Since taking over at Naperville North, Jeff Powers has developed a reputation over time of developing teams who get the most out of its collective talents.
With three starters back from a 17-win campaign in 2013-14, those expectations will remain the same.
Junior point guard Jelani McClain is back for his third year on varsity to help lead a group that will be relying on McClain and a pair of seniors in Baylor Griffin and Zack Tuxhorn.
“I’m really excited about the year. We’ve got three starters back. Baylor Griffin had a fantastic year last year and so did Zack Tuxhorn the last eight games,” Powers said. “So with them two back, with Jelani, not too many years do you get three kids coming back. That’s going to be a real key, I think, that we have three leaders like that.
At his averages of 9.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists from 2013-14, McClain will be the straw the stirs the drink for the Huskies, but Griffin and Tuxhorn will provide solid running mates for the 6-foot, 180-pound point guard.
Griffin posted averages of 7.4 points and 5.1 rebounds last year while Tuxhorn will be looking to raise his 2013-14 averages of four points and 2.4 rebounds.
Buoyed by the presence of Griffin and Tuxhorn in the paint, Powers is encouraged about what his team might be able to do offensively.
“We’ve got a couple big kids that look like all the hard work (has paid off). They’re working their butts off in the weight room,” Powers said. “I think that’s going to be Deon Merrill, who showed signs last year of being pretty good. Then Alex Garon and Tyler Bushman are big guys that give us a little different look than the last couple years. We didn’t have the big guys. So that’ll be interesting to see how that pans out.”
Merrill, Garon and Bushman will all see their minutes jump significantly from the time they saw on the floor as juniors in an attempt to create a potent inside-outside game with McClain orchestrating the offense.
For the most part, Powers’ teams in the past have usually excelled at shooting the basketball and his sixth team at Naperville North shouldn’t be that much different.
Chris Gajcak, who rotated with Evan Kujawski at quarterback for Sean Drendel’s football team, and Brian Dalton both impressed Powers with their perimeter work over the course of the summer and hope to be able to open the floor enough to give McClain room to operate.
“I think some of our guys have worked so hard at shooting,” Powers said.
Because of the graduation of Anthony Rehayem, who averaged a team-high 13 points last year, and Jayson Winick, an All-DuPage Valley Conference selection, youth will be served somewhat as the Huskies look to compete while playing a tough nonconference slate, which includes a Dec. 6 date at the United Center with LaGrange Township along with participating in the Hoops For Healing Thanksgiving Tournament and at the Jack Tosh Christmas Tournament in Elmhurst.
A pair of sophomores in Mitch Lewis and Winston Elston, the brother of former Huskie Ashton Elston, should see time on the floor.
“They’re very, very talented,” Powers said of the sophomore duo.
His Naperville North tenure highlighted by his charges winning the outright DVC title in 2011-12, the program’s first conference title since 1997-98, Powers’ ability to get his teams to play with passion and to get the most out of its collective talents and abilities hasn’t gone unnoticed.
He defers all the credit to the young men he’s been privileged to work with on a yearly basis.
“(Anthony Rehayem) texted me that he’s in contact with the boys and he’s really, really excited about (this year’s team). The guys are all excited. I think guys like Anthony and Matt Hasse and Matt Stacho and we can go on and on,” Powers said. “They’ve invested in the program. They’ve showed how successful you can be if you all work hard and no one cares who gets the credit.
“Former guys, they’ve all been calling me, touching base with me wishing me good luck, wishing the guys good luck and I think there’s the right culture that’s happening right now in our program and that’s a credit to the kids. They bought in and I think this year will be the same thing. I think the kids will buy in and play hard and we’ll see how far that takes you. Usually, in high school basketball, you have those two things, you can go pretty far.”
