Shady Spring – Shady spring basketball coach Ronnie Olson knew what to expect the last three summers with a core of players that started as sophomores and led the program to three consecutive Class AAA title games, winning it all in 2021.
Those players – Jaedan Holstein, Cam Manns, Braden and Cole Chapman and Sam Jordan – have now moved on, leaving Olson to figure out the way forward.
Fortunately the summer period has helped Olson evaluate the future of the program.
“They surprised me at West Virginia University with our team camp,” Olson said. “The main thing is they’re unproven and haven’t won anything themselves yet. They have to earn everything they’ve got but they’ve played like they’re gonna earn. They know nothing’s going to be given because everybody still wants to beat us. They’ve accomplished nothing yet but I love the way they share the ball and it’s kind of like last year’s team but that’s our style of play. People think we’re going to take a step back and we may do that but we’re not going to take a step back in the way we approach the game and that’s four quarters of hopefully Hell.”
While the wholesale process of replacing four starters is difficult, there may be a silver lining. The next crop of  Tigers were undefeated in JV last season and have played together for most of their lives. Olson’s hope is that chemistry aids the group as they step into the big leagues.
“Those kids have played together for awhile but winning all your games on JV means nothing,” Olson said. “You hear people say, ‘We won in midget league’ or ‘We won in little league.’ That doesn’t translate to varsity basketball. I talked to the guys about that and I talked about things I’m going to say and things they’re going to hear. I don’t want them to take it the wrong way but we’re going to stand by the fact they haven’t proven anything yet. Proven nothing to prove everybody wrong.
“Hopefully we can keep that in our minds no matter if we start 4-6, 2-1 or 11-0 because it doesn’t matter. It can all easily go down the drain like it has the last two years. We still have the same expectations – to win a state title. They’re unproven but they’re out to prove everyone wrong as well. That’s exciting all in itself.”
The Tigers aren’t completely helpless. They’ll return a first-team all-stater in senior Ammar Maxwell who was the team’s best player at times last season. He’ll be joined by junior guard Jack Williams who started at point guard as a freshman but suffered a torn ACL two weeks into that season, paving the way for Maxwell to join the starting lineup.
Maxwell has already shown flashes of leadership in the summer period and has the game to back it up. During the Tigers’ summer shootout Tuesday he broke away for three dunks against Herbert Hoover and brings a guard skillset with a 6-foot-4 frame. His strides as a player have already led Olson to heap high praise.
“I think he showed this weekend, I mean there’s coaches blowing my phone and his phone up,” Olson said. “To me, he’s the best player in the state. I stood by that with Braden (Chapman) but this year it’s bar none. Ammar’s the best player in the state and our team goes through him and everyone knows that. Then you got Jack who everyone wants to sleep on now but they’ll wake up tomorrow and wish they would’ve recruited him.
“We’ll build around Jack and Ammar and I love the pieces we have in place. This summer is as big as any. We’ve played in summer leagues and seven games this past weekend. We’re getting a full slate of games and I can tell they’re getting comfortable playing together. When you’ve got Ammar and Jack to build around it’s pretty dman impressive.”
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
