Gator Gym Rats Look to Realize Potential

Gator gym rats look to realize potential

By: Ryan Bergeron

Coming off of a 7-20 season last winter, Gator Head Basketball Coach Kent Christian looks forward to watching his players, many he calls gym rats, grow and develop this season. He has high hopes for what this team can achieve this season.

“I don’t see (this) team topping out early,” Coach Christian said.

From last season’s team, the Gators lost five seniors to graduation, in Austin Aune, Connor Graff, Jared Davy, Skyler Forst, and Michael Olson. As a group, these seniors had high expectations, provided pretty solid leadership, and wanted to compete.

The team also lost foreign exchange student YannikKroeller-Fernandez, having moved back to Germany following the end of the 2016-17 school year.

Despite these losses, the Gators return a group of seniors with experience and also welcome some seniors to the program with not as much experience. Returning seniors include Shaun Waage, Dillon Nieman, Travis Gustafson, and Brandon Sorenson, each bringing something to the team.

The team’s tallest player, Waage brings size to the team and Sorenson brings the Gators experience at the guard position. Another guard, Nieman brings success with him as a wide receiver on this year’s Gator football team, success Coach Christian hopes carries over, and Gustafson, another guard, brings a competitive spirt.

Coach Christian considers his other two seniors, forward Tanner Foss and guard Justin Bollinger, players with not as much experience, as “wild cards,” unsure of what he’ll see from them this season.

Overall, this year’s group of seniors, Coach Christian said, have shown excellent leadership and worked hard. Five of the six seniors also played football this past fall.

Several underclassmen also will also see substantial minutes or push for some varsity minutes this season. Coach Christian specifically called one of his underclassman, junior guard Jake Taggart, a “gym rat.” He added how Taggart is sometimes hard himself, but has a competitive spirit, “hating to lose.” Last season, Taggart gave “Gator Nation” a memorable night, scoring 35 points, including five of six made three-point attempts in a win over the Ponies.

Other Gator underclassmen players pushing for minutes include: junior guard Dylan Heggedal (a player bringing much basketball background), junior guard KamrinWeets, junior forward BreydonBertilrud, sophomore forward Gage Creekmore, sophomore center Kaden Opdahl, freshman guard Adam Benke, and freshman guard Kasen Swenson.

All these players competing for varsity minutes means much competition on the practice floor, competition Coach Christian hopes turns into depth.

Overall, the Gators have 30 boys out for basketball this winter in seventh to twelfth grade, many times all practicing together. Under Christian, Jordan Creviston coaches the junior varsity team, JakobHeggedal the C-team, and Joel Brichacek the junior high team.

Going into last season, Coach Christian said his team would feature a much smaller look. This season’s team will again feature a small lineup. As mentioned earlier, Waage, playing center this season, stands as the team’s tallest player at 6’5. Having this smaller size means the team will have to play more a physical style to compete.

Speaking of style of play, the Gators will play an up-tempo style if the opportunity presents itself. In the half-court, it will look to ensure every player touches the ball to set up solid shooting opportunities. It will look to also create offense from its defensive play.

Asked what he defines as a successful season, Coach Christian mentioned how he hopes to see his players achieve certain goals on and off the court. For Christian, he hopes to see his players not only compete night in and night out, but also show they care about one another. He also mentioned how success for his team is to be playing its best basketball by the end of the season.

The Gators will see a different group of opponents at the end of the season, specifically the postseason. Why? The team moved back down from Section 8A to Section 8A, a section it hasn’t played in for five years. Besides less postseason travel, Coach Christian said this move also impacts his team’s confidence, specifically come postseason time.

“(We know) we don’t have to play the perfect game to win,” Coach Christian said.

This doesn’t mean Section 8A won’t feature its fair share of challenges. He mentioned Stephen-Argyle Central, Ada-Borup/Norman County West, Red Lake, Win-E-Mac, and Cass Lake as some of the top teams.

“Every night’s going to be fun… The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.”

For the record, the Gators fell by one point in its opening game to the Freeze in overtime.

Coach Christian hopes “Gator Nation” comes out in full force to support his team, one full of gym rats that he hopes realize their highest potential by season’s end.

“Hopefully,” Coach Christian said, “we’ll make Gator Nation proud.”