Sailing under the radar all season a year ago following an 0-3 start, the youth-laden KingstonRedskinsadvanced all the way within one win of the Class 3A state tournament.
Now with plenty of experience for a still youthful unit for head coach Bobby McAdoo, expectations are soaring heading toward the 2024-25 basketball season opener Tuesday at Atoka.
TheRedskinsreturnthree full-time starters and two others with starting experience along with a host of benchhelpfroma17-winclub and won’t be sneaking up on many this time around.
“There are dreams of chasing the gold ball every year,” McAdoostated.“Lastyearwe lost a few early just getting our feet wet with different roles but we got better as we went along. We were under the radar and not ranked most all season but ended up playing in the game to go to state. I imagine we’ll get more recognition this year after that run.
“We are still fairly young, but expectations are rising with this group. The accomplishments theyhadlastyear are now expected. It’s a blessing though to coach a group of guys that always play hard. They’ve taken their lumps coming up, but that should now pay off for them.”
The returnees include a pair of third-year starters with juniors Brock Rumer and Hayden Seeney along with fourth-year starter Sam Walker. All three should add to their offensive production of a season ago in which Rumer posted 11 points per gameonaveragewithSeeney adding nine and Walker 7.5 an outing.
Juniors Hudson Everhart and Parks Ratzlaff should also be key contributors after gaining starting experience at times around injuries they suffered last season. Ratzlaff averaged around eight points pergamewithEverhartchipping in six a contest.
They’ll also welcome back Lander Burkhalter as well as sophomoresBlaneHenryand Ty Jones, who contributed key minutes off the bench a year ago.
Burkhalter notched quite a bit of playoff time last season, averaging around six points per contest. Henry, who is big, strong and athletic, will help inside along with the athletic Jones around the paint. They could also challenge for starting roles.
“With all the experience we have returning we won’t have the learning curve we have had early on,” McAdoo said. “Depth should provide the positive outcomes we are looking for. It’s a guard heavy, athletic group that likes to run and pressure. Even our big guys that are big, strong and stout kids can run. We have seven or eight guards that can go pretty well along with three or four inside guys.”
That still youthful arsenal gives McAdoo plenty of hope for this year and a return to the state tournament for the first time since 2022 as well as the future.
An exciting style should make the Redskins fun to watch throughout the course of the season.
“We want to play fast and get as many shots early and oftenaswecan,”theKingston coach added. “We are going to fly around the ball and play as hard as we can with other guys able to come in when needed and then try to get out in transition. It should definitely help later in the season.
“The ball will be moving a lot quicker with a lot faster tempo than what we have. Hopefully, we are not easy to defendwithourbalance.That experience will be beneficial. I’m excited and think the guys will enjoy the fast-paced style. They are bought into it. We’re hoping we have the stamina to get it done.”