After a 19-8 overall record and a 6-3 standing in the Central Ozark Conference in Bronson Schaake’s first season at the helm of Joplin, the Eagles return three starters and their sixth man from a season ago with aspirations of an even stronger 2022-23 season.
Joplin graduated five seniors from last year’s team, including all-conference guard Always Wright and starting forward LT Atherton. Fortunately, the Eagles have plenty of production returning for the upcoming campaign in all-conference junior 6-foot-3 G All Wright, junior 6-foot G Quin Renfro, senior 6-foot-5 F Terrance Gibson and junior 6-foot-7 junior F Whit Hafer.
“Those four guys were significant players last year,” Schaake said of his returners. “When you look at Quin and Whit, they went from freshman ball, got injured and then went onto varsity. They were kind of just thrown out there last year so they could get the experience. They got a lot better as the year went on, and the same with Terrace Gibson. He took a really big leap, and we all know about All. They got the experience last year, now it’s about taking on a new role of more production.”
Wright averaged 18.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.2 assist and 1.1 assists per game last season for the Eagles. Renfro led the second unit as the sixth man while seeing spot starts, and will step into a full-time starting role in this third year.
“They’re battle tested,” Schaake said of his backcourt. “They know how to close out big games. That allows for some of the younger guards to mix in there and learn from those two. They’ve done a really good job of helping them along in practice.”
Gibson is back to provide Joplin with a much-needed presence in the paint after making strides on both ends of the floor a season ago, averaging 9.6 points, 7.5 boards and 2.1 steals per game. Joining Gibson down low is Hafer, who has D1 football offers from Missouri and Kansas and will also provide a strong defensive presence around the rim to go along with his paint scoring and rebounding.
“You can never have too much size,” Schaake said. “You can never plan for foul trouble and hopefully we can stay away from injuries. It also helps with depth, being able to wear teams down on the boards. … It can also help you play different defenses and styles of play.”
For the Eagles, not only do they have plenty of experience coming back, but that experience is evenly distributed between the backcourt and the frontcourt and with Joplin welcoming seven new additions to the varsity roster this season, that leadership on both levels of the court will be invaluable for the new faces.
“When you’re throwing new guys in there, the game can seem kind of fast,” Schaake said. “Those (experienced guys) can tell them what to look for and help slow the game down for them. We have a good mix of experienced guys and new guys, so if they do make a mistake and I can’t correct it right away, they can get it corrected on the court.”
Senior G Chris Ugalde, junior F Hobbs Gooch, sophomore guards Cooper Williams, Collis Jones, Trenton Gage and Davin Thomas as well as freshman G Fred Taylor are all expected to fill out the varsity roster.
Gooch, standing at 6-foot-4, and Jones (6-foot-2) figured to make an immediate impact for the Eagles this season.
“Hobbs has filled out and is a pretty athletic kid,” Schaake said. “He runs the floor well and can guard. We need him to finish around the bucket, which he is good at. He is going to help Terrance and Whit do what they do, bigs getting in there and crashing the glass. He will help us down there.”
With the experience coming back, the Eagles also boast plenty of size with four players at 6-foot-3 or taller, which is why Coach Schaake believes Joplin has the potential to be one of the better defensive teams in the conference. In fact, for them to reach their goals as a team, the Eagles will need to capitalize on the defensive end on a nightly basis.
“We probably spend the first 20 or 30 minutes of practice on defense alone,” Schaake said. “I don’t know if that is normal with other teams, but we emphasize it because we want to get out and run on offense. To do that, we need to create more possessions. The guys know by now that to get on the floor, you have to show me you can guard. After you do that, get out and go.”
Joplin opens the season at home against McDonald County at 7:30 on Tuesday.
