Not every school gets to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime nationally televised game like The Battle Basketball Showcase but for the Coppell boys basketball team, the showcase will provide the Cowboys the opportunity to open its season in an electric atmosphere. 

“The game is going to be exciting because it’s our first game period,” Coppell coach Clint Schnell said. “The whole nationally-televised part of it and the media and exposure that’ll come with it makes it that much more exciting. It’s more of a credit to the community of Coppell, the athletes and where they put our program and our administrators for helping organize it to give our kids the opportunity [to play] and get the exposure from it. There will be some butterflies and there will be some nerves but, once we get on the court, that all goes away and you get lost in the moment and lost in the fight of what you’re trying to win for.”

Hosted by NBC Sports and broadcasted on Peacock, Coppell opens the Battle Basketball Showcase by playing Vertical Academy at the CHS Arena on Friday. While the game is officially slated for a 4 p.m. start, per The Battle website and social media accounts, Coppell athletic director Kit Pehl and Schnell have stated that tipoff will be closer to 4:30 p.m. due to CHS releasing from school as usual at 4:10 p.m.

Junior guard Mikey Willaims and junior guard Tremayne Parker have been the key players for Vertical Academy but, according to TheBattleUS, Williams is out of the contest through injury.

“It was an opportunity we were looking forward to: to challenge and play against him,” Schenll said. “The rest of his team is still really talented so we’re going to take that challenge on and try to get a win on Friday.”

The highlight of the matchup is two very contrasting play styles of each team. In Texas high school basketball, Coppell and teams in general play a slower pace of basketball with locked in defense, whereas prep-school basketball is more fast-paced, AAU-style, full-court offense basketball. 

“There are two different styles of basketball being played and it will be an interesting mix when it comes to a hit on Friday with the way they play and the way we play,” Schnell said. “With that in mind, we need to play our style. We’re going to come down and defend hard and limit them to one-chance opportunities and then we are going to have to execute on the offensive end [by working] to get the best shot we can. It will be a lot of entertaining basketball to watch on both ends.”

This year is different from any of the last three years for the Coppell basketball program. Previously, the Coppell basketball team was led by the show-stopping combination of Coppell senior guard Ryan Agarwal and five-star guard prospect Anthony Black, who was ruled ineligible to play at Duncanville this season by the UIL due to transferring from Coppell for athletic purposes. Agarwal is now the sole leader of the Cowboys.

“You are not going to replace the talent that Anthony brings you and the experience level of three years of varsity play but the guys have filled the void,” Schnell said. “It is not going to be one guy’s job to replace him by any stretch, it’s going to be a combination of multiple guys filling the void that he leaves behind. The guys have embraced it, they have great team chemistry this year and we’re here to play with the guys we [have].”

Despite the pressure that comes with leading a team, Agarwal isn’t phased by the expectations and holds a multi-talented crew that will ease his responsibilities and not force him to carry the workload alone.

“We have a lot of dudes on our team that are going to help me out; it is a ‘we over me’ mentality so there are a lot of dudes that will have my back,” Agarwal said. “I am definitely going to step up a little bit more to do the things we are going to miss with [Black] gone, but it’s just another challenge that we are going to have to face.”

Furthermore, Coppell senior guard Naz Brown has returned to the court after recovering from a torn ACL in seven months and will provide the Cowboys with athleticism as well as  offensive and defensive execution. Brown, who was a major player in Coppell’s offensive and defensive scheme last year, has stepped up in return and will be one of the go-to guys for Agarwal.

“[Brown] is obviously another very talented player for us; his experience and what he brings to the table was huge for us,” Schnell said. “For him to put himself on a time table to be back sooner than what’s expected is huge and now it’s just a matter of getting him back up to speed, locked in with the guys and getting ready to play.”

According to Schnell and Brown, playing in this showcase is a perfect opportunity to face the top competition to prepare for the strenuous season ahead for the Cowboys. It also is a testament to the effort the Cowboys have put in to earn this moment. 

“[VA is] a big time school with national competition and all of our guys are ready,” Brown said. “These are the moments that people live for in basketball with the biggest stage, the national television and prime-time game to start off The Battle.”

Follow Meer (@mahfuz_meer) and @SidekickSports on Twitter.