The boys basketball team returns for another season, with that comes hardships, struggles and partnership; all on the court.  

“Personally, I hate tryouts, it’s the saddest time,” varsity coach Ryan Turk (English) said. “We have a lot of kids who want to play on a team, but not everybody can’t make it, so it’s tough, building relationships with kids and cutting them from the team that’s really hard.” 


Athletes bring pleasure and competition in playing basketball with them into tryouts; there are only limited spots available for making the team, but with experience comes confidence. 

“I’m not nervous, I know I’ll make a team, but I don’t know how well I’m gonna do this season, but I know I’ll at least be on the team supporting my guys,” Devin Alexandre (12) said. 

In the 3 days of tryouts, the basketball players will try and prove to the coaches that they deserve a spot on the varsity team.

“We look for the kids with the highest skill levels out of everybody,”  Turk said. “We fuse that idea together with the kids who know how to be teammates and actually care about being a teammate.”

Prioritizing the importance of fellowship inside the team, some of the players, such as Devin Alexandre and Jiovannni White, have kept lasting friendships since elementary school, creating trust between them. 

“It’s a friendship that’s grown over the years,” Turk said. “They’ve been in this program for four years, but I think that they have experienced very similar things within just our basketball program.” 

Alexandre and White both play basketball for Grandview, who share common factors such as coaches, and team mates on the court they play on. 

“They feed off each other’s energy and compete against one another,” Turk said.

Although some competition may be between them, these two athletes use this to their benefit in order to improve, and support each other in losses.”

“[We make each other] better by competing and just pushing each other’s limits,” Alexandre said. “If he makes a bad shot, I’m like ‘Jio, you got it next time. You got it’.”

With them supporting and encouraging each other to become better players, it provides reliability to one another. 

“From believing in what they can do, they’ve had to depend on each other for confidence, for support,” Turk said. “I think that that’s a couple of the key features of their friendship.”

With the coaches acknowledging their relationship, Turk being a motivational and a trustworthy coach is one of his priorities as a coach along with knowing his players.

“It’s important for coaches to identify who’s capable of leadership and then who will be the leaders on the team every year,” Turk said.

As a new season comes, so do new goals; whether it is to win leagues, or go to the colosseum, a team starts with a base where the captain can build a team that holds one another accountable for losses and new challenges. 

“I have been challenged by having bad games or being in a slump,” Jason Stroope (12) said. “I was able to continue because I knew what I wanted coming out of it,”

Keeping sight of an optimistic attitude, each athlete will face new individuals to challenge and play with. 

“My favorite thing about basketball is the relationships I’ve built,” Stroope said. 

Gallery • 9 Photos

Nicole Aarons