Hornets have high expectations for season
New season, same lofty goals for the Bryant Hornets.
“We have high expectations,” said Bryant Coach Mike Abrahamson. “We know everyone wants to win a state championship. That’s not unique to us. But we’re just trying to be the best we can be. We have some talented players. But it’s early. We want to figure out where we are and where we can go from here and hopefully peak in March.”
Abrahamson has been at Bryant for 14 seasons so he’s aware of what it takes to succeed in the state’s biggest classification. He likes what the Hornets have available.
“We have a good amount of people back from last year’s team,” Abrahamson said. “We still have some young players who we’re counting a lot on. But we have a lot of talented players on this roster, too.”
From several areas of the floor, the Hornets should be able to generate offense.
“Kellen Robinson transferred to us,” Abrahamson said. “He’s a very talented 6-3 junior guard who can score.
He’s a great playmaker. Camarion Bead is a talented sophomore. He’s
a strong, skilled guard who’s a tough matchup for a lot of people. We also have RJ Young back who started for us as a freshman last season. But we also have Trent Ford back, too. Kaden Benson is playing in the post. He received a lot of experience last season. We’re hoping this team can operate smoothly and on
a high level.”
Abrahamson is confident in Bryant’s chances to perform well during a tough nonconference schedule and during 6A Central play, which is always extremely challenging. One reason why the coach knows the team can do well is the culture of success that’s now in place. It’s to the point where the players themselves expect to win and will put in the necessary work.
“When I got here, the program wasn’t successful,” the coach said. “But the kids coming in now, have no knowledge of that era when it was a struggle. All they’re familiar with is Bryant winning. We talk about our standard of wanting excellence and our schedule reflects our desire to be excellent as we’re going out and playing good teams.”
The conference – once again – has no shortage of those high-level teams.
“Jonesboro is always talented,” Abrahamson said. “Central has basically everyone back. They had a great season last year. North Little Rock is always tough. Even the teams who finish in the bottom half of the standings have talent and are tough to play. It’s like that every year. We embrace the challenge and take it one game at a time.”
Abrahamson, his staff and players are excited about the season and the potential to win big. He believes the Hornets’ fans should have a similar level of enthusiasm.
“We have talented players,” he said. “We have an exciting style of basketball. We’re going to play very hard. It’s an exciting time for Bryant basketball. We’ve got some guys who are going to be fun to watch. Our fans should be excited about the players we have on our team.”