Andre Scott spent last summer in an operations role for the Hancock College women's basketball team and its interim coach, Kari Duperron.
Then Duperron stepped down for personal reasons, and suddenly Scott was the interim Bulldogs coach.
"It happened the day before school started," Scott said after Hancock (5-2) beat Reedley 69-40 in a Nov. 22 non-conference game that marked Hancock's season home opener.
"It's always good when you win going into the Thanksgiving break," Scott said then. "The food tastes better."
Apparently, Scott was unfazed by moving from an operations role to interim Hancock women's basketball coach.
"I moved over one spot," he said. "I've done it before."
He said, "These kids have been great to work with."
Scott came to Hancock after three years as the Missouri Valley College women's basketball coach. His last season there was the 2020-21 campaign. Missouri Valley College, where Scott played for two years and earned a bachelor's degree in business management, is an NAIA school located in Marshall, Missouri.
"Not at all," Andre Scott replied when he was asked if he missed snow flying. When he was asked what brought him to Hancock, he pointed to his wife, Shelby. Shelby Scott is in her second year as Hancock sports information director.
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Andre Scott's new team has ridden a solid defense to a solid early-season record. Lompoc High School graduate Kayla Taylor has been a driving force for the Bulldogs defense, which has given up just 50.1 points a game. Taylor leads the team in rebounds at 7.6 a game, and she pulled down 17 against Reedley. Taylor also blocked six shots.
"Defense has been the strongest part for our team," said Lompoc graduate Mallory Branum.
"We're starting to be able to transition from defense to offense more," said Mya Mendoza, another Lompoc graduate.
Chloe Blankenship leads Hancock in scoring at 11 points a game. Alex Paquet is second at 10.7, and Taylor averages 10.1.
However, Hancock averages just 59.9 points a game, and the Bulldogs haven't shot well in any category. Hancock is shooting 33.5 percent from the floor overall, 26.8 percent on three-pointers and has made 60.7 percent of its free throws.
"I'm thinking mainly about (the Western State Conference North Division) campaign," said Andre Scott. "We have to do a better job of getting points on the board or at least the defense getting the offense in position to get more points on the board."
Hancock is, however, ahead of its opposition in every category, including points per game, rebounds, overall shooting percentage and 3-point percentage from the floor, free throw percentage, assists and turnovers produced vs. turnovers against.
Branum particularly likes it that there are three Lompoc graduates on the team. "It's nice playing with two more players from Lompoc," she said.
Taylor and Paquet are the only sophomores on the Hancock team. One of the Hancock freshmen is guard Giselle Calderon. Calderon led Orcutt Academy to the 2021 CIF Central Section Division 4 championship.
Blankenship is from Placerville. Forward India Dowling-Green, another regular, is an Orangeburg, South Carolina, native. Backup guard TJ Kellogg is from Sacramento. The rest of the players on the 11 active-members Hancock squad, including Chyanna Tell who helped Orcutt Academy win the 2021 sectional Division 4 title, are freshmen. Â
Kenny Cress is a sports reporter for the Santa Maria Times, covering local sports in northern Santa Barbara County. You can send information or story ideas to him by emailing it to KCress@SantaMariaTimes.com.
