Team photo courtesy of Inter-State Studio
Everything is lining up for the Cougars to have a much improved season. After going just 7-14 last year, the Cougars bring back most of their key contributors from the season before.
In fact, 14 of 15 players on the varsity roster were in the basketball program last year.
Not only are key pieces returning, but they’re healthy. Injuries and illness plagued the Cougars last season, impacting multiple positions at different times. Senior Jaxon Myers missed significant time after breaking his arm during football season, and later in the year a team-wide illness sidelined several players and left others competing far from full strength.
With his team coming in healthy and ready to build off their experience last year, head coach Jason Hooper expressed excitement.
“Every other year when this sort of scenario has stacked up, and we’ve had a really solid season so I’m excited about that.”
South’s first full practices began on November 17th, and since then coach Hooper has seen improvements from a variety of different players. Hooper was quick to mention Jaxon Myers who has shown just how impactful health and confidence can go toward improving on the court.
“He’s playing at a different level right now. He’s got a lot of bounce in his step, and is playing with great maturity and showcasing great floor vision.”
Junior Kobie Henley has also caught the attention of South’s coach with his noticeable improvement.
“He’s more confident, he’s stronger, and he’s more sure of himself and what he wants to do,” said coach Hooper.
Hooper added that he sees Henley’s position on the team as the “Swiss army knife”, similar to the role played by last year’s leading scorer Jace Humphrey.
“I told him you’re the next Jace, you’re our swiss army knife.” Hooper said when referencing Henley’s ability to score in a variety of ways on the court.
As far as the start to this season, the challenge of three straight games in three days awaits the Cougars. Where a team would usually have time in between games one and two to watch film and make adjustments during practice, the Cougars will have no such time. It’ll be the first season where KSHSAA has officially increased the amount of regular basketball games from 20 to 23, opening the door for an early season tournament to go towards South’s regular season record.
While these first three games will reveal the style of play we see from the Cougars this season, coach Hooper wants to see the fruits of his main emphasis to the team: being great teammates.
“You need to make each other feel valued,” said Hooper to his team. “I hope that you’ll see a group of kids out there, not just playing for themselves but playing for their teammates, appreciating their teammates and showing that.”
The Cougars open the season with Liberal on Thursday at South High School.
