Duncanville High School, which sits right outside of Dallas, Texas, has been one of the more dominant programs in the Lone Star state under head coach David Peavy over the last four years.
Peavy, who started coaching at Duncanville in 2018, has won four straight UIL class 6A state championships since the 2018-2019 high school season and currently has over 100 career wins as their head coach.
The Panthers have just been crushing in Texas and also have been one of the best programs on the national level since Peavy has been in charge. They are a combined 125-14 since 2018-2019.
Famous alumni under David Peavy include Jahmi’us Ramsey (Sacramento Kings), Micah Peavy (TCU), Anthony Black (Arkansas), Zhuric Phelps (SMU), Juan Reyna (Alabama State), and Damon Nicholas Jr. (Sam Houston State).
Duncanville has been known for the hard nosed and defensive mindset under David Peavy over the last four seasons. I asked coach what makes him have that type of mindset with his teams and just how that all started when he got the head coaching spot?
“I have some good size, good athletes, and some competitive kids that all want to play. I used all of that to our advantage.” He answered. “Defensively everybody is going to have to defend if you are going to get on our court. We keep it super intense in practice, everything is a competition, and all of that carries over into our games.” He continued to explain.
The phrase “defense wins championships” is so well known and the Panthers have proven that motto over the last four seasons, winning four consecutive UIL 6A state championships.
“It’s what we talk about everyday, it’s the expectation. We expect to win state championships, but we work to win state championships. We come in everyday with that focus and that mindset, not to just win, but to be the best. It feels good to accomplish our goals, but that is the expectation.” Peavy tells me after asking him how does it feel to win four straight UIL state titles.
In route to their fourth straight state championship title, Duncanville also had one of the most impressive all around seasons, especially for a public school program.
They finished the year ranked in the top-5 nationally and with a 35-1 overall record. They defeated multiple high quality opponents over the season, which included powerhouse programs like Montverde Academy (FL), Corona Centennial (CA), Sierra Canyon (CA), and much more.
I asked coach how does it feel to have defeated teams like a Montverde, Sierra Canyon?
“To beat those teams we wanted to see where we were, we wanted to see those teams, we wanted to play the best. Coming into the season we wanted to give ourselves an opportunity to be considered number one in the country and to do that you have to play against the best teams.” He said.
“We felt like we were on their level and to step on the courts and do what we did, it was satisfying. We accomplished what we wanted to as a team and kind of saw what we were.” He continued to say.
Peavy and his staff are certainly expected to have another incredible team coming into the 2022-2023 high school season. The Panthers lose a few key guys but will also return a bunch of key guys from last season’s phenomenal team.
Duncanville currently ranks in the top-5 nationally and as the No. 1 public school coming into the 2022-2023 high school season.
I asked Coach Peavy what are the expectations for the team he has coming into next season?
“We got a chance to be better, we have a chance to be better than what we were. Again, it’ll be to be considered to be the number one team in the country. If everyone comes back and buy in I think we will have the best team, I really do. We have a lot of experience, good talent, size, and athleticism. We have really good shooters and guys that will compete on the defensive end. All that is a great combination to be a really good team.” He answered.
The Panthers will return key prospects like Ron Holland Jr., Cameron Barnes, Aric Demings, Ashton Hardaway, Evan Phelps, Rasuan Collier, Kayden Edwards, and others to their roster.
Ron Holland Jr., a 6-foot-7 forward with multiple high major offers, will headline their roster and is one of the highly rated prospects in the 2023 class.
“Ron can be special. He’s got a lot to work on. We are just trying to get him to not believe all the hype. He has become one of the best players in the country. We feel like he has the best motor in the country. He can really rebound, he is reckless with his body, fearless, and now he is really starting to shoot the ball well and handle the ball well. He has a chance to play for a long time and a lot of money.” Peavy says when talking about Ron Holland Jr.
The Grind Hoops by Samad Hines 