The most highly profiled athletic recruit in school history.
The first national television appearance ever for a Nebraska high school boys basketball team.
Grand Island Senior High enters its most anticipated season in years, and for good reasons.
But the Islanders still have to prove on the court that they aren’t just Isaac Traudt and company.
“They have one goal, and that goal is to win championships whether that be a conference championship, a district championship or a state championship,” coach Jeremiah Slough said. “That’s what this team is prepared to do.
“There are a lot of people and a lot of media members and a lot of social media heroes that don’t necessarily believe that the guys around Isaac are good enough to do that. This group of kids certainly believe they are.”
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Last year Traudt – who committed to Virginia during the offseason to cap off a whirlwind year-long recruiting process – was the only returning starter.
That’s not the case this season. Three other senior starters are back – 6-foot-1 guard Kytan Fyfe, 6-4 forward Jacob Nesvara and 6-6 forward Dylan Sextro.
Senior guard Tyler Fay (an Alabama baseball recruit) along with juniors Cohen Evans and Riley Plummer are other returning letterwinners from last year’s 12-11 team.
“It’s the same guys that had no experience a year ago and at times looked that way, especially early on in the year,” Slough said. “This team is unrecognizable compared to where we were 365 days ago.
“The leadership and the experience these guys possess, their attention to detail every single day in practice – it’s all unparallel to any team I’ve been around.”
Traudt, who averaged 24 points and 11 rebounds last year, is excited about the potential of the Islanders for his final season.
“I’m feeling really good,” he said. “Obviously the goal is to win a state championship. Everybody says that every year, but I feel like this year we have a legitimate shot. We got some good transfers and everyone has improved tremendously from last year so I’m excited for this group.”
Those transfers who will provide the Islanders with some extra weapons are 6-2 senior guard Andy Poss (12.2 ppg last year at St. Paul) and 6-2 junior guard Barrett Olson (York).
Slough said there are plenty of potential strengths with this year’s group.
“Their ability to share the ball is great – we had 20 assists on 26 baskets against Crete in the jamboree game,” he said. “We’re big, we’re long, we’re strong and we should defend well and should obviously rebound well.
“Then when you have an All-American type player in Isaac Traudt, it’s going to give you a chance to win every night.”
A unique schedule will challenge Grand Island this season. That includes a pair of games in the Norm Stewart Classic in Columbia, Missouri, Dec. 10-11.
The first contest against Vashon (St. Louis) will air on ESPNU while the second game against Blue Valley Southwest (Overland Park, Kan.) will be available on ESPN Plus.
“I like it,” said Traudt of those opportunities. “I think it’ll make us become better and stronger as a team and realize how lucky we are to play on ESPNU. No high school team in Nebraska has ever done that, so to say we’re the first is pretty special.”
There could be special games throughout the season for the Islanders.
“We’re really excited for the schedule that we’ve built and a few of the cool opportunities that we have to play in Missouri and to play on national television, then in the Heartland Hoops Classic (against Omaha Westside) and we’ve got a date with Abraham Lincoln in Council Bluffs,” Slough said.
“We’re really excited for the schedule we put together, but we’re also excited for the team we’re going to put on the floor. That’s kind of the conversation we’re having with our guys a lot. They’ve earned the right to play this type of schedule. It just really shows you the culture of this program right now.”
Besides being unique experiences, these types of games should help prepare Grand Island for the biggest games of the season during the postseason as the Islander aim for their first state tournament appearance since 2010.
“We’ll see a variety of different things from the best teams on our schedule,” Slough said. “They’re going to play really fast then there are teams on our schedule that are also really talented that don’t play with that great tempo but try to slow you down and beat you up in the half court.
“I think we’ll be battled tested in every different scenario as far as what we’re going to see from our opponents
The big tests begin on opening night when the Islanders host Omaha Creighton Prep Thursday. The Junior Jays qualified for state the past seven season and lost in last season’s Class A semifinals in a triple overtime classic to Bellevue West.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Slough said. “It’s a good chance not only for us to kind of showcase what we’re about but also get fans back into the crowd and to see this team. Outside of family members, nobody has really seen this team in over a year.
“We’re excited about that, then to have a team as talented as Creighton Prep and as highly touted as they are come into our place right away, it gives us a great opportunity to see where we’re at on day one.”
It’s also a rare opportunity to see the Islanders at home early in the season. The Prep contest is the team’s lone home game in December due to Slough having to shuffle some games in the schedule to commit to the Norm Stewart Classic.