Brandon Walters shot an arrow in the air and hoped it would land in Winnsboro, where his folks are, and his wife’s parents are close by, in Emory. The arrow disobeyed, but it wasn’t too far off: it floated to the turf in Wills Point, 45 miles southwest of the bullseye.

Pending school trustees’ approval, the man who spent five successful seasons in Llano will become the head coach of the Lady basketball Tigers.

“My decision wasn’t just about the team,” Walters said, “which has been average the last few years. It involved the location, and we liked it for Blake, who will be a junior in August.”

Brandon’s wife, Kara, is an elementary school teacher, and she’ll also be employed in the Wills Point district, about 50 miles east of Dallas. The Class-3A high school has an enrollment of nearly 850, 335 more than Llano.

Walters, who resigned from the Lady Jackets’ job in May, was head coach at Como-Pickton (yes, also near Winnsboro), for four years before he succeeded Jacquetta Brown.

“I came into a great situation,” he mentioned, “and I felt like we did what we had to do.” No one can object to that statement and hear the judge say, “sustained.”

The Black and Orange, State Champions under Brown in 2002, averaged 29 wins a year in Walters’ tenure; they made impressive playoff runs each season, and advanced to the Class-3A Final Four in 2007.

“It won’t bother me too much if I don’t have winning teams immediately at Wills Point,” Walters advises. “I think we’ll eventually do okay if the kids buy into the system; the fans will probably have high expectations but no higher than what they had here.”

Tiger backers will see a tough man-to-man defense and an up-tempo offense. Jessica Quintanilla, the new Jackets’ coach, might employ a similar style. Please see related story, and here’s a word from the guy in Wills Point, “I don’t want to play Llano!

“It’s exciting to start over, but my family and I enjoyed the Hill Country so much,” Walters declared. “The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do was telling the kids I was leaving. I’ll miss them so much, but I know they’ll do well.”