MACON, Ga. — Southwest basketball holds a rich history in Macon.
The Patriots ran all the way to a national title back in 1979. Numerous alumni, including Jeff Malone, Norm Nixon, and Sharone Wright, have all gone on to see great success in the NBA, but in recent years, the program has lost some of that shine -- until now.
It's all happening under a new head coach who is anything but new to Central Georgia.
"I'm a year-round basketball guy," new Southwest basketball head coach Monquencio Hardnett said. "I'm a development guy, I'm a coaching guy."
As a trainer at the Hypesouth Skillz Lab, Hardnett has made a living out of getting Central Georgia's top basketball players to the next level. Now, for the first time ever, he's doing it as a head coach.
"The job is kind of exciting, with the history of Southwest and the banners in there," Hardnett said, "So many great NBA players. For a second, I thought I was going to have to go somewhere else and get a job and maybe come back."
It's Southwest's championship pedigree that the Patriots now want back once again.
This year, they'll search for their first winning season in four years. Hardnett is the third head coach to arrive at Southwest in that span.
Now in front of him: a new challenge, and one that is twofold.
"It's not only trying to build these guys as players. It's building character, and understanding how to win," Hardnett said.
"As teammates we all had a great connection, but once he came, it was a spark," senior guard Travion Searcy said. "He knew everybody's skillset and he knew what we could do, so we work even harder every day."
Once long ago, Hardnett was the Macon kid, playing his high school ball with the Central Chargers. Years later, he's still home -- now, just across town, leading the way with the Patriots.
"It's just so sweet, because this is what you work for," Hardnett said. This was an opportunity for not only me, for my family."
For the Patriots' new coach, that family includes his own son, Quentin, who joins his dad as a transfer from Tattnall Square Academy this season.
"It's a big opportunity," Quentin Hardnett said. "These opportunities don't come around a lot, so when you got an opportunity like this, you got to take it. It's kind of hectic. He gets on me a lot, but I need it."
For the Hardnetts, father and son alike, this year will be about putting Southwest basketball back on the map -- one T-shirt at a time.
"That's what it's all about for me," Coach Hardnett said. I see people every day walking up the hallways, they want the T-shirts."
The Patriots began the year with four straight wins, but have lost twice in the time since, including a 79-63 loss to rival Northeast on Tuesday night.
Southwest next hosts Washington County on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in Macon.