Osborn’s Prep for New Cyclone Boys’ BB Season Never Ends

Osborn’s Prep for New Cyclone Boys’ BB Season Never Ends -

(12-3-24) - It’s a year-round job that never gets old.

Harlan Community boys’ basketball Coach Mitch Osborn returns for his 28th season at the helm of the Cyclones and it never seems to end for him and his players, even in the off-season.

“The month of June is a big month for us. We got our league on Sunday nights and try to play in two, three, four shootouts. So you try to get about a 20 games in the month of June and that's really a big thing that helps prep you for the upcoming year.”

After losing 6 key players to graduation from last year’s 12-10 squad, Osborn will look to a couple of bigs to take the lead, starting with senior Jozef Reisz, who averaged 6.8 pts & 7.6 boards a contest last season.

“He's physical, he's strong, he's very athletic and he can run. He's a very diversified and so he can take guys off the dribble, but he's powerful inside and we want to take advantage of that.”

Ben Leinen averaged just 5.4 pts & 4.9 rebounds a game for Harlan Community, but also brings a physical presence that is complemented with deep shooting threat.

“Ben and take guys off the dribble and hit that three at the top of the key,” said Osborn of his senior post. “He plays extremely hard, sometimes a little too fast, but you can’t fault that.”

Osborn will also look to a pair of Cyclone bench players from a season ago in Dallas McDowell and Kobe Klaassen to lead the charge this season.

“Dallas is just doing rock steady at point guard and very, very good shooter and Kobe has really become more physical and all-around game, going to the boards and not stuck at the three-point line and taking guys off the dribble. Good to see they’ve shown improvement there.”

Harlan Community will begin their 2024-25 season on the road against Shenandoah on Friday. (KNOD 105.3FM)

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