24 November 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — For the very first year, KSHSAA is allowing basketball jamborees to be played at Kansas high schools.
Wichita Southeast hosted their first one ever on Tuesday, sharing the court with Junction City and Campus boys basketball.
“I think it’s a big step in building basketball in Kansas,” said Southeast head boys basketball coach Karl Brown.
The opportunity is one coaches around Kansas have been waiting for.
“Extremely long overdue. I mean I’ve been coaching nine years and I know people who have been doing it a lot longer. Other states start in October and finally at least we get to do a scrimmage to kind of see where we’re at before that first game,” said Campus boys head basketball coach Zac Kliewer.
Young players got their first glimpse at varsity-level competition. Returners used the opportunity to jump back into action.
“Guys are nervous, they haven’t played at real game speed although we tell them to go to game speed every day in practice, until they get the real feel for it, the crowd, the refs, everything, that’s the real benefit just getting the jitter out right away,” said Brown.
“Wichita Southeast is going to be really good, Campus is going to be really good, and so I just think for the opportunities for our kids to get out and see some different jerseys and kind of get some film on guys to see where they’re going to be,” explained Junction City boys head basketball coach Nick Perez.
The players had the chance to take notes on their new team dynamic ahead of the season.
“We work well together. We have a lot we need to work on and accomplish on defense and helping but other than that we play good together,” said Southeast junior forward Anthony Granger.
“It got us out of our comfort zone. We got to compete and see some different talent like better guards than we usually see and just getting out of playing against just each other at practice all the time,” said Campus senior wing Andrell Burton Jr.
Participants say jamborees are the first part of building a foundation to further the game of basketball in Kansas.