Speaker 1: 0:08

Welcome to the Bubba Lounge. I'm Martha Jackson and there is a lot of exciting things going on at Highland Park. One of those this week is that the Highland Park men's basketball is heading to the state playoffs. We're doing our episode early this week because we wanted to support the team and we wanted the community to come out and support them Tuesday night. So joining me today are the captains Jacob Ario, colin Noble and Will Saunders. You can tell that these guys are super excited, they're motivated and they're going to share everything that makes this team so successful. Guys, welcome to the show. Let's start with you, jacob, and introduce yourself and tell us what position you play.

Speaker 2: 0:47

I'm Jacob Ario, I'm a senior and I'm a two guard.

Speaker 3: 0:50

I'm Colin Noble. I'm also a senior and I play small forward.

Speaker 4: 0:54

And I'm Will Saunders. I'm a junior and I play the forward.

Speaker 1: 0:57

Well, you guys have a lot going on. We're going to talk all about that in a minute, but before we talk about you, I want to get your thoughts on something that has really been dominating the news lately, and that is all the things that are going on with the Dallas Mavericks, all the trades, all the things. So many people are in an uproar. Help us make sense of this. Give us your thoughts.

Speaker 2: 1:16

I don't know when I saw it, it surprised me so bad. My friend sent it on a group chat. It was like Instagram. I thought it was one of those meme accounts Like chat. It was like instagram it was. I thought it was one of those like meme accounts. Yeah, luca got traded. I'm like what for ad too? You know, he's just an old guy. I mean, they're like pretty similar in skill. But it's like why are you trading away 25 year old for what? What is he? 32, 32, yeah, 32 year old. So it's like I don't know. It surprised me for sure. And then ad already got hurt. First game. Right, it's just, it's, it's all right we'll see in a similar way.

Speaker 3: 1:45

I was with my buddies at one of my friends houses and someone said luke got traded. I'm like no way right. I thought it was a joke account and then it was real and I went straight home. I couldn't. I couldn't deal with that. I was so upset. Luke is my favorite player since I when he got drafted in the league when he was in 2018, so seeing him get traded and not be a maverick anymore was honestly terrible. And, to make it worse, my dad's a Lakers fan too. He's all excited, pumped, about it. I'm just sitting there like oh my God, watching the game. Like two nights ago I was in disbelief, honestly, over what all happened.

Speaker 2: 2:16

Yeah, we were seeing him in a Lakers jersey, for sure.

Speaker 4: 2:18

I had the same thing. I was hanging out with my buddies and we were just looking at Instagram and someone was like Luke got traded and we all thought it was fake. We went to bed thinking it was fake and woke up we were like dude, dang, this is real. And then we saw all the things on Instagram with the photoshop of him wearing the Lakers jersey and we're like that doesn't even look right. And then we we like to comfort ourselves. We would see AD and we're like we might be good he looks. He looks good in the Mavs jersey.

Speaker 1: 2:42

Oh my gosh. Well, I don't know. I have no idea why that all happened. But let's get back to you so you all are heading into the playoffs this week. You had a really great season. Tell us what's been your favorite moments of the season.

Speaker 2: 2:59

For me always a highlight of my year like last year I didn't get to do it, my sophomore year because it was like we were coming back from COVID and still recovering. But one of my year like last year um, I didn't get to do it, my sophomore year because, uh, it was like we were coming back from covid and still recovering. But one of my favorite memories from like all my time in basketball is just going and traveling with the team. Like last year on my junior year we went to athens and then this year we went to athens again. We stayed in the lake house. It was really nice, and then we went to burke burnett and we stayed in a. It was just really fun. Really a lot of good memories. We played this game called silent football. I can't really spill the details, but it's really, really fun. That's always just a highlight of my year.

Speaker 1: 3:31

Okay, I'm so curious. Now I'm going to have to find out.

Speaker 3: 3:35

Well, my favorite part is not even anything to do with basketball. It's our team dinners once a week, I mean, we all get together at someone's house and eat and just talk about life outside of basketball and it's really, I think, brought us closer as a team and it just helped us on the court as well, just knowing each other and just building that chemistry on and off the court.

Speaker 4: 3:54

Yeah, my favorite uh game of the year actually other than the tournaments is against jesuit, because we always have like the rivalry and all the students come out to the games. And a new rivalry that we're going to have from here on out is the colony, which is also a really big team, and the student sections have been pretty wild for those ones too.

