Laurens Academy has veteran coaching staff

           Laurens – The Laurens Academy athletic department will be returning all of its head coaches

for the 2024-25 school year except for one sport. That means good things probably await the Crusaders student-athletes.

         Shannon McGee returns for her ninth season as the volleyball head coach, athletic director

Travis Plowden is back for his 1 th season as the boys basketball head coach, Jason Marlett will be in his 11th year as the girls basketball head coach, Darryl Halbert will be in his 11th season in charge of baseball, Jolly Doolittle will be in second season as the football head coach, and Tiffany Tarver will be in her fourth year as the cheer head coach.

While in just his second year at Laurens, Doolittle is a veteran coach. In fact, he is a win away

from 100 career victories. He will get his first shot at that when the Crusaders take on rival Cambridge Academy in Week Zero.

Laurens will be competing in 8-man as a member of Region 1. They will be joined in the region

by Wardlaw Academy, Richard Winn, Newberry Academy, Oakbrook Prep and W.W. King.

The Crusaders went 4-8 last season.

           McGee and the volleyball team will be trying to accomplish something that a Laurens girls team has never done: winning three consecutive state championships.

In order to do that, however, the Crusaders will have to do so by winning a AA state crown.

That’s the classification Laurens will be playing in following the South Carolina Independent Schools Association’s realignment. Laurens is the 2-time defending Class A state champion.

McGee has won six Region Coach of the Year awards and one State Coach of the Year award

from High School Sports Report.

Marlett led the girls hoops team to the semifinals last season and picked up his 200th career

victory along the way. He led the Crusaders to consecutive state championships in 2018 and 2019.

           Plowden is closing in on 300 career victories and is hoping to see Laurens bounce back after a rough 2023-24 season. He led Laurens to a state championship in 2015.

          Halbert led Laurens to a state championship in 2011 and has won four Region Coach of the Year honors over his tenure.

          Megan Huck will not return as the softball head coach. Plowden is hoping to name a new head coach in the near future.

Laurens will be a member of the 4-team Region 4-AA in all sports except for football. It will be

joined in the region by Community Christian, Oakbrook Prep and Our Lady of the Rosary.