For the ADM boys basketball team, the opportunity to play in a professional arena makes Saturday’s game against Creston at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines special. For the head coaches of both teams, the matchup is special for a different reason.

For the first time, ADM head coach Aaron Mager will coach against his former assistant, Brett Watson, who is in his first season at the head of the Panthers boys varsity team after nine years in Adel.

Watson began his tenure at ADM as an assistant on Mager’s staff, which he did for five seasons. He then took the head girls varsity job for four years before taking the job at Creston this past fall. Watson said he enjoyed his time at ADM, and left on great terms. He took the Creston job because, he said, it was the right move at the right time to go to a place with such a rich basketball tradition.

Watson told Raccoon Valley Radio he and Mager frequently engaged in friendly competitions with each other when they were working together, and they remain friends still. But it will be a different animal competing against his former boss.

“Well, and to be completely honest, when I accepted the job down here, Aaron and I first talked about we knew this game was going to happen and we kind of joked about how Wells Fargo is a nice, good arena to fit both our personalities and games and everything into,” Watson said. “So yes, Dec. 13, this date has been circled on my calendar for a while and it will mean a lot to me. But the bottom line is that it’s about the boys that perform, and hopefully they can put forth their best performance.”

The ADM boys first turn the focus to tonight’s contest against Carroll before making the trip east to Des Moines for a 5 p.m. tip Saturday evening, a game that can be heard live on K107 and raccoonvalleyradio.com.