First-year Pineville head coach has quickly acclimated to his new team, and them to him. After a summer of intense camps, games and practices, Levy likes the direction his team is headed and the work they’re putting in.

“We’ve come together pretty quickly,” said Levy. “We played a lot of games this summer and were sort of just flying by the seat of our pants in terms of organization. But, the number of kids that have been showing up, familiarity and continuity have really helped develop some structure for us. We’ve got guys regularly coming in the gym and they’re working hard.”

Levy has nine years of coaching experience, including time at Scott County Middle School, Scott County High School and Franklin County High School.

At Scott Middle, Levy served as the sixth-grade boys head coach as well as a program assistant. In his time at Franklin County High School, Levy served as junior varsity and freshman team coach.

While at Scott County High School, Levy was an assistant coach for both junior varsity and varsity and helped lead the Cardinals to the Sweet 16 in 2012 and 2014.

At Pineville, Levy intends on cultivating a team lead by speed and defensive intensity.

“We’re still trying to figure out exactly what we’ve got,” said Levy. “Some leaders are starting to emerge on the team and the intensity has been very high. I feel like we have gotten a little more athletic and versatile over the summer.

“Ideally, I want to be able to play hard defense and be able to score off the defense, as well as in transition, as much as possible. I feel like we have developed a little bit over the summer and are working our way toward being able to do that. We are excited about the upcoming season, and we are going to continue to work hard and improve each day.”

Pineville picked up two pivotal incoming transfers in the offseason. Forward Sean Phipps transferred to Pineville from Bell County, where he averaged seven points and five rebounds a game, and forward Ashanti Agnew transferred in from Knox Central.

The Mountain Lions will open their 2019-2020 season against the Red Bird Cardinals on Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. at Red Bird High School.