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Capital High School
School Info
Conference: 5A Southern Idaho Conference
Classification: 5A
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Head Coach: Paul Rush
Years as Head Coach: 4
Previous Experience: 6 years at various positions – sophomore assistant, varsity assistant, soph head coach, jv head coach
Record Last Year: 16-10
State Titles: 5 State Championships
Who do you have coming back this year?
Hunter Young – SG, Sr. 6’1;
Nick Dow – SF, Sr. 6’1;
Derrick White – PG/SG, Jr. 6’0;
Tarik Littlejon – PF, Jr. 6’2;
Garrett Pearson – PF, Sr. 6’3;
Conner Poulson – SF, Jr. 6’2;
Any Returning Players with Honors?
Hunter Young – 2nd team all conference, and 2nd team all state. Derrick White – Honorable mention all conference
Any “Key Players” that you lost from last year?
Cam Carlsen – SF – stretch 4 that shot over 50% beyond the arc last year.
Do you have any new incoming “impact” players?
Keegan Hansen – PG/SG – Jr. 6’0
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Photo By: Steve Conner - #10 Nick Dow |
As a team, what are your offensive strengths?
Guard oriented with a good mix of players that can attack the basket as well as really shoot it outside. Plan on being very aggressive attacking the basket and then utilizing the defense helping to open up shooters.
Offensive areas you hope to improve on over last year:
We want to get to the Free Throw line more and get more points from the FT line.
As a team, what are your defensive strengths?
Pressure and Rotation – we are going to play teams for 94 feet and really pressure them both in the full court and half court.
Defensive Areas you hope to improve on over last year:
Defensive rebounding – we need to limit bigger teams from O-boarding
What are you most excited about in regards to this year’s team?
We are very excited about this years team! It is going to be a fun brand of basketball. The boys on the team will have a lot of fun playing a fast paced, aggressive style of play and the fans will really enjoying watching our guys with their high skill level and ability to attack on both ends of the floor.
For the fans, what is the must-see game of the year on your schedule?
Borah is a rivalry game and will definitely be a must watch this year as our young guards attempt to contend with their experienced guards. Boise is a cross-town rivalry as well and their size vs. our speed will provide a fun match-up to watch. Rocky should be a good one this season as well. Their guards match-up very well with our guards.
What is the ‘X-Factor’ to having success this season as a team?
Sacrifice.
If you could change one rule in high school basketball, what would it be?
Charge circle – too many charges are awarded to players who slide in after the offensive player has left the floor. This isn’t just a difficult call to see but also a player safety issue – with air-born players having their legs taken out. The charge circle would help with this call and hopefully decrease the likelihood of this happening.
Besides the pay, the fame and the glory, why do you coach high school basketball?
Our number 1 job as coaches at Capital High School is to love our players – and that love for our players is the number 1 reason we coach basketball. Our goal is build up servant leaders of integrity, discipline and a selfless love for others. We won’t know for decades whether or not we have had a successful season with our guys.
What makes your school the best place to coach for?
The two best 6’6 players in our program – our Principal Jon Ruzicka and our Athletic Director Steve Sosnowski. They are awesome!!! A close second is the strong tradition and family atmosphere with the Capital Community. We always have ‘blue collar’ kids who understand what it is going to take to be an Eagle.
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