New Coach Leads Zanesville Lady Devils into the 2023 Season

The girls basketball season tips off in less than a week. This season the Zanesville Lady Devils have a new head coach taking over for Jeff Moore.

The Zanesville Lady Blue Devils are ready to make a turn for the better. After finishing the season 10-14 last season with a loss to John Glenn in their last game, this year the ladies are feeling a different type of energy in the gym.

“Last year we had our highs and lows definitely. I feel like with a new coach there are a lot of things that are changing. Everybody has gotten on board with that,” said Rylee McCuen, Senior Guard.

“There’s a lot of positivity around. It’s a happy environment and we’re trying to be there for each other more. I feel like we are more of a team,” added Kylie Osborne, Senior Guard.

Midway through the month of May, Zanesville hired a new coach Shaun Spencer who so happened to be coaching on that Muskies team that took down Zanesville in the tournament.  Filling in the foot steps of a Zanesville legend like Jeff Moore doesn’t sound as easy, but Coach Spencer thinks he is ready for the challenge.

“I’ve know Jeff for about 20 years and have respect for the guy,” said Coach Spencer. “When you replace somebody like that it can be intimidating if you let it. Having a personal relationship with him has helped the transition a little bit. I knew what I was coming into and what the positives and challenges were. I told the girls things are going to be different, but these are the things we need to be successful.”

The Zanesville girls have struggled not hitting a 500 record since the 2016-2017 season. It doesn’t phase this new era of Lady Blue Devils.

“We are looking for some consistency night in and night out. I don’t care who is on the schedule. We need to go out and compete for four quarters. We want to get better each night. A short term goal is to get to .500 but more importantly we want to see growth with the girls,” said Spencer. “We want their basketball IQ and confidence level to rise. We want to put ourselves in a position where we could potentially make a run in the tournament. We have had a lot of intensity and excitement through our first few scrimmages. Hopefully we can keep that rolling.”

Zanesville opens up their season next Wednesday at home when they host New Philadelphia.