As cold weather begins to fill the air, so does the talk of basketball at Eagle High, and from what players are saying, it’s clear that there are high hopes for the 2025-2026 Eagle High boys’ varsity basketball team.
Although the season has already begun and the Mustangs have played Bishop Kelley, Kuna, Columbia, Meridian and Boise, the Mustangs had a great mindset going into the season. Sophomore point guard Lukas Kunz in particular said that he was excited to come back to playing with the team, but he also wanted to see how their work off the court will affect them.
“I’m very excited to come back and play with the guys and see how much our work in the off-season will translate to the in-game challenges that we may face throughout the season,” said Kunz.
Junior point guard Luke Ritter felt similar to Kunz and said that he was most excited to come back to playing with his former teammates.
“I’m most excited to play with Henry Rich and Bryant Bigelow again,” Ritter said. “I feel like we all play well together and our chemistry on the court is very good.”
When it comes to basketball, having good chemistry within a team matters a lot for a successful season. Both Ritter and Kunz said that they have good chemistry with their teammates. Kunz specifically highlighted both junior Bryant Bigelow and senior Evan Vittoe.
“I think that I have the best chemistry with Bryant and Evan on the court,” Kunz said. “Me and Bryant have been playing for a while together and Evan is great at finding me for shots in game.”
Ritter said that he has the best chemistry with one player in particular, senior Rafe Massey.
“Me and Rafe have played on the same team since freshmen year,” Ritter said. “I would consider him one of my best friends so it makes it easy to communicate with him on the court.
With chemistry like this amongst the Mustangs, it is expected that they will achieve the goals they have set for this season. Kunz said that he hopes to be a key scorer for the team.
“My goals are to average at least 15 points per game and overall help my team win games and do what I can to improve,” Kunz said.
Ritter said that his goal for this year will also play into next year as well.
“This season, I aim to establish a big role on the team which I can carry into next year to hopefully be an even bigger role-player on the court,” he said.
In order to achieve the goals that the players have for the season, the Mustangs are going to need good coaches to lead them. Ritter said that coach Cody Pickett is very good at providing the players what they need to be successful.
“Pickett provides us with the tools we need to succeed,” said Ritter. “For example, we always do live game-like practices to help us build as a team and prepare for games.”
With great chemistry within the players, good goals set for the season and a coaching staff that knows how to build up the players and improve them, things are looking good for the Varsity Eagle High boys basketball team, but we won’t know if these things will help them until the season is over.
