WRAL-TV Crew Chief Stuart Todd wrangles broadcast operators during his weekdays at the Big 5, but off the clock he is now working with another team.

Stuart coaches the JV boys basketball team at Leesville High School. He recently finished his second season with the young men, with a turnaround record to boot.

Stuart has always loved basketball. He played growing up in High Point and then played college ball at St. Augustine’s College. He was doing some AU coaching and decided to get in at the high school level. He applied for the open coaching position at Leesville and got the job, taking over the JV program last year.

Last year, he had six sophomores and five freshmen on his team. Most of the boys had never played organized basketball before, and he had only one returning player from the previous year’s squad. They ended up with a 4-15 record.

Stuart had five sophomores return this year and recruited a bunch of freshmen. In fact, his starting line-up was all freshmen but one. He says he had a good group of boys.

“Give me a group of guys who can play, and I’m going to turn them into a team,” he said.

That he did. The Leesville JV squad finished with a 10-7 record this season. Quite a turn around.

“I love to coach,” he said.

Next year, all of his players will be moving up to varsity, so Stuart will see what the future will hold for him.

Stuart isn’t the only WRAL staff member at the Leesville games. His WRAL pal, Broadcast Technician Jeff Reeves, shows up and takes pictures, and Anchor Pam Saulsby has sung the National Anthem at several of their games as a service to the community.

Thanks to Stuart Todd, Jeff Reeves for the photos and Andrea Osborne for the story.