By Chris Parker
El Dorado Springs boys basketball will be fairly young this year with just three seniors expected to contribute.
Leadership will come from sophomore Landon Murry and junior Kaden Burley.
Murry earned honorable mention all-conference honors last year averaging 7.4 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.
“Murry was a guard that was a bench player last year that ended up starting several games for different reasons,” El Dorado Springs head coach Nick Engleman said. “He has a high motor, is highly driven, and scores at different levels.”
Burley, who stands at 6’7, will be a presence in the post. He averaged 6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season.
“Burley became a surprise starter last year. He is developing into a great communicator and his size at center is tough. He can shoot outside and is becoming stronger every day,” Engleman said.
Senior forward Will McKinney will be another leader for the Bulldogs.
“Will McKinney is a player that is a lead by example type guy on the floor. He can defend and keep possessions alive with his ability to chase down offensive rebounds,” Engleman said.
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Senior Nathen Adams and junior Kade Fast also return from last year’s team.
“Adams came off the bench last year and provided extra scoring that will compete to be in the starting lineup this year,” Engleman said. “Fast is a high energy type guy that can defend and makes smart decisions on both ends of the floor.”
Newcomers to watch include: Kuliath Kephart (junior), Grant Ehlers (junior), Logan Speer (senior), Judd Koshko (junior), Rees McCullough (sophomore) and Joe Gordon (freshman).
Engleman on Kephart: “Kuliath will step up potentially into a starting role for us at forward. He is long, athletic, and can play on the perimeter and with his back to the basket. He will be our biggest mismatch player.”
Engleman on Ehlers: “Grant will provide shooting ability off the bench and is one of our best communicators on the floor.”
Engleman on Speer: “Logan is a transfer from Clinton that will fit in well into our offense. He is big, strong, and plays well as a traditional post with his back to the basket. We are looking forward to his leadership as well.
Engleman on Koshko: “Judd is a solid point guard that plays hard and has the ability to get to the rim.”
Engleman on McCullough: “Rees is a good post that uses his body well to create leverage and angles to score and can defend bigger posts.”
Engleman on Gordon: “Joe is a solid freshman that has great athleticism with the ability to defend and play at all three levels offensively.”
El Dorado Springs will have size this year with 10 players standing at 6-feet or taller including three that are 6’4, 6’6 and 6’7.
“Our overall team size and length will be a major strength for us,” Engleman said. “We have several long, athletic players that will allow us to take advantage of mismatches with different players each night. We will also be able to use that length to create difficulties in passing lanes and shooting at the rim.”
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Better guard-play will be key for El Dorado Springs to find success.
“We will need to improve our scoring consistency and our overall guard play,” Engleman said. “The Ozarks is a guard heavy area and great teams typically have guards that don’t turn the ball over and force other teams to turn it over. We will need to ensure that we can take care of the ball and get games into the half court to utilize our size.”
El Dorado Springs will also look to control all aspects of the game on and off the court.
“We will look to work to control what we can control,” Engleman said. “We will push when we want to push and we will play the tempo game when we want to control the speed of the game. We also will look to take control over things we can control such as effort, discipline, and attitude.”
El Dorado Springs finished 8-17 overall last year. The Bulldogs are looking for the program’s first season above .500 since 2011. They will host a jamboree on Nov. 16 with Liberal and Lockwood before opening the regular season Nov. 29-Dec. 4 at the Warsaw tournament.
“I have high expectations for our boys and I believe that they can reach those expectations if we buy into what we want to do,” Engleman said. “For some, the switch from one coaching philosophy to another will be a struggle because of being in one system for 2-3 years. I know the boys have high expectations for themselves and are eager to get to work.”
