I would like to Thank the Senior Boys Basketball Players from last year’s season, I never got the chance to express my feelings about them, this was a special group, this was my most favorite senior class to coach, they were always special, even as freshman you could tell, they just had it.
I’ll start with Brett Stewart, he has always been the player that has the most common sense, Brett wasn’t blessed with the most physical skills, like speed and jumping, but he was blessed with lots of heart. Brett was a gym rat, he spent a lot of time in the gym in the summer, that is what helped develop as a player. I watched Brett develop into a player that fit his statue. The one asset Brett had that not many others could match, he could shoot it well and sometimes it was his shooting that kept in the game. He defended well, he was a leader on the floor, he has turned out to be a fantastic young man, and that’s what’s most important. Brett was no whiner or complainer, he just played hard and tried to get it done, that’s what I admired about him.
Next is Eddy Paz, he has always wanted to be a post player, but there’s not many post players that are 5’6”. Eddu was another gym rat, he played in the league in Jefferson City for three years and everytime we had the open gym he was there for two hours. Eddy is very quick, he has good court awareness and just an all around good player. He was a tremendous free throw shooter. But another asset that Eddy had was heart, he was not a quitter or an excuse maker, he just went out and got it done.
Next is Jat Ridehour, I tell everyone when I’m talking about basketball that Jat went after the ball as hard as anyone that I’ve ever coached. Winning basketball teams have to defend and rebound. His best game was against Newburg, his numbers were off the cart, he had 26 pts, and 14 rebounds, that is an outstanding game. Jat played injured most of the season, but he didn’t let me know, he just went out to play. Sometimes he’d make me so mad that I’d want to scream, but other times I wanted to pat him on the back and tell him to keep doing it, you’re setting a good example. I would give him a hug but he’d probably think that I was reaching out to choke him. We didn’t know from day to day. I have a lot of respect for the way he hustled, you didn’t have to tell him to hustle, it was just his nature. Jat is an excellent athlete, quick, strong with desire, when he went for a rebound if you were in the way you might get yourself hurt, because he didn’t have any edicate about getting the ball, he just wanted it, heaven help you if head or arm was between him and the ball. He will go down as one of the hardest playing athletes that I’ve ever coached.
Next is Colten Robinson, Colten was a pure shooter, but he just didn’t play enough to hone it to perfection. But I can’t ever say that Colten did play hard, he had a temper, but he was a team player, he defended well, at the freethrow line he shot a high percentage. Once in a while Colten would surprise you and come through with some three pointers, I probably didn’t realize this but I was always wanting him to get on one those shooting streaks. I’d say the beat asset about Colten was his team effort and hustle, I wish he had spent more time in the gym in the summer, but he has turned out to be a solid young man and that’s what’s most important.
