By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

For the past several seasons Mike Botkin has coached Division I basketball talents like Osceola High’s Brenton Williams (South Carolina) and Poinciana’s Stefan Moody (Florida Atlantic).

Now, as Life Christian Academy’s new head basketball coach, Botkin will make the adjustment from coaching outstanding athletes to teaching relative novices how to be competitive.

“We’ve got two juniors, and everyone else is sophomores and younger,” Botkin, a 2008 Harmony High graduate, said.

Botkin, 22, accepted the Lions job, his first as a head coach, two weeks ago.

“We’ve got some size, which is good for a private school this size, but we’ve got very few players with experience,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Outgoing Coach and Athletic Director Kevin Hosford had an excellent 2011-12 campaign, winning the 2A-6 district championship and posting a 17-10 record.

But two seniors graduated and three more starters transferred, leaving Botkin with a huge void to fill.

“Losing four starters at a school this size is huge,” he said. “It’s not like coaching at a Class 7A high school, where you can replace talent with someone roughly equal in talent.”

There are only about 30 high school age males at Life Academy, making the talent pool small.

But, all things are relative, he added.

“I don’t know yet how good the schools are that we’ll be playing. Maybe at this level, we’ll be fine,” he said.

Botkin is easing up on the schedule outside of the district, though, just to be sure.

Botkin has advanced through the coaching ranks quickly, thanks to former Osceola High Coach Larry Brown.

Brown added Botkin to his OHS staff as an assistant after he graduated from Harmony and he helped the Kowboys reach the regional playoffs as a district runner up.

After Brown left OHS to return to Texas, where Brown is a coaching legend in both the high school and college ranks, he invited Botkin to join him. Botkin worked three seasons under Brown at the college level.

Botkin already has extensive international coaching experience when he assisted Brown with the Bahamas national team.

Botkin returned to Osceola County last year and joined Poinciana Coach Oliver Simmons’ staff as a volunteer assistant. Like at OHS, Botkin helped the Eagles reach the playoffs where Poinciana posted a school-record 20-10 record and claimed the district championship.

“I’ve been in the playoffs everywhere I coached,” he said. “It will be more difficult here, but the goal is the same. We’re going to work hard,  get better, and try to win the district championship.”

Botkin said that being around experienced coaches such as Brown, Simmons and Oviedo Coach Ed Kershner, Brown’s good friend, has given him an understanding of what is required to be successful in the difficult business of prep coaching.

“Coach Brown had the foresight to hire me at (age) 18 and give me so much responsibility. I’ll always owe him,” Botkin said. “Oliver made me realize there is more to basketball than X’s and O’s.”

Botkin will pursue a bachelor’s degree while he coaches at Life Academy.

Hosford plans to get a master’s degree at Stetson. He resigned as the school’s athletic director last week. “I’m ready to head in a different direction,” he said.