After falling one win shy of the state tournament last season, the Wayne High boys basketball team is gearing up for season 2024-25 with new excitement.
There are 22 boys who will make up the Wayne High boys basketball program.
Rob Sweetland first took over as head coach of Wayne High boys basketball during the 2013-14 season.
Coach Sweetland said the team has been showing improvement being coachable, starting to gel with team defense and offense.
"We have to fill some holes from last year," said Sweetland. "We had a lot of seniors that contributed to playing time as far as minutes go. Although we have three returning starters, we have to fill two starting spots and then the rest of them bench role."
Joining coach Sweetland will be Adam Hoffman as the JV assistant, Jack Belt will coach the freshman while Wes Blecke will be a volunteer assistant.
Seniors include Colson Nelsen, Gavin Redden, Kaden Keller, Brayden Rajaee-Hallgren and Nacho Dias (foreign exchange student).
WHS will return their top scorer of Colson Nelsen who averaged 13.4 points per game knocking down a team-high 74 made three's along with 2.5 assists per game and tied for the team-lead in steals per game at 1.7. Also, Redden led the team in steals per game at 1.7.
Wayne High returners are sharing their experience with the younger players showing them what it takes to win games at the varsity level.
"I think team defense is probably the main focus as far as what we've been working on so far this season," Sweetland added. "They understand that if you can play great team defense you can keep yourself in games and then we've also been working game-ending situations quite a bit."
Last year, Wayne High boys finished 21-6 falling to Wahoo in the district final round.
Both the Wayne High girls and boys basketball teams will be hosting Howells-Dodge on Monday, Dec. 2 with Howells-Dodge coming to town. Games are set for 5:30 p.m. for the girls followed by the boys outing during the jamboree format.
Coach Sweetland mentioned the staff will give some kids opportunities.
"See what kind of combinations work, maybe where we can get some kids some rest and some other kids fill some spots," said Sweetland. "We've been going against ourselves the last week or two. To see us against somebody else will kind of maybe clarify some things going into our first game."
The 2024-25 Wayne High basketball opener will be on Friday, Dec. 6 at Battle Creek.
A big change will be the addition of all levels having the 35 second shot clock.
Coach Sweetland talked about the main points what the team has been working on in practice.
"On the offensive end, try to push the ball up the floor a little bit and get into flow earlier so we can create some advantages right away," said Sweetland. "Then on the defensive end, if you can pressure them up the floor a little bit, take some time off the clock and leave them with 28-29 seconds rather than the full 35. I think it gives those kids a little more incentive to work really hard on the defensive end knowing that you can turn them over."
Also, rebounding will play a key role to secure only one defensive possession.
Another new change from the NSAA allows junior high seventh and eighth grade students to practice with the high school team but not play.
The Wayne High boys basketball home opener will be on Saturday, Dec. 7 hosting Ponca.
