Girls basketball season is quickly approaching, and Coach Danny Brown is preparing the team for another exciting run. Brown, who is entering his 13th year as head coach, is used to long days of practice on top of his position as health teacher, but this year has proved to be the most tiring yet. After all, he is recovering from open-heart surgery.

Coach Brown was diagnosed with a thoracic aortic ascending aneurysm in January 2015, and waited six months before receiving surgery on July 28th, a week before school started.

“[A thoracic aortic ascending aneurysm] is basically if you had a bubble on a garden hose and it was about to explode. Part of my heart could have exploded at any minute, but I did not have a heart attack,” he said.

The full recovery process takes six months to a year, so after only 11 weeks away from school jumping back into a normal schedule is tough.

Brown enjoys it nonetheless.

“With practice and everything now I’m having ten to twelve hour days because I just jumped right back into it. Yeah, by the end of the day I’m pretty wiped out, but it’s a good tired because I’m doing the things I love to do,” said Brown.

Brown credits his successful recovery to his wife, assistant coaches Willie Humes and Kylie Weichman, and of course his ever supportive team. They would communicate over text, with the team sending weekly countdown messages, eagerly awaiting his return to practice. Two weeks before the planned date, Brown surprised the team by watching open gyms before transitioning to full practice.

Now that Coach Brown is back, it is time for the Olympians to prepare for their upcoming season. The team is young, with Audrey Wetzel being the only returning senior, but that does not mean that they are inexperienced. The starting lineup consists of one senior, one freshman and three sophomores, and Brown is confident that they will use their agility and shooting skill to fight against a tough schedule.

“You always worry about the quality of the competition, and it is tough, every game is a battle, but I think we’ll be up to the challenge this year. It will probably come down to how well we defend and rebound.”

Come and support the Olympians and Coach Brown at their first home game on November 7th.

CORRECTION: Previously, this article gave November 3rd as the date of the first home game. We later learned that the November 3rd game will be a scrimmage. We apologize for any confusion.