Dougherty High coaches bound together by ASU blue and gold

ALBANY —Though their playing careers span different eras, the coaches of Dougherty High’s girls basketball team are bound together by two things — they played for Albany State women’s basketball coach Robert Skinner and are forever loyal to the ASU blue and gold.

Head coach Khadijah Ali and assistant coaches V’Ashley Joyner and Exzandra Wilson are all products of Albany State’s women’s basketball program. They know the sweet taste of victory, having won conference championships as well as the bitter taste of defeat. It is that experience that has helped them transition into coaching and all of the ups and downs that come with it.

Wilson was a Lady Ram from 1996-98, while Ali (1999-2002) and Joyner (2001-05) also starred at the school. Just as each played during different times, each took a different path to get to Dougherty’s sidelines.

During her senior year, Ali tore an ACL. Skinner allowed her to be on the bench as a student assistant at the time, which allowed her to get her first taste of coaching. When she graduated in May of her senior season, Skinner hired her as an assistant coach. She said coaching at the high school level was always a goal.

For Joyner and Wilson, they had different plans before Ali hand-picked them to join her staff. Joyner was focused on her budding career as a healthcare social worker, while Wilson went into the criminal justice field. Joyner feels that her career path actually helped her transition into her role as an assistant coach.

“It helps me get in their heads and to see where they’re coming from,” she said.

For Wilson, she said dealing with different types of kids forced her to soften her approach.

“I have to be mindful of the kids I’m dealing with,” Wilson said. “The kids I was dealing with before they were kids that committed an offense, so I can’t talk to them the same way. I have to be hard but also comforting.”

Ali added that working with teens adds an extra layer of pressure to the game. It’s no longer just about basketball as the feelings, academics and safety of about a dozen high schoolers is now top priority.

“When you’re a player, it’s not that much pressure on you,” she said. “I’m just out there playing basketball, and I’m having fun doing something that I love to do. I enjoy coaching, but it’s also a lot of pressure because the kids, they depend on you.

“They depend on you not only as a coach on the basketball court but outside of basketball. It’s a lot more than just X’s and O’s.”

Whatever challenges they face, the trio agrees that Skinner prepared them to face it head on as a unit.

“What didn’t I take from Coach Skinner? Coach Skinner taught us what being a team means,” Wilson said. “Working together, working hard, just what hard work can produce.”

For the staff, it’s produced a winning season. Last year, the Lady Trojans took their lumps and finished 4-18 on the season and 2-11 in their region. This year they were 4.2 seconds away from having beaten every team in the city and currently sit at 7-11 overall and 2-2 in region play. Ali said it was Skinner and his every present guidance that helped her get through that rough first season.

“We always go back to what Coach Skinner told us, like ‘hey, we used to do this and that’s how coach Skinner used to do this,’ ” she said. “And even to this day, when we went on that losing streak, I called Coach Skinner up. I still call him right now. I talked to him like two months ago… he still gives us advice all the time. He’s like the coach, your dad, everything.”

Joyner added that the religious element that comes into play when being a part of a Skinner-coached team definitely had a role in how they approached the hard times.

“He instilled in us praying,” Joyner said. “When we played, church was mandatory. So once you finished playing you took those things that you were doing while you were playing under him even though you don’t have to. So he instilled in me attending church service, worship and praying and just being more disciplined.”

Ali remembers a sign that hung the locker room that said, “God, family, Lady Rams and me,” mapping out the order in who they should serve. She said having a coaching staff of who she considers sisters with the same principles and values she came up on has made the journey that much easier.

“We understand what it takes to be winners,” Ali said. “We understand the work ethic you have to have. So us as coaches, when we sit down and talk, we know what we need to do and we’re always on the same page. Even though we don’t always agree on something, we know how to work it out and get it done.”