Concord boys’ basketball coach Tim LaTorra knows the record all too well: 76-230. It represents a long struggle over the last 16 years for the Tide’s boys’ basketball program.

As he prepares to tip off his first season as their head coach after spending the last five years leading the Concord girls’ basketball team, he’s focusing on laying the foundation to turn the Tide’s fortunes around.

“This group of guys seems like a really good group of guys that are willing to learn, try to break some old habits. Very coachable,” he said. “They seem like they want to be part of the full rebuild process to get Concord basketball where it’s supposed to be.”

Last year, the Tide finished 2-16.

LaTorra talked about the rebuild encompassing more than just the varsity team. It’ll be a comprehensive effort, starting all the way down with the 4- and 5-year-olds in the Saturday morning rec program. The youth, freshman, JV and varsity teams are not just separate entities, LaTorra has emphasized to his group; they’re all part of the same program.

Looking at this year’s roster, LaTorra expects seniors Connor White and Zanis Lauris to play major roles. He also mentioned sophomore Brett Tuttle, who started last season, and junior Eli Bahuma, who became a focal point for Concord football’s turnaround in the fall, as other likely contributors.

Another senior, Max Leahy, suffered an ACL injury and won’t play this winter, but LaTorra still plans to lean on him as a leader to set the tone during practice and games.

Concord opens the season on Dec. 13 against Trinity. LaTorra said that the team’s first four games (Trinity, Bishop Guertin, Pinkerton and Nashua North) are likely going to be against four of the best teams in Division I this season, so he’ll use the month of December to get a feel for where his team is relative to the division’s elite.

But regardless of the results in those games, he hopes to see progress by the end of the season that provides a hint of optimism about the future.

“I think ultimately the success is gonna come from feeling like we can be competitive and not give up, stay resilient, stay with the process of how we want to try to build things,” he said. “The results are gonna be what the results are gonna be.”

LaTorra admitted they probably won’t see the fruits of their labor translate to a substantial win total in his first season, but he’s hopeful that this year’s team can start bending things in the right direction.

“I just think there’s a level of excitement from our players at all three levels at the high school,” LaTorra said. “If we just look at these guys we have here on the varsity team, we’ve got great role models and examples for how to not just approach the game, but how to hopefully behave in the classroom, outside of the classroom and hopefully set ourselves up for success.”