BY SYDNEY SNELSON

If things were easy, hard work would not exist. If things were simple, hard work would not be rewarding. If the boys’ basketball team weren’t underdogs, their story wouldn’t be as exciting.

The boys’ program has taken multiple hard hits in the past few years: injuries, arguing, and toxicity have flooded the team. As a result, the program has been on the bottom of the bracket. They were always counted out, especially when sizing up against teams twice their size. More height meant more wins. More wins meant more money. More money meant more opportunity. The Truman boys always found themselves stuck in the middle of a fight for their reputation.

But the boys are looking to change their course, and they hope to bring a conference and district win back home to Truman. Seniors Gavin Mock and James Minks think this season will be different. They believe their teams’ athleticism and attitude puts them in a position to win. “We’re more together as a team. More people show up to practices, and more people are committed,” says Mock. These seniors are looking to make their last games great. They want to leave a legacy at Truman. They want to go out with a bang.

For junior Dallas Winda, however, he has to decide how to carry on the program. Starting all his highschool years on varsity, the young veteran knows how the varsity team operates. Winda wants to focus on making this season exciting for the seniors, but also a fresh start where he can build up the team for next year. He believes that this year, “is the one we go the farthest. Everything is just better. We’ve never had this much athleticism before. We have the length, speed, and we all hit weights every day”.

The three players agree that coaching is a big aspect to the team’s success. They know Head Coach Simon Morefield sets the tone for the intensity of their practices. As the trio describes it, Morefield keeps them “level-headed and humble”. Winda says that in years past, they’ve underestimated a lot of other teams. However, this season training and atmosphere has taught them to never do that again. 

With the first game coming up on Friday, November 10th at 7pm for Late Night at the T, it’ll be interesting to see the program’s differences come into play