ended their season by losing in the District Semifinals, only scoring 35 points. So, Coach Oats knew he had to develop some shooters. In 2004, the Romulus Eagles purchased their first Gun from Shoot-A-Way. After the purchase, players started coming in before school at 6 a.m., coming in before practice at 2 p.m., and staying after practice at 5 p.m. to get extra shooting repetition on the Gun. During the 2004-05 season, the Romulus Eagles went to their first State Championship game, the first since 1986. The Eagles ended up falling short, but after losing that game, Coach Oats knew that one Gun wasn’t enough. He now had 15 kids showing up early in the morning to shoot on the Gun, so the Romulus Eagles added a 2nd Gun to their arsenal. To make a long story short, in 2007, Romulus added 2 more Guns to their facilities to make it easier for all players to come in and get more shooting repetition. In 2008 and 2009, the Eagles competed in back-to-back Final Four’s.

Over Coach Nate Oats’ 11 year tenure as the head coach at Romulus, the Eagles accumulated a 222-52, went to 5 Final Four’s, and won that coveted State Championship in 2013. As of today, the Romulus Eagles currently own 6 Guns, adding an 8000 Series Gun to the basketball program in 2011 and in 2013. Coach Oats has currently moved on as the Assistant Coach at the University of Buffalo under Head Coach Bobby Hurley. So, the real question remains – Can you ever have enough Guns?

Coach Oats explains:

“In order to win games at a high level, you have to be able to score points. It doesn’t matter what offense you run, if you don’t have shooters, teams will find a way to shut it down. Shooting is at a premium with the way the game is played today. Shooters are made not born. Having multiple Guns made it easier for us to develop shooters through quality repetitions on a daily basis.”
Coach Nate Oats