Naperville North was reeling by the end of January last season, hitting rock bottom in a 51-34 loss at home to rival Naperville Central.
But the Huskies, behind the installation of a Princeton-style offense, turned things around, finishing the regular season with an impressive 41-29 victory over those same Redhawks and winning eight of their last 10.
That doesn’t mean that this year’s Huskies will play the same way, though.
“One thing I give total credit to (Coach Jeff) Powers for is that he gets the most out of the personnel he has,” senior Baylor Griffin said. “Last year, he determined that was what we needed to do. This year, I honestly don’t know. We haven’t practiced it yet, but if we have to go to it, we’ll go to it.”
Griffin is one of three returning starters. Fellow guard Jelani McClain is in his third year on the team while forward Zack Tuxhorn is also back.
“Honestly, I’m not looking at doing that at first because I think we have the big guys that can play a little bit,” Powers said. “We still have some very good ballhandling people so we could use the Princeton stuff as a weapon at any given time.”
The loss of guards Anthony Rehayem and Jayson Winick will be considerable, but with Griffin and McClain back that should make it easier to adjust.
“Rehayem and Winick were a big part of our team and what we did, but having the guys we have coming back, as well as some of our bigger guys, who got a whole lot better working their tails off in the offseason, I’m feeling very optimistic,” Powers said.
The work wasn’t only done in overheated summer gyms, but in the weight room with Naperville North strength and conditioning coach Rob Kirkland.
“We’ve got a mix of football players and soccer players, too, so we had some guys missing, but a lot of us worked hard with Coach Kirkland,” Griffin said. “I know that’s helped some of the guys get bigger and stronger, so I think that could be a tremendous help.”
Matt Brown, Tyler Bushman, Alex Garon and Deon Merrill will play inside, seniors Brian Dalton and Chris Gajcak will look to be scoring threats from beyond the three-point arc, and sophomores Mitch Lewis and Winston Elston hope to be sparks off the bench.
In addition to the rugged DVC schedule, the Huskies will enjoy quite a few major challenges, including a game Dec. 6 against Lyons at the United Center. They are currently playing in the Hoops for Healing tourney and will play in York’s Jack Tosh and the T.F. North Shootout.
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