From the head coach, to a majority of the starters, to the offensive and defensive schemes, change is the operative word for the Aberdeen Central boys’ basketball program this season.

Former assistant Colton McClemans takes over as the head coach of the Golden Eagles. He said everything has been a process so far.

“There’s always that anticipation for the first practice to start and we’ve got that one checked off. And then we get into the first week and we check that one off,” McClemans said. “Now, it’s just the stuff leading up to it before our first game on Friday and kind of see where we’re at.”

Central had a intra-squad scrimmage last weekend. It allowed McClemans a chance to see his team implement some of the new looks.

McClemans said there will be changes on both sides of the ball for the Golden Eagles this season.

“Offensively, we changed a bunch of things that we’ve done from last year, and then defensively also did a lot of changes,” McClemans said. “It was good to kind of see where we’re at in terms of the learning aspect of it, and being able to kind of fix some things this week.”

Expect to see a lot of movement when Central possesses the ball this campaign, with all five members on the floor touching the ball.

“Offensively, we’re going to be more the Princeton concepts … at times there’ll be some five out with our five-man kind of playing at the elbow a little bit, and then kind of setting some different screens outside of that,” McClemans said. “Our five-man will still post up every once in a while, kind of just off some of the action we run. A lot of spacing. Spacing is probably the biggest difference and then just some of the different screens that we set are probably the other differences.”

McClemans said the offense is enjoyable to watch and involves all of the players on the floor.

“It’s fun to watch,” McClemans said. “It’s good basketball to watch, because everyone’s got to touch the ball for that concept to kind of work.”

There will also be noticeable differences on the defensive side of the ball for Central.

“Defenisvely, last year we were on the line, up the line. This year we’re going to go to more of a gap-style defense. All that’s saying is that we’re not going to get up in the passing lanes, and pack the paint,” McClemans said. “What I’ve kind of told our kids is we’re willing to give up late-contested 3s. We don’t want to give up easy baskets in the paint. So, keep the ball out of the paint is the big emphasis on defense.”

The Golden Eagles do have some experience returning. McClemans said the squad has the luxury of playing big or small depending on the situation.

“We do have some good size. We have three kids that are about 6-4, 6-5. We have some good guards coming back with Luke Swanson, Bryson Burgard, Kalen Larson, Michael Dutenhoeffer,” McClemans said. “It will be kind of a little bit of a mix. I could see us playing some small lineups at times and I could also see us playing some different bigger lineups as well.”

Jack Bertsch and Turner Bergan will also be counted on for major minutes this season.

McClemans said the keys for him this year will be his team’s work ethic and desire to compete.

“I think the big emphasis this year is you have to compete on every possession, because that’s going to give yourself a chance to compete for every game. I think a lot of people get tied up in the scores and stuff like that,” McClemans said. “The biggest thing I want to push is are our kids playing hard, are they playing the right way, because I think if you do those two things and then you add the third aspect of competing, you’re going to find yourself in a lot of games that you have a chance to win, if not pull away from some teams.”

The Golden Eagles start the season out west, playing at Rapid City Central on Friday, and at Rapid City Stevens on Saturday.

McClemans said paying attention to short-term goals will help allow the squad to achieve long-term goals as the season progresses.

“I talk to everyone in our program at the beginning of the year that there’s three things that we really want to focus on,” McClemans said. “It’s just the competitive aspect, how tough are we going to be, and then leadership. I think if you can accomplish those three things, then you can start setting some bigger goals.”