{"id":85719,"date":"2025-04-01T14:07:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T19:07:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=85719"},"modified":"2025-04-01T14:07:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T19:07:22","slug":"mark-johnson-recaps-championship-mens-basketball-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=85719","title":{"rendered":"Mark Johnson recaps championship men’s basketball season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By MAYAN PAZ<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been a long journey for the FHSU men\u2019s basketball team this season. Full of ups and downs, the Tigers sometimes struggled to find their form and win games, but in the end, they shined when it mattered most and capped off the season by winning the MIAA title for the second time in their MIAA era and the first time since 2011. They also qualified for the national tournament for the second year in a row. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FHSU Head Coach Mark Johnson has been the head coach of the Tigers since 2001, and leading a group of experienced players to success was a highlight for him. With athletes giving four, five and even six years to the program, Johnson acknowledges the importance of those players achieving success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was really happy because we’ve been so close. We’ve come off now two straight NCAA Tournaments, but we really felt like we got kind of left out a couple of times and probably should have been four straight years in the NCAA Tournament,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cSo, they had a little bit of heartbreak in their careers, being left out of the NCAA Tournament when they earned it. I was just really happy for them to finally be able to push through and not only get to the championship game but be able to win it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The season ended with a loss to MSU Moorhead in the NCAA regional first-round, but Johnson wasn\u2019t too disappointed with that loss. Moorhead was one of the best teams in the region and went on to play in the regional final, and for Johnson, winning the conference title and playing well in the national tournament, despite the loss, was an achievement to recognize. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought we played very well. We had a seven-point lead with 11 minutes to go, and then foul trouble started to kind of creep in,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had to sub, and we kind of lost our momentum. And so a disappointing loss, but I thought we played pretty well against a very good team, and overall great season.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson said for the team\u2019s seniors, Kaleb Hammeke, Shaun Riley, Traejon Davis, and R.J. Crawford, winning the MIAA Championship and getting back to the NCAA Tournament provided great caps to even better careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObviously, I\u2019m really happy with the conference tournament championship. Great memory for our guys; glad they were able to be able to accomplish that. Kaleb had a great year, but I thought all of our seniors really had a nice year,\u201d he said. \u201cShaun Riley really improved from a year ago, and with the kind of back problems R.J. and Trae were dealing with, I thought they had a really good season for the things they were battling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hammeke stood out especially. The veteran point guard led the team in points, assists, and steals this season and finished his career as the all-time leading scorer for the program, as well as second all-time in assists and third in steals. With his graduation, in addition to the rest of the seniors, who were four of the starting five for the Tigers this past season, Johnson now has to find a way to rebuild the team without losing their status as a winning team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people in your program have to get better, and we have to go recruit new players to come in and help us. So we’ll be working on both at the same time,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cSo some of the guys who played this year are younger guys; they got some experience.  We’re hoping those guys make the same kind of jump as Kyle Grill did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson spoke of Grill\u2019s growth, going from a red-shirt who played sparingly last season to starting every game this season and scoring 11.6 points per game – good for second on the team – as an example of what other young players need to do in the coming season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need some of our younger guys and returners to improve their skill set, and hopefully, a couple of those guys will step up next year,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cAnd then, obviously, we need to go out and get some help in a couple of different areas. We probably need some help in the backcourt and probably need to add one more big guy here in the recruiting process.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FHSU has won at least 20 games in four straight seasons, and Johnson said he wants to maintain that level of success. Doing so will require them to stay \u201cold\u201d in the roster-building process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe big thing was we were a fairly old team, having those four seniors, and that’s something you have to maintain. To be successful, you have to be a fairly experienced old team,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to maintain that without just bringing all transfers in. We want to have our four-year guys be the core of our team. We have to continue to add to that with the recruiting process and then invest in the current young guys in the program who need to continue to develop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key feature of FHSU\u2019s success this season was their defense. FHSU posted the best scoring defense in the nation, allowing only 59.6 points per game on average. Hammeke, Davis, Crawford and Riley were all key pieces to Johnson\u2019s defensive scheme, and will need to be replaced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’ve been playing high-level defense for the last three or four years, so can we maintain the level of defense we’ve had? That’s going to be interesting to see without Kaleb, [R.J, Shaun, and Trae],\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe’re going to have to continue to try to maintain size and athleticism. That’s how you’re getting really good defensively; toughness, size, and athleticism. So we have to continue to try to keep those characteristics with our team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team will now start preparing for next season, with individual training and conditioning over the rest of the semester. Johnson\u2019s mind is already set on maintaining the team culture the program enjoyed in the past few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’ve talked more about the returners’ need to take over those guys\u2019 mentality; those guys were competitive,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone was absorbed with winning, doing the right things, and winning and that’s what you hope for now when you bring new people in, our returners continue that process, and that the new guys come in and see how we do things at Fort Hays State. So the thing I’m most concerned about is to make sure we’re maintaining the work ethic, the toughness, the desire to win and to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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