By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Clever boys basketball team took a big step forward in coach Sean Price’s first year at the helm, winning more games than they had in the previous two seasons combined.
The Bluejays know there’s still room to improve on their 11-17 finish, but the year-over-year improvement has re-energized a program that’s chasing its first winning season since 2020.
“I think the lesson that was learned is they have the potential to win basketball games,” Price said. “Last year gave them confidence to show up and work on their game, which has made them better individual basketball players — which will make us a better overall program.”
While there’s typically a learning curve associated with a coaching change, Clever’s was relatively minimal. Less than a month into the season, they had already matched their win total from the entire 2022-23 campaign.
“This tells you about the group of players we had playing basketball last year,” Price said. “My job as a head coach is to instill my vision, lay out expectations and to hold players accountable to being their very best every day. The group of players from last year were on board with those things from day one, which allowed us to see some major improvement from the start of the season.”
With two returning starters – and several more returners with varsity experience – the Bluejays hope to build on the foundation laid last winter.
“We have been able to go more in depth within our offensive and defensive concepts and have been able to add more to the playbook because the players have the base foundation of what we are doing,” Price said. “We tend to keep things very simple so the players can go out and play hard, but we have tried to add more to their plate and evolve as a basketball program.”
Clever will once again lean on junior Lucas Peebles, who led the team in scoring as a sophomore. Pebbles earned spots on the all-conference and all-district teams after averaging 14 points per game and shooting 84 percent form the foul line.
“He will be asked to continue to put the ball in the basket,” Price said. “Lucas is a great competitor and someone that plays hard on both ends of the floor. Lucas is someone we can trust to do the things we ask him to do. Lucas will take on more of the ball handling responsibilities for us this season and we look forward to seeing him grow and develop in his game as well as his leadership skills.”
Senior Kalib Butts is the team’s other returning starter. The 6-foot-3 post averaged 3.5 rebounds and 3 points per game, numbers that should improve in his senior year.
“We are going to ask Kalib to be more of a threat on both ends of the floor this season,” Price said. “I hope to see a confident player that can guard and rebound at a high level and become a more polished offensive player for us.”
Forwards Eli Bussard and Kendall Piper also saw varsity playing time last season.
Bussard, a 6-foot-4 junior, led the Bluejays in charges taken. He’s also looking to improve on his averages of 4.5 points and 5 rebounds per game, the latter of which is tops among returning Bluejays.
“We feel like Eli can spread the floor for us and make shots, but also has the ability to get to the rim and score,” Price said. “We are going to ask him to be someone that can score for us but also be able to guard and rebound on the defensive end of the floor. I look forward to Eli taking a major step forward in his game.”
Piper, a 6-foot sophomore, earned a varsity job early in his freshman season. He started several games as teammates battled injuries.
“That playing time helped give Kendall some confidence playing at that level and we really saw that confidence continue to grow this summer,” Price said. “Kendall has really worked hard on his game, and we expect Kendall to play a major role this upcoming season.”
Price added that newcomers Xavier Robinson, Brayden Flood and Braxtyn Myers could all have important roles for the Bluejays this year.
Robinson, a 6-foot senior guard, returns to the program after not playing last winter.
“He is a very good athlete who is a capable shot maker, but able to attack and get to the rim,” Price said. “I believe Xavier can be someone that will be able to score for us but also be able to guard at a high level. Xavier will be able to use his athletic ability to change the game on both ends of the floor. I look forward to seeing Xavier grow as a basketball player and give us things on the floor that we didn’t have last season.”
Flood, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, gives the Bluejays an additional option in the post.
“Brayden is a player who has really improved over the summer,” Price said. “He is a hard worker and a player we can ask to guard and rebound and someone who will execute on offense. We look for him to take a big step forward throughout the season and someone who could be asked to play significant minutes on the varsity level.”
After nearly cracking the varsity lineup as a freshman, Myers will look to make the team as a sophomore. The versatile 5-foot-8 guard can contribute at both ends of the court.
“Braxtyn is someone that can shoot and handle the basketball,” Price said. “He can guard the ball and plays hard. Braxtyn has an opportunity to get varsity minutes this year and in the coming years. We look for Braxtyn to be someone that can come in and make some shots and play solid defense for us.”
The Bluejays will travel to Springfield Catholic for a November 21 jamboree against the hosts, Skyline and Monett. They will open the regular season at the 91st Annual Clever Invitational, which begins December 2.
“I am most excited about seeing this team take the next step,” Price said. “We did some good things last year, but I think our team isn’t satisfied with those results.”
