By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Hayden boys basketball coach Trey Brown has yet to see his entire Wildcat team for preseason practice.
But while Brown could use that practice time to get ready for his first season at Hayden, it's a situation that he would be happy to deal with each and every year.
First-year Hayden boys basketball coach Trey Brown talks to his team during a preseason practice. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And when Brown does get his full team in the gym, probably early next week, he's counting on the Wildcats coming in with a great mindset after their run to the Class 3A state championship game in football.
"I'd probably say about 75 percent of our guys are still in football, which is a good thing at the end of the day,'' said Brown, a former multi-sport athlete himself at Shawnee Heights. "I know they've got a big senior class and a lot of those guys play basketball so just getting to experience the run in football that they've had and all of that, I think it will just bring them closer together for basketball and it will be the same thing, that they'll expect to win and compete at a high level.''
Brown, who accepted the Hayden job in late May after a season at Cair Paravel Latin, said it also helped that he got the opportunity to work with the Wildcats over the summer.
"It helped a lot,'' said the former state champion at Shawnee Heights and a college standout at MidAmerica Nazarene. "It was good to be around them and to start building those relationships and kind of see what we have and things we need to work on and things we're good at and different things like that.
"I was super happy with how the summer went.''
Brown said a big key for the Wildcats will be to come together as a team as quickly as possible.
"The first thing, that we talked about a lot already, is just buying in,'' Brown said. "It's a whole new thing from last year and there will be a lot of new faces stepping into some bigger roles, but just playing hard and playing together, unselfish basketball, is how we're going to get things done.
"Especially in such a tough league (Centennial), we've got to play together and compete at a high level. There's really no night off in this league and with our schedule, but I think come March it will help us a lot.''
Senior guard Jacob Padilla, who had a season-high 25 points, is a top returner for Hayden after earning second-team All-Centennial League and TopSports.news All-Shawnee County recognition a year ago.
Senior Cooper Colboch also saw extensive action for the Wildcats last season while seniors Dom Ridley and Carter Charvat and junior Cooper Grace are part of a group of players who could move into more significant roles this winter.
Former Shawnee Heights state champion and Cair Paravel coach Trey Brown demonstrates a technique for his Hayden players during a preseason practice. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Brown said he's been thrilled with how he's been accepted by the Hayden community in his first year at the helm.
"I've loved it here so far,'' he said. "The community and the guys have really done a good job of making me feel at home.''
Brown has plenty of basketball and coaching experience on his staff, which should also help the transition.
Veteran coach Mike Nash, who was an assistant coach on Heights' 5A state championship team in 2017, has joined Brown at Hayden, as has Trey's younger brother, Tyce, who played on the T-Birds' title team and is currently a standout wide receiver for the Washburn University football team.
Also serving as an assistant is former Ichabod standout Connor Deffebaugh while Hayden graduate Austin Crow is a holdover from Dwayne Paul's Wildcat staff.
The Wildcats will get battle-tested early with three games in the Paul Terry Classic Dec. 7-9 at Emporia's White Auditorium.
Hayden will open the season Dec. 7 against Trinity Academy and will face host Emporia on Dec. 8 and Spring Hill on Dec. 9.
HAYDEN BOYS BASKETBALL
2023-2024 schedule
December -- 7 vs. Trinity Academy at Paul Terry Classic (Emporia), 8 vs. Emporia at Paul Terry Classic (Emporia), 9 vs. Spring Hill at Paul Terry Classic (Emporia), 15 at KC-Ward, 20 Shawnee Mission West.
January -- 2 Emporia, 5 Washburn Rural, 9 Junction City, 12 at Topeka High, 18-20 Topeka Invitational Tournament at Hayden, 26 at Shawnee Heights.
February -- 2 Manhattan, 6 at Emporia, 9 at Washburn Rural, 13 at Junction City, 16 Topeka High, 20 at Manhattan, 23 at Eudora.
