What has been the biggest focus for you personally this season?

“The biggest focus for me this season is confidence. It’s everything to me and it’s the one thing that can ruin your mindset. So I try to get my confidence at an all-time high to ensure the best of my abilities.“

What’s one area of your game you’ve seen the most improvement in?

“I have seen the most improvement from my game come in the paint. I feel like I’m pretty hard to guard going downhill and playing off of two feet in the paint. To piggy back off of that, playing off of two feet is the most underrated thing ever.“

What does your team do well when you’re playing your best basketball?

“Our team plays best when the ball is clicking and touching everyone’s hands to make the defense move. When we each share the ball and get the best shot, that’s when we are most dangerous.“

Who’s a teammate that deserves more recognition?

“Every one of my teammates deserves more recognition. I have total confidence in all of my teammates to make that next big play. We have so many talented shooters on our team and on any given night, it could be any of our nights. My teammates make the game really enjoyable for me.“

How do you stay locked in during the grind of the season—especially on tough weeks?

“We as a team stay focused every week on our next game. We are a one game at a time team and every game we are looking to go 1-0. Coming off a tough loss against a good Warner team will help us get a reality check. We will need to focus on the smaller things every practice to win those close games. Basketball season is a very long season and there is a lot of time left to make something special happen.“

What’s something your coaches emphasize that really shows up on game nights?

“Defense is what we preach in practice and in games. Really good teams play tough defense and that has been an emphasis every game that our coaches talk about. Our 4 losses have all been poorly defensive games for us and making sure we stick to our system will help us moving forward.“

What’s the biggest lesson basketball has taught you?

“Basketball has taught me many things in life, but close basketball games show who you are as a person outside of sports. Down by a few points with a 2-3 minutes left. Will you fold to pressure or focus during the game? This shows the small battles you’ll encounter in life and how you respond as a man.“

What has been your favorite moment of the season so far?

“My favorite moment this year so far was watching my team win without me. We played Miller and I watched on the bench due to injury, but the excitement to watch the boys have fun without me and win in a thriller fashion was awesome. Jett Yackley Jett Yackley 5'8" | PG/SG Sully Buttes | 2028 SD had an outstanding night playing like a big time player he is. Gavin Colson Gavin Colson 5'10" | SG Sully Buttes | 2026 SD hit a bucket to go up with very little time left. And Bretton Barber picked a kids pocket right in front of me and I jumped out of my chair in excitement.“

Favorite gym to play in (besides home)?

“Gettysburg gym is my favorite away gym to play in. It’s a big house that provides a lot of energy to feed from. I’ve seen that gym packed more than 3 times and it’s a loud gym when it’s packed. It’s a tough gym to shoot in but I love the thrill of walking into that gym.“

What are you hoping to accomplish before postseason play begins?

“Before post season. I’m hoping to win out the rest of our games and give us a chance in Regions to advance to the SoDak 16. We have a lot of time left to play our best ball, but before playoffs hit, I’m excited to keep playing for a chance to prove to ourselves that we are a really good team.“