New St. Aloysius coach Richard Hodges is happy to finally be in one place for longer than a few months.

And he’s ready to get to work.

Hodges, a Indiana University grad and Hoosier state native who has led successful programs in several states, including stints at Greenville-St. Joe and Mercy Cross, is trying to get the school crazy about basketball after taking over from Gary Miller.

Hodges has had the moving company on speed-dial since Hurricane Katrina barrelled into the Mississippi Gulf Coast in Aug. 2005. After Mercy Cross was combined with archrival St. John to form St. Patrick, Hodges was out of a job and went north to North Carolina. After gigs in Texas and at another high school in North Carolina fell through, he took the job at St. Al, the third time he’s coached in Class 1A in the state.

Hodges, whose great uncle was the basketball coach at Indiana State and whose father was coach at Hoosier State prep powerhouse Warren Central, knows that you’re only as strong as your foundation. He intends to build from the elementary school level up and get St. Al’s gym rocking on game nights.

“There’s no continuity from feeding a basketball program from the bottom up like it should be,” Hodges said.  “Everybody knows that Catholic schools produce the best students and some of the best basketball players.”

While optimistic, Hodges has no illusions about how long it will take to instill his program. He revived a moribund St. Joe program and led the Irish boys to the state tournament in 2005.

“I’m pleased with the way the girls have come along, but we’ve still got a ways to go,” Hodges said. “These kids are smart and intelligent and are like sponges. Everything you explain to them, they pick up pretty quick. We’ve got some girls that are very tenacious learning about the game.”

Junior Sara Howington and seniors Tori Hines and Carly Smith are the Lady Flashes’ top returnees, but Hodges intends to have an eight-player rotation with plenty of minutes up for grabs for youngsters. Last season, Hines averaged 11 points and 10 rebounds per contest.

With the boys just getting started after the end of football, Hodges has focused on the girls team and is pleased with the improvement and commitment he has seen so far. He’s just finding out what he has on the boys side.

“I know the skills needed to be competitive in 1A. And that’s the key, to be competitive. We want to win every game, no doubt about it, but we just want to start with being competitive. You look at the scores and what happened before I got here and you see there wasn’t a lot of competition. Definitely not much defense.”

Hodges is coy on what kind of sets and defenses he intends to run with both programs. He is an old school proponent of man defense and said that too much zone leads to a passive approach that dampens natural aggressiveness. But he has no problem with using a zone in certain situations.

“We’re just developing skills and fundamentals,” Hodges said. “We probably spend over an hour and a half out of a two-hour practice working on our ball-handling and passing, learning how to use the dribble moves as weapons, using the triple threat, offensive positioning, defensive positioning. We’re building a ballplayer from the feet up.”

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com