Young South Putnam squad ready to turn program fortunes around

If there were a contest for the youngest varsity basketball team in the state of Indiana, Greg Dean’s South Putnam Eagles would easily win.

Last summer, only one player in the program was even old enough to have a driver’s license and transport himself to and from the school.

“We have two now,” Dean said this week.

There are good and bad aspects to that situation, he says.

“We are extremely young,” said Dean, who has no seniors and just two juniors in the program. “One of the good things about that is that we played a lot of young people last year and they got some great varsity experience.

“Some of them have just as much experience as the older players we’ve played the past couple of years,” he added. “They’re still learning and competing.”

The Eagles have won just seven games over the past two seasons, but young talent and enthusiasm have the program on the rise.

Dean’s freshman class won the Putnam County tournament the past two seasons, and 6-5 sophomore Allen Plunkett was the state’s fourth-leading varsity freshman scorer last season at 15.6 points per game. Four other sophomores join Plunkett with more varsity experience than usual for their grade level.

“We have some size and some athletes in our freshman class,” he said. “Allen had a great year last year for anybody, but especially as a freshman. He can do a lot of things, and had a really great summer both for his AAU team and in our workouts.”

Plunkett was also the quarterback for the Eagle football team this fall, and has recovered from a concussion which forced him to miss several games in the middle of the season.

“Other teams are going to focus on him defensively,” Dean said. “We’re going to have to put him in positions where he will be able to score.”

Dean feels he has other players who can step up.

“It’s hard to win in Indiana high school basketball with just person who can score,” he said. “We have to both shoot well from the outside and get to the rim, so we can get to the foul line.”

In that group are four sophomores – led by Dalton Scott and Thomas Fanning, who both started for much of last year as freshmen. Scott averaged 5.7 points per game and Fanning 2.2.

“They are both up to the challenge of taking on bigger roles in our offense,” he said. “Lane Watson is another one who has worked hard this summer and improved his game. Austin Arnold is one who got a lot of good experience, and has grown since last year. He’s pretty athletic and can also do a lot for us both offensively and defensively.”

Dean is encouraged by the work his team has put in to prepare for the upcoming season.

“Overall to start the year, we’ve had a lot of positive practices,” Dean said. “We have a lot of guys who are excited about playing and want to compete.

Dean’s motto is to win games “however we have to,” and does not point to any one style he sees this team using.

“We will take what the other teams give us,” he said. “We love to play fast, but you can’t always do that. We’re going to try to get the best possible shot every possession. If we can get in transition and push the ball up court, that will benefit us.”

South Putnam has had just one winning season in the past 13 years, and Dean knows it is close to being harvest time for the young talent he has been cultivating.

“We’ve known for a couple of years that it’s a process, and we’re certainly looking to turn a corner here and get over the hump,” he said. “Last year we had a handful of games that were close and just didn’t go our way. It didn’t look good in terms of wins and losses, but these guys are ready to turn that around. We have two or three classes here now that have had success and have won a little bit.”

Everything is cyclical, Dean said, and his goal is that once the program returns to a high success level that it doesn’t fall back down again once strong classes have gone through the program.

“We need to continue it on the upswing as long as possible,” he said. “We want to try to prevent going back down for as long as possible.”

Dean knows his job is tough, considering the toughness of the Western Indiana Conference and established or rising Putnam County programs.

“Entering the new conference last year was tough,” he said. “Our division is tough, and it’s going to be a bear every night out.

“Cloverdale has Cooper Neese, who is a great player, and Jalen [Moore], who can also do a lot of things,” he said. “North Putnam and Greencastle are on the rise, and you’re going to have to be ready to play every night.”

The Eagles will scrimmage at North Vermillion on Saturday, and open the regular season on Tuesday at Clay City in a departure of their traditional opener with Turkey Run.

“The kids are excited, and they’re ready to go up against somebody else besides each other,” said Dean, echoing the sentiments of hundreds of other coaches across the state. “We are all eager to get on the court and tip it up against another color.”

2016-17 schedule

Nov. 22 — at Clay City, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 29 — Turkey Run, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 2 — at North Putnam, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 3 — Bethesda Christian, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 9 — Greencastle, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 10 — Southmont, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 13 — Cloverdale, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 16 — at West Vigo, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 6 — Sullivan, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 7 — at Edgewood, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 13 — Northview, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 17 — Cascade, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 21 — Monrovia, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 27 — Western Indiana Conference playoffs (TBA)

Jan. 28 — vs. Bloomington Lighthouse at Hoosier Gym, TBA

Feb. 2 — Rockville, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 10 — vs. Cloverdale in Putnam County Classic at Greencastle, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 11 — Putnam County Classic consolation and finals, 6/7:30 p.m.

Feb. 14 — at Eminence, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 17 — at Owen Valley, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 18 — North Vermillion, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 21 — at Riverton Parke, 7:30 p.m.

2015-16 results (4-19)

at Turkey Run W,54-52 4-19

South Vermillion L,61-65

at Greencastle L,32-63

at Southmont L,39-57

at Cloverdale L,46-73

West Vigo L,48-77

at Rockville L,31-49

at Sullivan L,49-58

Edgewood L,34-67

at Northview L,29-65

at Cascade L,33-55

at Monrovia L,47-59

North Putnam L,37-56

Bloom. Lighthouse W,42-40

at North Putnam L,47-60

Clay City L,40-47

North Putnam W,40-38

Cloverdale L,42-71

Eminence L,57-63

Owen Valley L,50-60

at North Vermillion L,55-73

Riverton Parke W,59-40

Sectional

Cloverdale L,48-65

2016-17 roster

Ty Vansickle 5-6 So.

Steven Schnepp 6-3 Fr.

Thomas Fanning 5-10 So.

Allen Plunkett 6-5 So.

Christian Zeffel 6-1 Jr.

Austin Arnold 6-0 So.

Lane Watson 6-1 So.

Dalton Scott 6-2 So.

Garrett Heavin 5-11 So.

Braedan Blue 6-5 Fr.

Colin Adams 6-3 So.

Kain Gregory 6-2 Fr.

Wes Lesko 6-6 Jr.

Head coach: Greg Dean