With a record of 17-12 and a short-lived playoff berth after a loss to York in IHSA Regionals last year, the boys varsity basketball team looks to improve its overall performance in the upcoming season

Tom Sloan is returning for his seventh season as the head coach, preparing to manage the team for another season in the West Suburban Silver Conference. The team’s game plan adjusts game-to-game and even quarter-to-quarter, but Sloan has a solid base plan for this year’s squad.

“The style the team plays with can vary year to year,” Sloan said.

Over the years the defensive scheme depends on the strength, size and athleticism of the team; however the squad primarily played a man-to-man defense last season. That is subject to change based on the opponent and their personnel Sloan said. Ultimately the team likes to play at an up-tempo pace.

“As a coaching staff we need to tailor what we do as far as the x’s and o’s go to the strengths of our players,” Sloan said.

LT offers players the opportunity to lift in the weight room during the offseason as well as open gyms for practice. Some players participate in more than one sport, such as football or baseball, so the coaches will take that into account when tracking their offseason preparation Sloan said. Some players take matters into their own hands and sign up for personal training sessions at facilities like Get Fast and Extreme Fitness Training.

“We prefer it if players do as much in house training at LT as possible,” Sloan said. “But we understand that we have to be flexible with individual choices the players make.”

Although nothing is set in stone until after the upcoming tryouts take place, there are some key players that have demonstrated their prowess and dedication to the team and are likely to be an integral part of its success. Point guard Harrison Niego ‘15 is a three year starter at the varsity level, averaging 15 points per game. He has offers to play at Dartmouth, Cornell, Yale, NIU and UIC.

“We hope to win our conference this year and make a deep run in the playoffs,” Niego said. “Our conference will be very strong this year but we have a team that can compete to win it.”

Along with Niego, forward Jaquan Phipps ’15 played a big role towards the second half of the season averaging 6 rebounds per game as well as 7 points per game.

With the highly anticipated basketball season comes the equally awaited Weirdos season. Last year the LT Weirdos student section was voted best high school basketball student section in the nation by athletefession.com. The Weirdos provide an atmosphere that the players love and truly appreciate. The team’s first game is at home against Stevenson on November 25.

“There’s nothing better,” Phipps said. “They’re the best thing to happen to our team and our school.”