Colby Batiste

The search for a new head basketball coach has come to an end as New Iberia Senior High has announced that Colby Batiste will be taking charge of the Yellow Jackets next season.

Batiste previously served as head basketball coach at Highland Baptist, growing the program over three seasons to the school’s second-ever boys playoff appearance.

“We’re extremely excited to have coach Batiste join our program,” said NISH principal Emanuel Harding. “He’s an outstanding candidate and he created a fantastic profile highlighting his abilities, experiences and assets. He has played at a very high level and he impressed us with his plan for the team. We’ve experienced some success recently and we knew that coach Batiste has been there before, winning a state championship with North Central, so he knows what it takes to make it to the top.”

Batiste agreed, emphasizing that NISH’s recent success has set the bar high for what he wants his program to look like.

“The culture has been here for a while, from (Todd) Russ to Chad (Pourciau),” Batiste said. “The thing that we’re going to stress is that the bar has been set. We now have championship standards and championship expectations. That means in the classroom, on the court and in their character. We said brick by brick at Highland. Here, we’ve already got the cement down, we have the foundation laid. It’s still brick by brick, but there are championship expectations.”

After graduating from Teurlings Catholic, Batiste eventually made his way to the University of Louisiana, scoring 105 points in his senior season in addition to 111 rebounds and 31 blocked shots. After his career with the Ragin’ Cajuns, Batiste continued his playing career in the Premier Basketball League and the Taiwan Super League before beginning his coaching career.

Batiste won a Class 1A state title with North Central before moving to Abbeville for a season. From there, he began what would end up being a three-year stint at Highland Baptist where he led the Bears to their first-ever second round playoff game while maintaining a team GPA of 3.5.

Now, Batiste will have an opportunity to not only grow a strong basketball program, but also work with a group of athletes who see basketball as their primary sport.

“It gives you more time with those guys and you get to be more hands-on,” Batiste said of the benefits of being at a 5A program. “You get to critique their game and develop them more, more opportunities to make an impact in their lives and on their game. This will be my first time having ‘basketball kids’ in my career. I’m big on skill development, spending time in the gym getting reps, so for me that’s a big thing to have. Not to negate the impact that other sports have, but at the same time, you want to be hands-on with those guys to make as much of a difference as possible.”

For some coaches, the jump from a 1A program to 5A might bring out the nerves, especially in District 3-5A, where the games can often feel like playoff contests. For Batiste, that pressure isn’t new.

“If you can’t handle the pressure, you might as well not coach,” he joked. “My first job was as an assistant coach at Comeaux, so New Iberia was in our district and we had battles with them. The atmosphere is there and I’m okay with that. I have some pretty thick skin and I love the competitiveness here. I’ve played against Samardo Samuels in front of 20,000 people in Louisville. I’ve played at Pat Summitt Arena in Tennessee with 35,000 people in the stands. I’m not too worried about a couple thousand.”

That experience is going to come in handy as Batiste takes over one of the most important functions of a modern head coach: college recruitment. With many athletes and parents alike choosing programs based on who will give them the best chance of making it to the collegiate ranks, Batiste said he stands apart from most other coaches.

“Who laced up?,” he asked, pointing out the difference between NISH coaches and other programs in the area. “Not too many people have done that. If you want to get somewhere, sometimes you need a skilled pilot to guide you. Nobody can take you somewhere they haven’t been. I don’t have the same experience that Chad has in game situations, but when it comes down to this game, I can still do it and I can get you where you want to be.”

Before he can get his players to the college ranks, however, Batiste will first need to get them onto his team. With just nine players on the roster last season, NISH struggled at times to manage game time and injuries, especially against other 5A programs. For Batiste, it all comes down to developing the talent at the lower levels.

“We’ve got to create depth and that comes down to developing skills with the younger groups,” he said. “Playing with a bit more pace forces you to use more of your bench, but it’s really all about the kids and their development. If we come in and spend time with them and they show that we can go 10 deep, we’ll put them in and out. I’d love to have that. We’re going to give them opportunities to develop and, the more they begin to cognitively understand the game, the more they’ll play.”

Batiste said he plans to hit the ground running at NISH, with summer workouts and parent meetings already being scheduled.