New season, new coach for PVHS boys basketball

David Wilson has taken over the head coaching position for the boys basketball team at Pahrump Valley High School.

Wilson is a native of Grand Island, Nebraska and he moved out to the Las Vegas area within the last couple of years.

Wilson grew up playing basketball in Nebraska. After high school, he played ball at Bakersfield College, which is a junior college in Bakersfield, California.

After playing in Bakersfield for two years, Wilson transferred to Doane University. This was a Division II NAIA school in Crete, Nebraska located just over an hour from where he grew up. He played just one season at Doane before leaving.

Just before the COVID-19 pandemic rattled the world, Wilson had traveled to the Dominican Republic to play basketball as a professional. He was down there for just a few weeks before everything got shut down.

As far as Wilson’s coaching career goes, he helped coach a high school freshman team for a couple of years while he was in California.

During his post-college time, Wilson also worked for a company that held basketball clinics.

Pahrump hasn’t been able to have a winning season since the 2007-08 season. Wilson is hoping to turn the program around and get back to winning ways. He mentioned that it’s a matter of improving the culture that they have so far.

“We’re hoping to get as many wins as we can this year,” Wilson said. “It’s just a matter of not changing the culture, but improving the culture. It’s something that could take a few years, but we’re just going to take one day to get better at a time and go from there.”

This year will be Pahrump Valley’s first basketball season since the 2019-20 season.

This year’s team will have 12 players, eight of which will be seniors. Wilson won’t be focusing on one side of the ball over the other. Instead he wants it to be a balanced attack.

“I try to keep a good balance,” Wilson said. “I try to make both sides of the ball important.”

He says that their biggest challenge going into the season is going to be coming together as a team. The players haven’t had an organized season in nearly two years. The seniors who are now playing at a varsity level haven’t had a season since they were freshmen.

Wilson and the Trojans will begin their season in early December.