Motivated Millard North has unfinished business
OMAHA, Neb. (BVM) 鈥� The Millard North Mustangs have never won a boys basketball state title. But last March, they were as close as they鈥檝e ever come when they lost to Bellevue West by two points, 64-62, in the NSAA Class A state championship game.聽
Most of the same players who started for that state runner-up team have returned this season, and that title game loss hasn鈥檛 faded too far back in their memory.
鈥淚t鈥檚 on everybody鈥檚 mind a lot,鈥� Millard North head coach Tim Cannon said.
The Mustangs even made shirts with the letters UB printed on the back, which stands for unfinished business.聽
鈥淚 think the players are very motivated by that and it鈥檚 just always there,鈥� Cannon said. 鈥淪ometimes I remind them. I think about it every day, to be honest.鈥�
Considering the amount of talent the Mustangs have back, there鈥檚 plenty of reason to believe they can redeem themselves this winter. And that鈥檚 the expectation not just within the Millard North program, but outside of it as well. The Mustangs are considered to be the best high school basketball team in Nebraska, and MaxPreps even ranks them No. 24 among the top 25 teams in the country. The high expectations are nothing new to North, however.聽
鈥淭he good thing is we鈥檝e kind of been through it for a year and a half,鈥� Cannon said. 鈥淟ast year was pretty similar with a lot of expectations with really [most] of the same kids, so we鈥檝e kind of been through it for a year and a half. 鈥� I just try to tell them to play for today and we try to enjoy the moment. They鈥檙e very competitive and they鈥檙e enjoyable and I think everyone is enjoying the process. I guess that鈥檚 kind of how we handle it. We don鈥檛 talk too much about the other stuff.鈥�
A lot of people are likely going to talk about the Mustangs, who are loaded with future Division I players. Among their four returning starters is senior point guard Jadin Johnson, who鈥檚 committed to Old Dominion. Senior forward Saint Thomas, last year鈥檚 second-leading scorer, is averaging 22.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 block so far this season and currently holds 11 Division I offers. Junior forward Jalen Green, who was third on the team in scoring as a sophomore, is averaging 10.8 points, 7.5 points, 1.0 steal and 1.5 blocks thus far as a junior and he already has offers from Iowa State, Kansas State, Stanford and Nebraska.
But the biggest star for Millard North is Hunter Sallis.聽
The 6-foot-5, 175-pound five-star recruit is ranked as the No. 6 prospect in the country for the Class of 2021 by both and and he鈥檒l have his pick of where he wants to play basketball at the next level. Back in November, Sallis narrowed his list of potential college destinations down to eight: Gonzaga, Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Oregon, UCLA, Creighton, and Iowa State.
鈥淎s a player, he鈥檚 improved each year as good or better than anybody I鈥檝e ever seen in high school,鈥� Cannon said of Sallis. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just consistent improvement and you always wonder if it鈥檚 going to level out and he鈥檚 not going to have that big year of improvement, but right now he鈥檚 way better than he was last year.鈥澛�
Sallis is averaging 21.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.5 steals through the first eight games of his senior year with Mustangs, who are off to an 8-0 start and look primed to make history and finish their unfinished business in 2021.
鈥淭he best thing I think for all of us I think is that we finally got to start a new season,鈥� Cannon said. 鈥淲e talk a lot about, 鈥楲et鈥檚 prove what we got this year,鈥� and I think we鈥檝e done real well so far.鈥�
