Six sons of former Guy basketball players excel on court

Six current members of the Guy-Perkins Thunderbirds basketball team have mothers who also played for longtime coach John Hutchcraft. The mothers include, seated, from left, April Givan, Charlotte (Hutchcraft) Sober, Krissy Ealy, Demetris McVay and Jessie McVay. Not pictured is Barbara Pledger Manuel. The players are, standing, from left, Kamair McKnight, Wyatt Spires, Jachoree Ealy, Timothy Campbell, Tre Minton and Ambrose Rodriguez.
Six current members of the Guy-Perkins Thunderbirds basketball team have mothers who also played for longtime coach John Hutchcraft. The mothers include, seated, from left, April Givan, Charlotte (Hutchcraft) Sober, Krissy Ealy, Demetris McVay and Jessie McVay. Not pictured is Barbara Pledger Manuel. The players are, standing, from left, Kamair McKnight, Wyatt Spires, Jachoree Ealy, Timothy Campbell, Tre Minton and Ambrose Rodriguez.

GUY — At Guy-Perkins this basketball season, it’s all about family — and winning.

John Hutchcraft’s 40th Thunderbird squad, which at press time was 30-0, includes six players whose mothers also played at Guy under the legendary coach.

Of the 11 on the roster, five are cousins — Timothy Campbell, Jachoree Ealy, Kamair McKnight, Tre Minton and Ambrose Rodriguez.

One — Wyatt Spires — is Hutchcraft’s grandson.

Four — Campbell, Minton, Ealy and Spires — are starters. Campbell, a 5-7 senior guard, averages 25 points per game; Minton, a 5-9 sophomore point guard, averages 15 points; Ealy, a 6-2 junior shooting guard, is scoring 12 per game; and Spires, a 6-5 sophomore post, is pulling down 10 rebounds and handing out seven assists per game.

Hutchcraft, 62, who coached one year at Hazen and one at Grubbs before finding his place with the T-Birds, coached all three of his children — son Jason McGinty and daughters Charlotte and Ashley Hutchcraft. All went on to play collegiately.

This go-round, coach Hutchcraft said, he has more of a grandfatherly relationship with the players.

“I held them all as babies,” he said of the current Thunderbirds. “They are fun to watch. The team is very similar to when their mothers played — up-tempo, high-scoring.”

Campbell is the son of Demetris McVay, who graduated from Guy-Perkins in 1991. Ealy’s mother is Krystal “Crissy” Ealy, who graduated in 1998. Minton is the son of Jessie McVay, 1993, who went on to play at what is now Missouri State University. Spires’ mother is Charlotte Hutchcraft Sober of 1996, who played at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. McKnight, a 5-7 junior guard, is the son of April Givan, 1997. Rodriguez, a 5-8 sophomore guard, is the son of Barbara Pledger, 1993, who played collegiately in South Carolina. Pledger and Jessie McVay played together on a national-championship squad at what was then Westark Community College in Fort Smith.

The second-generation angle is a big deal for Hutchcraft.

“That really adds to it,” he said. “Those mothers were on really good teams, too. It’s that heredity factor. It really is amazing to me how these kids play, with their athletic ability and their attitudes. It’s really, really similar to their mothers. They’ve got those same traits when they go out on the floor.”

Campbell, like his mother before him, plays guard. Spires, like his mother, plays post. Minton’s mother was also a point guard (Division 1 All-American). Ealy, like his mom, is a shooting guard. Rodriguez is a guard, as was his mother.

“And Kamair is our most aggressive defensive player, and so was his mother,” Hutchcraft said of McKnight.

There’s another advantage to this situation, Hutchcraft said.

“These mothers are parents who understand the game,” he said. “Sometimes parents who weren’t involved in sports don’t understand, so [these mothers’] knowledge of basketball makes it comfortable for me.”

Hutchcraft was emphatic when he said there’d been no parent drama.

“They are good parents for my basketball team, and that helps our team,” he said. “They are very supportive; they’re at the games and really involved in this season. That part of it really helps. I don’t have any problem talking to them, and I think that’s part of our success.”

Sober moved home from Georgia so her son could play for his grandfather. She said a plus to the season had been the opportunity to reconnect with so many old friends and former teammates.

“We grew up together, and we’ll say, ‘I remember when you missed that shot,’” she said. “It’s a warm feeling when you come back home. I remember them as little boys growing up in the gym dribbling the ball.”

She added that her son, like she did before him, would occasionally butt heads with Hutchcraft.

“Wyatt plays a lot like me, and he’s got my attitude,” she said, chuckling.

Of his 40 years at Guy-Perkins, Hutchcraft spent 25 coaching senior boys and girls and junior boys and girls teams. He’s coaching only both senior-high squads now.

While his overall career record (at press time, 1,906 wins to 535 losses with nine state championships and nine runner-up finishes) is almost too difficult to keep up with, this T-Bird team is, without a doubt, one of his best in a long time.

“It’s probably been five or six years since we had a team of this caliber,” he said. “[The family connections make for] a very big advantage. They know each other; they grew up with each other. Our team has a real good chemistry, and that’s a big reason we are so successful.

“And with just one senior starter, it looks good on down the line.”

This season, Hutchcraft said, has reinvigorated him.

“It’s a lot of fun and a lot of pressure when you’re undefeated,” he said. “I’m really excited about it, and the mothers and kids make it more exciting. It’s been a good year.”

He said he never intended, 40 years ago, to spend the rest of his career at Guy-Perkins.

“But time has gone real fast,” he said. “You hear it all the time — it seems like it was just yesterday when I started. But it’s so much fun with all these kids.”

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