Colby Batiste

Colby Batiste accepted the position of head boys basketball coach at New Iberia Senior High, knowing that the former coach, Chad Pourciau, was staying at the school to teach and coach football.

It could have been awkward, the current and past coach walking past each other in the hallways. Should they discuss the team? Would each pretend the other wasn’t there?

“If there is one thing I want to emphasize, it’s the cohesiveness at New Iberia Senior High,” said Batiste. who is making the jump across town from Class 1A Highland Baptist to 5A NISH.

“Chad Pourciau left me with more than enough to be a great coach. He’s done a great job with those guys. It means everything to have him there on campus.”

Batiste described a working relationship that blossomed from the start with Pourciau and head football coach Josh Lierman, who was a basketball assistant. Football and basketball players have amicably shared the weight room.

“It’s been a shared sense of accomplishment,” Batiste said. “New Iberia is a really good place. There is good camaraderie with other coaches. Ultimately, the culture for every athlete here is to work hard and get consistently better.”

Batiste is bringing in his own staff. He hoped to retain assistant Rikola Henry, who will be working with the girls team. Non-faculty coaches Nicholas Weaver and Cole Stout helped put the team through summer workouts, which included camps at Northside and Beau Chene High and Tulane University.

The Yellow Jackets, who are coming off consecutive state tournament appearances, played summer games against St. Thomas More, Zachary, Madison Prep, Southside, Alexandria, McKinley and more.

“It’s great if you go 15-0 in the summer. You want to be able to do that, but you also want to find out how your team handles adversity,” Batiste said. “We took some lumps, but it was well worth it. I think we all grew.”

One of the first orders of business was to find a point guard after Austin Delahoussaye, a multi-year starter, graduated. Batiste ultimately found two players who fit the bill in Treylon Lively, who will be a sophomore, and rising senior Khaleb Fusilier, a deadly shooter from the perimeter.

Otis Anderson and Devin Frank are the leading returning scorers from last season. Anderson (6-1, Sr.) was second on the team (9.1 ppg). Frank (6-4, Sr.) ranked third (7 ppg). Wayne Randall-Bashay, an Xavier University-Louisiana signee, led the team with 14.2 ppg.

“Otis is the heart and soul of this team,” Batiste said. “He is a dog, an absolute workhorse who leads by example. He is always first in sprints. He can score inside and out as an undersized guy.

“Devin has been putting in the work. We’re asking him to be a knockdown shotmaker and create offensively off the dribble.”

Myles Jones, who is also a standout baseball player, and Shane Westley have emerged this summer. Westley is the next great defensive player at a program that emphasizes guarding.

NISH is welcoming two transfers in Joab Trosclair (Catholic High) and Benjamin Kerlegan (Highland Baptist). Trosclair, a 6-foot-9 rising junior, makes the Yellow Jackets an instant contender to reach the state tourney again. Kerlegan regularly scored in double-figures as a freshman guard.

Batiste turned heads when No. 21 Highland Baptist upset No. 12 Covenant Christian on the road in the 2024 playoffs after the Lions swept the regular season series. In the next round, the Bears lost by single-digits at No. 5 Lincoln Prep.

“I knew we’d be dangerous if we got into the playoffs,” Batiste said. “All we needed was an invite to the dance. It was a testament to the type of kids we had. They showed up willing and ready to work; hard work pays off.”