Osborn, Belton’s third boys basketball coach in four years, helped revive Class 2A Troy’s program to a playoff-caliber level in his two years there.
Now, he aims to do the same with a Tigers program that has struggled the past three seasons, finishing 9-23, 4-28 and 8-24, respectively, and hasn’t won a district game since the 2004-05 season.
Belton hosts its season opener at 7:30 tonight against Lampasas at Tiger Gym.
“It’s been smooth, considering I’ll be their third coach since they’ve all been here,” said Osborn, who also served seven years as an assistant at Mary Hardin-Baylor. “They’ve gone through a lot of change.
“When you adopt some kids that have gone through that much, you can really feel kind of unwelcome when you come in because it’s like ‘Here we go again.’ To my pleasure, they’ve been attentive, ready to go and have been working hard.”
Osborn hopes to incorporate some of the traits he used at Troy to help turn around Belton.
“It’s defense, defense, defense,” said 6-1 senior Trey Lippincott, a first-team All-District 13-5A guard last season. “It hasn’t been as stressed as much (in other years), but you always want to play good defense.”
Added 6-3 senior forward Nick Shelburne: “He’s a little more high-energy. He demonstrates a lot in practice and stays on top of everything.”
The emphasis on defense is just one aspect the Belton players, especially the six seniors, have had to adjust to in the last three years.
They’ve gone from a pressing style their freshman year to a soft man-to-man defense to Osborn’s half-court, lock-down approach.
“It’s like starting all over,” Shelburne said. “They all have their own systems, their own offenses and defenses. We’ve had to adjust to it at the beginning of every year.”
Despite the drastic year-to-year modifications, Lippincott said there has been some benefit to the changes.
“It helps to learn how to function in three different types of programs,” he said. “You just learn how to play the game better.”
Lippincott and Shelburne will be two key contributors for the Tigers. Saquonne Crump, a 5-9 junior guard, and 6-1 junior forward Michael Huddleston were part-time starters last season and should play a larger role. Other players who could have an impact are 6-1 senior guard Bobby Fajkus, 6-2 senior forward Giovanni Dunn and 5-9 sophomore guard Eric Braeuer.
Entering his 10th year of coaching, Osborn won’t question his team’s commitment.
Before the school year began, he asked each player on a voluntary basis to compete in cross country to prepare for the upcoming basketball season. Every person in the Tigers’ program participated, an example of the simple steps Osborn is seeking.
“The main thing is trying to get a little bit of success in that first year,” Osborn said, “something that they didn’t do the year before that makes them excited about what they did. Even if the record isn’t that good, it’s important for the kids to think they’ve taken that step forward. I really think we’ve experienced some of that.”
The players are feeding off Osborn’s attitude.
Lippincott and Shelburne said the Tigers’ goals are to be competitive and have a winning season. Then, they added that a playoff berth isn’t out of reach.
“The main thing is to make sure the kids feel they’re doing things right,” said Osborn, who added that he hopes to win 10 games before district-play begins. “No matter how things go in the early run, it’s important they’re still confident that they can make a run for the playoffs, because right now I think they do.
“I think they believe they can put themselves in a playoff spot. If they believe, I think it can be achieved. If they came in here not thinking they could, then we would have no chance. I think the kids believe they can, so I think they can get it done.”
