The Senior's Impact On Eagle Valley Boys Basketball
As in any High School sport, the seniors play an essential role in the team's culture and success. I wanted to dive deeper into the seniors' impact on the team this season and learn more about them, not just as players on the court but as leaders and people off the court.
This season, the boys' basketball team sits at 10-8. They have been an incredibly streaky team all season, but with five regular season games ahead of them, there is optimism throughout the program when asked about what can be expected from the team for the rest of the season. Senior and starting power forward Kaden Kraft said, "We're just hungry to keep winning; we're hungry to get a solid seed for playoffs and hungry to win that conference championship." Kaden is one of six seniors on the team, including Aedan Phelan, Caiven Lake, Eli Melzer, Elias Pena, and Kevin Hasley.
When head coach Justin Brandt was asked who the team leaders are on and off the court, he stated, "All of our seniors are really good leaders this year on and off the court. Kaden Kraft, Aedan Phelan, Kevin Hasley come to mind." This gives insight into how the coach looks at them and values them within the program. Coach Brandt also talked about what the seniors have done differently this year than in years past, “I think a lot of times they see it as every person has shortcomings. So, I think every senior sees the shortcomings and the strengths of the previous kind of leaders, and they attack those shortcomings.” When talking to Kaden, he mentions the family aspect of the team, especially this group of seniors: "I think the seniors really like we're all just like, so tight together, that we just want everybody to have that relationship with us."
When talking to the team and other seniors, having a group of seniors who care about the team and the players has not always been the case. According to Aedan Phelan, "This year specifically, it's the first time I feel like people are generally happy to be on the team. They're happy to be around each other. It's just a great culture this year." The team's vibe is in a great spot, according to players and coaches, and a part of the credit should go to the men at the front and center of the program in the seniors. This speaks volumes about this group of seniors and their impact on the program from top to bottom. Kraft was asked about the team's culture; he talked about the senior's role. He said, "We really do want to build a culture of, you know, helping out the young guys not looking down on them, but really just developing, developing them as good young men." Not only does this talk about how these seniors impact the team and the younger players, but it sets the team up to have a continued culture even after they graduate.
Aedan Phelan was asked who the team's leader is; he said, "I'd say that Kaden Kraft is probably the leader on and off the court. And definitely, Kevin's a leader on the court and leader off the court as well." The respect they have for each other goes a long way, and it sets an excellent example for the future leaders of the program as well, but who are they as people? Kevin, Aedan, and Kaden are all multi-sports athletes who have succeeded in all their sports. They all have very bright futures, and I was lucky to get to know some of them and interview them as well. At the end of our interviews, I asked Aeden and Kaden what they would miss most about playing basketball for Eagle Valley. Kaden said, "My favorite moments are just hanging out with the guys at team dinners. Being at hotels and just enjoying each other's time and just really building, like I said, relationships with each other. I think that's more valuable than any win or anything else." Aedan said, "I'm going to miss it. The people I play with probably the most because, like, the people on the team, some of my best friends."
Eagle Valley High School is extremely lucky to have these seniors representing our school and our basketball program. These seniors lead by example daily and represent what Eagle Valley is all about. It is going to be fun to watch these guys ball for the rest of the season and according to Coach Brandt, "You can expect us to be competing for our league championship. You can expect us to have high character as we do it."
-Samuel Simons