East’s 2018-2019 boys hoops campaign came to a sullen end over the weekend. The E-Rabs lost both games to cap off a 4th place finish in class 4A. I’m sure their star players didn’t get much sleep over the weekend. They’re still running through moments and plays during class on Monday. They’re trying to figure out what went wrong, and what they could have done differently to change the results. I don’t want to talk about the nitty-gritty of those 2 contests. Frankly, I don’t see the relevance. The finish was secondary to the journey from Thanksgiving all the way to now. I learned a lot from following this group. Most importantly, I learned about goal-setting. And how a group of high-schoolers knew how to do it much better than I did.

There’s something about our disposition, as midwesterners, that our modesty often gets the best of us. We’re not quite hippy enough for that that west coast “everyone is a superstar” thing. But we also don’t have enough rage for that east coast “F- you” thing. We ask ourselves “who do you think you are?” when we want big things out of life. We focus instead on the day at hand and don’t dare to dream much beyond that.

At the beginning of this season, we hosted coaches and players form all around the area to come and talk about their teams. East sent Chris Burnell, Shaden Clanton, and Sincere Parker. Their charisma was only matched in size by the expectations they were holding for themselves. They constantly referenced State as their goal. They wanted to get there, above all else. They didn’t talk about conference much, or give me the normal “one day at a time” cliche. They had their goal, and they weren’t apologizing for it. The midwesterner in me kicked in: “oh no, they’re gonna be looking past teams. Watch for them to get upset early.” SPOILER: They didn’t.

Just because you set a big goal, doesn’t mean you’re looking past the necessary steps to get there. East put in the work every day. It shows in being the winningest team in Nic-10 history. You don’t accomplish that by taking anything lightly. In fact, setting lofty goals can keep you locked in each day. Every decision you make through the day can be looked at through the lens of “does this help me achieve my goal?” You’re allowed to want big things. In fact, it’s really the only way you’re going to get them. If you want to know why East was successful, it started with having the guts to demand success from themselves.

That’s how i’ll remember this East E-Rabs team. A group of young men who committed themselves to a plan. They weren’t going to let anyone put a ceiling on their success. When some tried, they busted right through it. That’s a story worth telling to any young person who dreams of something bigger than what they see around them. I hope they’re as proud of that, as we all are of them.

– Jake Logli, SportsFan 1330