When Robert Wells took the job at Lexington, he wasn’t doing it to rebuild a team that finished (4-19) and (0-10) in region play last season. 

Instead, he did it to take over a program with a history of success, where its past two coaches won titles at the highest level of ball in the state. 

“We don’t mention rebuild. To me, this is not a rebuild job,” Wells said. “ My number one goal is to continue to explain and help the kids understand the history and the tradition behind Lexington High School basketball.”

Wells made the move after spending 13 seasons at Brookland-Cayce. There, he led the Bearcats to multiple playoff appearances, including the 3A Lower State championships in 2017. 

He is taking over the Lexington job from Elliot Pope, who resigned from the job to pursue a master's degree and be an assistant at Gray Collegiate. 

Wells came on in June. Since his arrival, the players have spent a lot of time in the weight room, building their bodies to match up better physically. Wells also began laying the groundwork for his system.

The Wildcats will be a team that prides itself on hard work and effort on both sides of the ball. The team will play aggressive defense to force turnovers and run out in transition. 

“ Sometimes, talent may not be there that night or the shots may not be there that night, but if we play hard to be disciplined, then we're going to be really good,” Wells said. “We have to live on defense.”

Lexington is a program with a lot of potential, and Wells believes he can maximize that potential. The Wildcats have multiple 20-win seasons in the past few years, and are just two years removed from their 5A state title win. 

Last season was a struggle, though. Lexington lost a lot of talent that made that 2024 state championship team competitive and went from undefeated in the region to winless. The team also lost its best player midway through the season after he transferred out of state. 

Wells is paying no mind to last year, acknowledging it as an anomaly. He believes the Wildcats can reclaim their spot near the top of their conference immediately.

“It should be a very good season coming for us,” Wells said. “ The expectation never changes from school to school. Our two expectations at Brookland-Cayce were a region championship and a state championship. That’s the same thing here. We want to win the region championship. We want to win the state championship.” 

The road to any championship begins with the non-region slate. The Wildcats will test themselves with competitive contests, meant to prepare them for region play, beginning in January. 

Wells is also bringing the holiday tournament he founded at Brookland-Cayce with him to Lexington, and the Wildcats will participate. 

The Cayce Roundball Classic is now the Lexington Roundball Classic and will be played from Dec. 26-28. Lexington now hosts both a major boys and girls holiday hoops tournament, with the girls’ Christmas Classic taking place on Dec. 20 and 22. 

“Our non-region, including those tournaments, will be tough,” Wells said.  ”We're trying to get back to the winning culture here at Lexington High School. So, we'll take some bumps and some bruises early on in the season, but we need to make sure that those don't hinder us from being ready for January.”