Photo courtesy of Homewood High School
Elijah Garrison was named the new boys basketball coach at Homewood High School on May 21, 2024.
Homewood High School values stability in its boys basketball program, and the hope is that Elijah Garrison will keep it that way.
Following the retirement of longtime coach Tim Shepler, Garrison was named the new head coach of the Patriots on May 21.
Shepler retired following 29 seasons, in which he won 662 games and led Homewood to the 2016 Class 6A state championship. The Patriots were the state runners-up in 2008 and 2010 as well. Under his leadership, the Patriots also won 13 area titles and sent 28 players to the college ranks.
“Coach has practice plans from before I was even born,” Garrison said. “Basketball here has been one voice for a long time.”
Garrison will just be the fifth coach in program history. He has spent the past two years as an assistant under Shepler with the Patriots.
“All the honor in the world needs to go to Coach Shep for hiring me two years ago to be his assistant,” Garrison said. “From the moment I walked in his office, he’s been more than willing to answer every question I’ve had.”
Garrison came to Homewood following two years as the head coach at New Hope, as he got married and his wife’s job in the medical field necessitated a move to the Birmingham area.
Garrison is from Fairview and played college ball at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He spent a year on staff at UAH following his playing days and was an assistant at Arab High for a year before getting the New Hope job.
"Coach Garrison brings tremendous energy to the court and possesses exceptional vision and expertise in basketball, which will be instrumental in the continued success of the boys basketball program," said Homewood High School Principal Joel Henneke in a statement.
One thing Garrison said he is learning is how to keep things simple in terms of teaching his players the game of basketball.
“When I got the New Hope job, I was like, ‘They should know this and that.’ I didn’t appreciate the process,” he said.
Taking over at Homewood, Garrison said things will look largely the same. He and Shepler share many of the same basketball philosophies, particularly on defense. He said the Patriots will likely look to push the pace a little more on offense.
Garrison said he doesn’t feel much pressure upon taking the job, despite following a coach of Shepler’s status in addition to the depth of quality programs in the area.
“I’m not going to get in these guys’ way,” he said. “We’ve got some good players. My job is to put them in position. They are really good once they’re in that position, to go play at a high level.”
