OKLAHOMA CITY – Putnam City North’s new boys basketball coach promises to bring a new attitude to a Panthers squad that showed flashes of brilliance but underachieved on the court last season.

D.J. Lemons was announced as the school’s new head coach in April, replacing Mike Jeffries who went 11-16 in his lone season with the Panthers. Despite the up and down season, North made noise in the Class 6A Area playoffs before falling to sister school Putnam City West.

Previously, Lemons was an assistant at Edmond Santa Fe.

“I’m bringing a lot of teaching, a lot of togetherness as far as team, preaching and teamwork over individuality,” Lemons said. “Just helping the guys learn basketball, be better teammates, be better players on and off the floor, but also just having a high expectation for themselves and for the team overall, and not just being okay with being mediocre.”

PLAYERS BUYING INTO THE PROCESS

Lemons said his squad is starting to buy into what he’s trying to do in the offseason.

“They’re wanting to learn. They’re wanting to get better,” Lemons said.

From going hard in every drill and not taking success for granted, he said he is seeing a difference.

“They are not taking the boring stuff for granted, but for the most part, those guys really bought in and they’re down in about just wanting to get better,” Lemons said.

Like most observers, Lemons see talented players on the floor. The difference he says is that they don’t know how to harness their skill.

“They come up to me and they tell me like, ‘coach, I’m just doing stuff because I know I’m good at certain things. I don’t know necessarily why I’m doing it. ‘ “

Lemons thinks this squad could go far in the upcoming season.

“I believe around January, everything will click for us and we’ll be one of the better teams in the state,” Lemons said.

LEMONS PROMISES ‘FAST PACED’ STYLE

Lemon said his new squad will “get up and down the floor” but also share the basketball as well. He’d like to see at least eight players every game with points on the stat sheet rather than depending on just a couple of players.

On defense, he said he’s emphasizing consistent energy and communication.

“You’re gonna see a team that’s just unselfish and wants each other to succeed at the end of the day,” Lemons said.

MOLDING TALENTED PLAYERS INTO A TEAM

Lemons believes his experience in coaching high-profile players with the MOKAN and Team Griffin teams will help him maneuver through any ego issues that might arise.

His advice to his squad is to “ignore the noise” from friends and family and focus on helping the team on the court.

“If you wanna be successful, sooner or later, you have to buy in and kill the self and kill the outside noise,” Lemons said.

He said his experience talking to college coaches shows him that team success coupled with individual success trumps individual success alone.

“You guys can keep trying to score 20 and 30 points,” Lemons recalled telling his new squad. “But if we’re not winning, it’s never gonna look good at the end of the day.

THE COACHES THAT MOLDED LEMONS

Lemons is a Millwood graduate who helped the Falcons a state title in 2006. He played for Hall of Fame coach Varryl Franklin.

“I learned so much about life, Lemons said. “(Franklin) was big on life situations, telling us, you know, what are you going to do after this? Being like, what’s your next step? What’s your next goals?”

At Millwood, Lemons excelled on the court earning Oklahoman Little All-City honors as a senior and averaging 12 points, seven assists and three rebounds a game.

He went to Bacone before transferring to Murray State for two seasons. In his sophomore season with the Aggies, Lemons averaged 13 points and four assists a game. He finished his career in 2010-2011 playing for Terry Evans at NCAA Division II Central Oklahoma.

Lemons said he was exposed to a defense first mentality under Franklin at Millwood while Evans emphasized offense with the Bronchos in Edmond.

He said both Franklin and Evans influenced him on how he teaches the game and builds relationships with his players.

“I got to tell my players all ahead of the day, I know on these courts, you’re basketball players, but at the same time, I’m going to treat you and talk to you as a person because you are a human being at the end of the day.”