By Chris Parker
Blake Allen takes over as the head coach of the Weaubleau boys basketball program after seven years as a varsity assistant at Thayer, Hillcrest and most recently Willard.
He was attracted to Weaubleau because of the community support.
“The opportunity to have my own program especially in a community that supports its school and program. That was something that I really missed being a part of,” Allen said.
Forward Ethan Foster will be the lone senior on the roster in Allen’s first year.
“Ethan Foster will be leaned on a lot for leadership, with him being one of our only two upperclassmen in our program, he’s a great example not just on the court but off the court of working hard and leading by example,” Allen said.
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Sophomores Blane Durnell and Gage Johnson will have big roles after each averaged just over 12 points per game last year. Both earned second-team all-conference honors in the Polk County League. They were the only freshmen to achieve that feat.
“Blane Durnell and Gage Johnson will also be two that will need to set the tone day in and day out,” Allen said.
Dawson Stewart (sophomore guard), Wyatt Dennis (junior guard) and Zach Brown (sophomore forward) will be returning players for Weaubleau.
“Dawson Stewart is expected to have a large impact on our success this season. He will be the heart of our defense, our best on-ball defender, and will be relied on heavily to rebound from the guard position,” Allen said. “Wyatt Dennis will see a large increase in minutes from last season. He has turned into a consistent outside threat and works extremely hard on both ends of the floor. Zach Brown is long and athletic with a high motor will also see an increase in minutes this season.”
Mikel Perez is a junior foreign exchange student from Spain who will compete for minutes. Freshmen Gunner Freeman and Clayton Ginnings are both expected to contribute right away.
Allen will emphasize the importance of rebounding with this group.
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“We really need to improve on rebounding going into this season,” Allen said. “Our margin from out rebounding our opponents has to really improve if we want to be playing for championships this season.”
Weaubleau will host a jamboree on Nov. 18 before opening the regular season on Nov. 30 at home against Lakeland.
“We want to continue to get better day in and day out and compete for championships throughout the season so that we will be playing our best basketball come late February,” Allen said.
