Former Blackman assistant named Rockvale's first boys head basketball coach

Rockvale High School has added another coaching piece to its puzzle.

Hume-Fogg head coach and former Blackman assistant David Givens was named the school's first boys head basketball coach Friday.

"We were looking for someone with head coaching experience, with the challenges and how complicated it is to start a new program," said Rockvale principal Steve Luker. "He's familiar with our league, our style and how competitive basketball is in Rutherford County. He's familiar with the teams and the rivalries."

Givens was a former Blaze assistant coach under Kyle Turnham in 2006-07 and a coach at Whitworth-Buchanan before taking the Hume-Fogg job in 2009, where he was head coach for 10 years.

"The No. 1 thing is the leadership there," said Givens, on his interest in taking the Rockets' position. He and Luker worked together at Buchanan in 2008. "I like his vision for the school - athletics, academics and culture. That was something that was attractive."

Hume-Fogg enjoyed its best season under Givens in 2018-19, going 14-10 after a 5-16 record the previous year. The Blue Knights competed in a tough District 10-AA, which sent two teams to the state tournament this season.

"I'm used to being in a super competitive district," said Givens, on guiding the Rockets into District 7-AAA. "We were in a similar situation, going up against East (Nashville) and (Pearl-Cohn) and teams like that."

Givens is excited about the challenge of starting a new program from the ground up.

"I had several conversations with Mr. Luker since being offered the job," said Givens. "I got a good feel for it. Obviously we know the (first) senior class will be about 100 kids and the junior class won't be a full class. We will be competing next year with a lot of freshmen and sophomores.

"We know it's going to be tough. On top of that, we're jumping into one of the three toughest Class AAA districts in the state. There are excellent coaches at every school. I've coached with some of these guys (including Riverdale coach Michael Voss while at Blackman). It will be exciting.

"The most important thing will be the culture. If you get the culture right, everything else will take care of itself."

Rockvale has now hired head coaches for football, boys and girls basketball, softball and baseball.

The school will jump into TSSAA varsity competition in all sports from the outset when it opens this fall.

Reach Cecil Joyce at cjoyce@dnj.com or 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Cecil_Joyce.