Brad Boyd, former head coach at Southside High School, will join the basketball coaching staff at Westgate High School as Associate Head Coach.

Boyd took over at Southside following a district title win with Opelousas High. In just three years, Boyd built the Southside team into one of the toughest teams in the state, going 51-42 in Southside’s first three years in Class 5A and finishing last season with a 24-10 record. Boyd has also coached outside of the school system, leading both AAU and ABA teams to success over the past decade. As a D1 college player, Boyd was one of University of Louisiana’s most talented athletes, and still holds the record for three point shooting.

As for what he plans to bring to Westgate, Boyd’s answer was short and to the point, “Me.”

“I’m just going to bring me,” he said. “That’s not to be cocky or anything, but I know what I do in regards to basketball development and my biggest thing is making relationships with the kids. You have to get to believe in you and for some reason god just gave me a gift to relate to different situations and a lot of different kids. I’m coming to help. Westgate has great players every year and I’m going to show them a few tricks of the trade that will hopefully help them to win a couple more games this year and develop their overall basketball skills.”

Boyd certainly isn’t a stranger to New Iberia, having played New Iberia Senior High in district while at Southside. An outpouring of support has come his way, even from fans of NISH, who have reached out to show their support and congratulate Boyd on his return to the court.

“A great thing that I’ve already learned about New Iberia is how supportive everyone is,” Boyd said. “I’ve had hundreds of people reach out and show support, but I’ve also had ten people with the NISH team reach out and welcome me to the area. It’s not a rivalry where people don’t want you to succeed. We play each other twice a year and I really love that. It gives something to the kids and also the community.”

Despite not being from New Iberia, Boyd said that his connection to the area goes back to his college days.

“Ten years ago, I actually used to deliver water for Kentwood and my route was in New Iberia, on Hopkins Street, Mississippi Street, and Dixon Street. I used to play in a basketball league at West End Park back when I was in college. Everybody has been so positive that I think this is going to be a great thing now just for Westgate but for the whole community of New Iberia.”

Anytime a Class 5A head coach moves into an assistant coach position, questions about their long term plans come up. Boyd said that while he would welcome an opportunity to lead the Tigers sometime in the future, for now, he is 100% focused on helping coach Oliver Winston guide Westgate to success.

“All I know is that I’m coming in to help Westgate,” Boyd said. “Coach Winston has told me that he’s going to let me do my thing and bring some things to the table and that’s all I can ask for. If something does occur over the years where they would be gracious enough to turn the program over to me completely, that would be something that I would be very excited about but for the moment, I’m just there to help.

I’m good friends with Ryan Antoine and I’ve known Coach Winston for years, we always talk basketball. Coach Antoine has actually been trying to get me for eight years now. He tried to get me when he was at West St. Mary but the Opelousas position opened up. Fast forward eight years later and this presented itself when I needed a job and I was so flattered. A bunch of schools reached out to come build their programs, but the way that he and Coach Winston made me feel, I knew that I was going there. What they have created, the Westgate family and WAMP, I like that type of stuff.”