HOPE — At the end of last season, a new era of Hauser boys basketball arrived when assistant coach Nate Cangany took over the program following the retirement of then-head coach Griff Roth.
Cangany also was left with the task of replacing eight seniors from a year ago. Thankfully, he was already familiar with the program upon taking the reins since he coached the junior varsity last year.
This year, the Jets’ squad mostly comprises of the guys that he coached on the JV a year prior, so it helped make the transition much smoother.
"Last year, my goal was to come in and get to know the guys and develop relationships with them and give a little bit of what we’re going to do in the future," Cangany said. "I also wanted to be respectful to coach Roth in what he wanted to do. I wanted to show these kids that I do care about them and that way, they will run through a wall for me."
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A year ago, Hauser was Mid-Hoosier Conference champions and a state championship contender in Class A. The Jets never lost to a Class A team until eventual state champion Morristown avenged its regular season loss to Hauser in the sectional semifinals.
It’s easy for outsiders to say that the Jets are going to take a step back this season to go through a rebuilding phase. The team might beg to differ. It’s been more reloading than rebuilding.
"With us being together last year, it helps us have that chemistry, still," Hauser senior Will Trotter said. "But, losing a lot of key pieces in the starting lineup last year like with Alex (Gross) having that big presence in the paint. Luckily, we came back with a 6-4 guy (Sean Miller) and two 6-6 guys (Trey Johnson and Parker Eickbush). Having leadership helps a lot, and there is a lot of guys here that are willing to work hard."
Miller, another senior, says the team is growing, and Cangany has played a huge role.
"We were able to hit it hard this summer and be able to learn a lot of new stuff," Milller said. "All of that experience that we gained at the junior varsity level, we got that with our coach for next year, and I think that was really vital to our success."
Hauser is 5-7 at the midway point of the season. However, only two of the seven losses have come from Class A teams — one against 10th-ranked Morristown and the other to Indianapolis Lutheran.
Miller, Trotter and juniors Sam Johnson, Trey Johnson and Jackson Paradise are the new faces to the starting lineup. Sam Johnson returned last month after missing the early part of the season because of injury.
Team chemistry likely will grow as the team nears the postseason in a month-and-a-half. With most of the remaining schedule featuring Class A and 2A schools, the Jets could potentially string together a lot of wins in the second half of the season.
"A lot of stats show that we are improving offensively and defensively," Cangany said. "Early in the year when we played bigger schools, they put it to us, but in a lot of ways, we’re getting better. Our schedule has been tough. To be 5-7 and with a chance to win double-figure games in our first season together, that’s something to feel good about. We’re setting up for a good second half of the season"
Trotter says the team still has a lot prove.
"We want to come out and show that we still have key pieces to get big wins when we need them," Trotter said. "Show people that losing all those pieces doesn’t hurt us because we are able to come back and work hard and get those wins."
