Sean Gillam has made the move from one hard court to another and he begins his first season as the Albert Lea girls’ basketball coach Tuesday night against Waseca in Albert Lea.

Gillam, who coaches boys’ and girls’ tennis, became the head coach of the team earlier this summer when Karol Hansen resigned at the end of the school year.

Gillam is bringing in a different style of play this season for the Tigers after the team had played more of a structured style. Up-tempo is the catch phrase for this season.

He says fans can expect an entertaining style of play characterized by more of an up-tempo pace. Albert Lea will look to push the ball and get into transition this season.

He said he’ll probably have some nerves when he takes the court Tuesday.

“I’m going to have to watch my nerves,” Gillam said. “It’s not nearly the audience of tennis.”

Playing at a faster pace is going to require some getting used to for the Tigers and Gillam expects some bumps in the road. The important part will be how the team responds if things don’t work out right away.

“We’re going to work on that ‘next’ principle,” Gillam said, meaning the team will have to avoid letting mistakes to remain on their minds.

“This is a journey and we’re not going to over react,” Gillam said.

The Tigers will face a strong Waseca team to open the season. Last season the Bluejays defeated Albert Lea 37-27, but this year Waseca comes in picked to finish fourth in Class 3A, Section 1, according to Minnesota Basketball News. The Bluejays return all but one player from last year’s team that finished 11-15. Junior Allison Streich is the team’s top returning scorer. Streich averaged 11.2 points a game and pulled down 9.7 rebounds a game. Waseca has very few seniors, but are an experienced group from last season where head coach Clint Link started a freshman, three sophomores and one junior.

The Tigers return all-conference players, Abbey Arends and Morgan Stadheim, this season, along with a number of letter winners from last year.

One player that will be missing is center Nichelle Klatt. She is still recovering from an ankle injury that happened near the end of the volleyball season. Albert Lea will miss her presence inside and her rebounding ability. Klatt may miss the first month of the season. Filling in for Klatt will be a group of players including Heather Greibrok, Mikaela Pierson and Brittany Kelly.

Rebounding will be essential for Albert Lea. The Tigers may not have great size on the blocks, especially with the 6-foot-2 Klatt out early, but Gillam says many on the team have the ability to pull down rebounds — including the guards.

“Nothing hurts worse than second chance points,” Gillam said. “We’d love to make it one and done.”

Arends returns from a knee injury that kept her out the entire fall season.

Arends will be counted on to put up points for the Tigers with her versatility.

“Abbey looks ready to go,” Gillam said.

Gillam expects some growing pains as the team makes the transition to a new style.

“We have to focus on the positives that come out, no matter what we do,” he said.

Albert Lea finished the season 7-19 last year and enters this season with a good mix of seniors and juniors.

The key will remain how quickly the team adjusts to the new up-tempo style on both sides of the court.

The Big Nine is loaded this year, along with the section. Minnesota Basketball News has picked New Prague as the section favorite and Austin is No. 2. In the conference John Marshall enters the season ranked No. 17 in Class 4A, Austin No. 18 in 3A and Mankato West ranked No. 7 in 3A. New Prague is the top ranked team in Class 3A this season.