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(QUINTON FOSSETT | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) Shown from left to right are Jaden Neal, Cooper Wilde, Caleb Chandler, Nick Wankowicz, Jagger Nees, Obed Trejo, Matthew Oglesby, Tyler Allen, Zach Canaday, Michael Franklin, Derrian Pent, Jacob Carroll and Porter Caddell stand for a photo after the Steers’ first basketball practice Wednesday, Oct. 29.
The Graham Steers team kicked off their official schedule this past week with their opening basketball practice. This season brings a journey of new beginnings and a new coach.
The new coach is head coach Quinton Fossett, who for the first time this year was directly involved with the team, running their regimen in their opening practice Wednesday, Oct. 29.
“It was awesome,” Fossett said. “The kids want to get better, and that’s the biggest thing. We want to get better and we want to improve. I want to be around kids who want to get better.”
Fossett said as expected the energy was high for the team’s first practice. He also said that it would be a very beneficial period for the team as this stretch of opening practices will be the longest practice period between now and their first scrimmage.
This will be a valuable time for this team to hone their strengths while fine-tuning their weaknesses before the official start of regular season action.
Fossett said going into this season the motto for the team was “toughness and togetherness,” which was also a theme for them in this opening practice.
In order to build that toughness, the team emphasized competition in drills where each drill would have a winner and a loser.
Some drills the team went through in this practice were general shooting, transitional shooting and a “rebounding war” drill.
Making drills competitive was a way to keep the team engaged while also inspiring each player to improve their skillsets.
While Fossett has been impressed with a lot of guys so far, he specifically highlighted Jagger Nees, Obed Trejo and Nick Wankowicz.
Nees was a veteran point guard who spread the floor as a facilitator while Trejo emerged as a valuable three point shooter who also provided excellent defense and rebounding.
Wankowicz used his tall and lanky frame to generate rebounds and second chance opportunities on offense. He was also great at generating short putback shots and midrange jumpers.
That’s not even to mention the fact that once football season ends, several players from that squad will also be joining the basketball team as things continue.
The Steers will have about a week-and-a-half of practice before their first scrimmage match Saturday, Nov. 8 against Springtown.
