Goddard Eisenhower comes together for first basketball season
The first-year school's basketball team has developed a tight-knit group.
Recognizing poor chemistry isn't difficult for Goddard Eisenhower boys basketball coach Steve Blue.
"Guys are doing their own thing and not playing for each other," he said. "Nothing good can happen when you don't have good chemistry.... To me, you can't just be friends on the court. You have to be be able to trust each other."
Eisenhower (1-1), which opened in August, is in its first season of basketball, but this team doesn't look like one a new school usually fields.
They are loaded with young talent, but any success they experience this season will hinge on their tight relationships.
This team, from varsity on down, enjoys spending time together.
Either they're texting or tweeting each other or hanging out at someone's house, most likely senior Zach Bush's. Or they're playing a pickup game at the YMCA, watching movies or playing video games.
"This is one of the tightest groups I've ever had as a team," Bush said. "We're great friends."
Sophomore guard Trevon Evans agreed.
"We have a really good bond," he said. "Zach, he has always helped me out, on the basketball court and off the basketball court. He encourages me... and sometimes he helps me with my homework if I'm struggling in a class."
The Tigers have more than strong friendships, though. They've shown some early success.
Eisenhower opened with a win over Andover, played within four points of McPherson and is at Andover Central tonight. The Tigers play at Dodge City on Saturday, completing an extremely difficult stretch of games.
The Tigers start with Bush, a versatile athlete who uses his long arms to snag steals or shoot over defenders.
He's one of two seniors — the other is Ashton Briggs, a physical presence inside — who chose to attend Eisenhower for their senior years. They could have graduated from Goddard regardless of what boundary they lived in.
"I knew I wanted to go with Coach Blue," said Bush, whose mother teaches at Eisenhower. "He's the best coach I've ever had."
After Bush and Briggs, there's a sophomore class led by Evans, who started midway through his freshman season.
"Before (Heights senior) Perry Ellis started as a freshman, you didn't hear about freshmen," Blue said. "I would never have guessed that we'd have the talent that we could play the young kids.... It got to the point with Trevon that he was showing more in practice and our offense was becoming stagnant. We needed his ability to create and we saw he was mature."
Evans was named to the All-Ark Valley-Chisholm Trail League Division II team, and Blue has said that by the time Evans is a senior, he expects the guard to be one of the state's best.
Sophomore Matt Morris played significant time as a freshman, as well, even putting up multiple double-doubles.
They're all starting, along with Daniel Southworth, who proved his maturity when he hit 7 of 8 free throws in the final period of the season-opening win. Then there's Brennan Stemple, who is the Tigers' best shooter, and Griffin Jones.
There was such discussion among basketball fans about the young talent coming through the Goddard middle schools, that for two years, Blue quit watching middle school games.
"I heard there was talent coming up, but you just don't want to cause any friction, that you're rooting for one team or another," Blue said. "I was the Goddard basketball coach, and Goddard basketball was the No. 1 concern. I didn't want people thinking I was thinking of Eisenhower basketball until the time came, after the season ended."
As young as these players are, the Tigers haven't experienced the common issues regarding playing time or who scores how much.
Blue credits his seniors, including Bush, who was a starter at Goddard last season, too. Bush welcomed the young player, spent time with them, worked with them, encouraged them. He was key in creating this foundation for team chemistry.
"Zach has always been smart enough that he recognizes talent," Blue said. "He wants to win. That's his No. 1 thing. He could care less about his stats. He knows he'll get his shots, but one man cannot win what he wants to win."