On the first day of practice back in November, Olpe boys basketball coach Chris Schmidt sat down with his team and made sure his players understood one thing: Nobody else’s expectations mattered.
The Eagles were a team that had lost 10 seniors and returned just two starters from last season’s team that finished third at State, and many outside the Olpe program predicted a dropoff.
But, Schmidt told his team, that was not acceptable.
“We sat down on the first day and talked about expectations. I told them that as a coach, my expectations are pretty high. I said, ‘I want you guys to set your expectations pretty high, too,’” Schmidt said. “As a coach, once you get to the State Tournament, that’s your expectation of every team that comes in, and I told them that. I said, ‘I expect to get where we got last year.’”
It’s a good thing the Eagles never listened to the outside chatter, because State Tournament week has arrived, and just like last year, the Olpe boys find themselves in the field of eight teams that will vie for a State title in Hays.
Olpe (23-2) enters the Class 1A State Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will open play at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Gross Coliseum when it squares off against seventh-seeded Natoma (20-4).
Being at State with such a high seeding is a feather in the Eagles’ cap, as few expected them to be in Hays, let alone be considered a favorite to reach the title game should the seeds hold.
But, Schmidt said, it’s exactly what the team expected of itself from the very beginning.
“From Day One in practice, they’ve come to work hard every day, and they’re getting rewarded for it now at the end of the season,” Schmidt said. “I’m just proud of them. Their work ethic throughout the year has been great; I’ve been as pleased with that as any group I’ve ever had.”
Now, the goal shifts to bettering Olpe’s showing at last year’s tournament, where the one-loss Eagles fell in the semifinals to Centralia by one point, 65-64.
This year’s squad is led by junior forward Cole Krueger, but lately has gotten good production from post players Josh Klumpe and Ethan Schneider — two players who keyed Olpe’s Sub-State title game victory over Goessel — as well as guards Bradley Argabright and Alex Medenciy, giving the Eagles a stability that has instilled confidence in the players and their coach.
“We’re pretty balanced,” Schmidt said, “and I like that going into State.”
create (anonymous) says...
Beautiful!!! Nice job of positive thinking, Chris, that's what good coaching is all about. Great job, team. Go Eagles!!!
March 4, 2008 at 4:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )