I’ve been around our basketball program long enough to feel both sides of it: the frustration of losing and the pride of finally building something real. The last two seasons before this year were honestly tough to live through. We weren’t talentless and we weren’t lazy either. We were comfortable, and comfort is very dangerous in sports.
During the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, we underperformed in the standings (10-12 and 5-18 in consecutive seasons) and in our habits as well. Practices sometimes felt like something to get through rather than something to attack. When drills got sloppy, we shrugged it off. When effort dipped, nobody really held each other accountable. I was a junior during my second season, and looking back, I embraced that environment way more than I realized. Losing didn’t shock us anymore, it just felt normal.
Everything changed when Coach Chase Rieder arrived this year.
From day one, practice had a completely different tone. There was no jogging through drills, no half-speed closeouts, no laughing after mistakes. If you messed up, you ran it again – correctly. If the energy dropped, practice stopped until it came back. At first, it was honestly uncomfortable. We weren’t used to someone demanding excellence every single rep. However, that discomfort soon turned into belief.
Coach Rieder understands basketball in a way that’s different than other coaches I’ve been under. He makes sure that every play has a purpose. Instead of guessing on the court, we now know exactly why we’re doing what we’re doing. Because we understand the game now, our confidence has skyrocketed.
The roster also changed in a huge way with the arrivals of Christian Walker, Jeremiah Williams and Carter Brooks. Transfers can sometimes take time to fit in, but these three didn’t just fit – they elevated us. Christian brought fearless energy. Jeremiah brought his physicality. Carter added skill and composure that stabilized our offense. More importantly, all of them bought into the culture immediately. It made everyone else raise their level, including me.
I went from being part of a losing team as a junior to becoming team captain as a senior. The title didn’t just mean leading huddles, it meant changing habits. I had to unlearn things I didn’t even realize I had picked up, like slacking during drills and accepting mistakes. Under this new system, actions like that stick out instantly.
Instead of coasting, I decided to lock in. I started talking more on defense and sprinting every rep even when tired. I held my teammates accountable because the coaches held me accountable first. Leadership stopped being about being loud and became about being consistent. We’re not just winning more – we look different. Our bench is engaged and practices are intense. We execute late in games instead of hoping like last year. When adversity hits, nobody panics because we’ve already pushed through harder situations in practice. The biggest change isn’t our record, it’s our expectations. Last year, we wanted to improve, but this year we expect to win. That shift didn’t come from talent alone, it came from accountability and belief. Coach Rieder gave us a system and our team embraced it.
