HARRIS — The Bark River-Harris girls’ varsity basketball team will be in experienced hands next year.

After the departure of three-year coach Josh Eagle, who returned to Hannahville to take the boys’ varsity job, the Broncos will be helmed by seasoned coach Matt Richer.

“I coached jayvee boys (basketball) for like 15 years and the varsity for three,” he said. “(I’ve coached) everything imaginable. From tee-ball to pitching machine league, Pop Warner football and flag football. I guess I’m just a coach of anything.”

Richer is connected to the team through his daughter, who will be entering her junior year at BR-H. After hearing about the opening, he was excited to return to coaching basketball.

“It’s been two weeks, and I’m really excited,” Richer said. “We had our first team camp in Carney these past couple days.

“For me, basketball is my game. I played at the University of Wisconsin-Marinette after high school. I was an All-UP player. Basketball’s always been easy for me. It was the sport I was best at. My sister calls me a basketball nerd. It’s my favorite sport, and I think I can coach it the best. I missed coaching basketball. It’s my true passion. It’s who I am.”

Like Eagle, Richer also did a three-year stint at Bark River, but his was as the varsity boys’ basketball coach. From 2010-13, he finished with a 30-35 overall record.

Another benefit of having his daughter involved is he already knows a lot of the players who he’ll be coaching.

“With my daughter being an incoming junior, I’ve coached the juniors for all of their travel basketball throughout the years; pretty much since they were in third grade,” he said. “So, I know the players real well.”

The lineup isn’t set in stone yet, but the Broncos will be losing some senior firepower.

“We have two returning starters,” Richer said. “Losing the leadership alone is going to be hard. It’s not a rebuilding year. It’s more a retooling year than anything else.”

Even so early in the process, there are already a few tweaks Richer plans on implementing.

“I think the biggest things are — play a little faster, press a little more and really concentrate on defense,” he said.

“In districts, we’re going to have to stop people. We’re not going to be able to rely on points. We go to districts, and we’re going to be facing some tough teams. If you don’t prepare yourself from day one, you’re already behind.”

Richer already has two assistant coaches lined up, and they’re already making their presence felt.

“Ryan Lippens and Tonna Fredrick will be helping me out this year,” he said. “Ryan Lippens played for me. Like I tell him all the time, he was the best shooter I ever coached. If he can instill some of his work ethic and some of the things he did to become a good shooter, he’s going to become a real asset for the girls and us for years to come.

“Tonna is all about fitness. She’s got a weight training program already started. She’s a great motivator. It’s already been helping a lot. It’s easy to coach when you have good assistant coaches that take care of the dirty work for you so you can focus on coaching.”

Richer believes his high expectations will lead to a winning formula.

“I have high expectations. I’m going to push the girls hard,” he said.

“My biggest thing is that we can get better every single day. Every day you go to the gym, every time you’re working. Perfect practice makes perfect.”