photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State's boys basketball team practices ball screens at Free State High School on Dec. 7, 2024.

Everything around the Free State basketball program has a different feel than last year. In the second year under coach Dwayne Paul, the Firebirds have gained a better understanding of themselves and what they need to do to win games. Execution and expectations have been markedly different this season compared to last.

“I think they know what’s expected from me, and I know what they can do,” Paul said. “Even with having a summer last year, we still came in searching for what people could do.”

This year’s team has many leaders who are only on the basketball team. Their offseasons and summers are spent on the court, focusing only on basketball. Players said that the basketball focus on the leaders has created a more serious environment for the team. There’s more focus and a greater drive to win.

“I’m trying to make everyone have energy in practice so that when I’m not here, they know the standard for Free State basketball,” senior guard Korbin Dowdell said.

Paul and the Firebirds know how their roster can win games. The Firebirds believe that they can match up against any team and put up a fight, but above all, they want to run. Paul said the team’s goal is 70 points per game. Even if they don’t reach that goal on a nightly basis, the goal exemplifies how the Firebirds best believe they can operate to win. The Firebirds want to be a fast team that can score. It’s one reason Paul wasn’t too worried about the shot clock before the season since his team operates quickly.

The pace has been one of the most significant differences from last season. Dowdell said that the team has more energy and pressure to get turnovers, so the Firebirds can score in transition. It gives the team easier scoring opportunities, which is how they can achieve their game-to-game goal of 70 points.

There is a lot more familiarity within the team this year. The Firebirds returned many players from last year, so there won’t be many new players in new positions. For the most part, they know how to play with each other under Paul’s system.

“We have an ability to play big, and we have an ability to play small,” Paul said. “We want to try to play fast. Having more of an understanding of who can do what is the difference between this year and last year.”

Free State had a somewhat challenging start to their schedule. The Firebirds spent most of this early season on the road, culminating in a 3-2 record. They’ve shown an ability to play tough against any team so far. In the team’s final game before the break, the Firebirds faltered in the third quarter before eventually coming back to beat Shawnee Mission West. It was a physical game, showing what the Firebirds had spent the offseason building toward.

“The Sunflower League is arguably the best in the state, top to bottom,” Paul said. “You have teams like Olathe North that have guys that play four or five inches bigger than they are. You have teams like Shawnee Mission South, who are physically big and play big. So you have to be able to play in many ways in order to be effective in this league.”

To compete in the conference, the team needs to be able to win in different ways. But more than that, they need to know how to win with each other. This year, the Firebirds think they have that, and they expect the end-of-season results to reflect it, too.