Speaker 1: 4:12

Well, that's a pretty consistent rival across the board. No matter what teams we have in here on the bubble lounge, it's usually Jesuit. We hear a lot about that. So you guys have a really exciting game coming up on Tuesday. Tell us about the moment during the season when you were like, guys, we've got what it takes to go all the way um, I think, uh, when we played the colony for the first time, they were really like everyone had them super high ranked.

Speaker 2: 4:38

Everyone's like, oh my gosh, the colony's so good. And then we came, they came at home and I think it was what like second game of district. So we were it was still kind of early in the season and we just blew them out. I think that was like the guest best game I've like we've probably played, and we blew them out by like what like 26, 27. It was crazy. It was super fun. After the game everyone's like, oh yeah, we're winning state, we're winning state. But it was, it was really good memory and I don't know.

Speaker 3: 5:05

That's just kind of where I'm at for me, I would say, is back in the summer we played our gasso summer league games. It's like the kind of the first term we have as a team with this new team and I think we won each game by like 15 or 20 points each. I'm like shoot, this seems really good. I mean way better than last year's team. For sure. I mean our starting five.

Speaker 4: 5:23

You know all returning players like which is new, pretty unusual, and we just all like clicked together and I could just tell this team was something special in the beginning yeah, yeah, for me, we started off the season oh and three, which was kind of wild, though that was like a really like tough thing to go through and then from there we went on like a 15 game winning streak and I was like the way we bounced back from adversity.

Speaker 1: 5:45

I thought that was really good and we're gonna go far in the season, right, right well, you all are all the captains this year and I always like to hear the stories of how you find out you are the captains. How did you get the news?

Speaker 2: 5:56

so, honestly, it wasn't super like, it wasn't super crazy. We were all just um, it was, I think, like like right before. So every year for PC, for a performance course, every year we have Coach Bacher come and talk to us and tell us about PC. And then, right before that, coach Peeler, we're all just in the locker room and he's just like, randomly, he's just like your captain next year, will, colin and Jacob, and I'm just like, okay, fine, but it was different because for me last year, okay, bye, Bye. But it was different because for me last year, this year, we voted, but last year for me I didn't have to get voted in because I was one of only two returners on the team. So that was my first experience of getting voted as a captain and it was just very anticlimactic, but it was still a really good memory for me.

Speaker 3: 6:41

I know it's a lot different than football. I know theirs is more hardcore. They got know, make pc first and then, you know, give their speeches to get voted for captain. For us it was way different. We had a brief, like 30 second speech in front of the whole program. It was very brief and then it was only like a two-week process. It was pretty short and I mean it's really, really easy, I think, in order to in order to make captain compared to other sports. But I'm proud of the three guys we have. I think we've done a great job this year, especially um bouncing back from an oh and three start sure yeah, it was.

Speaker 4: 7:12

It was a little nerve-wracking going into it because I like I really hate talking in, uh, in public. So I my speech was probably about 10 seconds and then I was like oh, that was pretty bad, I might not get it. And then Coach Peeler just super nonchalantly just walked down. I was like Jacob, colin and Willie, all the captains- that is so fascinating.

Speaker 1: 7:31

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Speaker 1: 8:18

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Speaker 2: 8:49

I think it all really starts with effort and practice, because most people look up to y'all and so you're just making sure you're trying every day, staying locked in and practice and kind of setting the example for the rest of the guys.

Speaker 3: 9:01

I think it's important too, especially for me and Jake, because we're seniors now this could just be our last game and so let the team know that, that you know this could be our last and I'm just going to come out here and say it like I think this is probably the best shot we're going to have in a couple of years to win state. So make sure everybody knows that everyone has the same mindset. All want to win state. So just making sure the team gets a message. Every game that you know this could be our last is pretty important for us sure, yeah.

Speaker 4: 9:26

Another thing is talking positively and kind of manifesting it so like no one's like talking down or like sitting on the bench with their heads down like dang, we're going to lose, blah, blah, blah. Even if we are losing at the time, we've got to be positive and keep going forward.

Speaker 1: 9:40

Right yeah, I get that Well. So one of the questions I've started asking recently is just pregame rituals. It's kind of funny to hear some of the kids that have superstitions or they have certain things they eat. Do you guys do anything like that?

Speaker 2: 9:53

Yeah, we've developed a lot of superstitions this year, like for jerseys. We stopped wearing our throwback jerseys for a little bit because when we went on our win streak we went like all of our home games in our white jerseys. So we just stopped wearing throwbacks altogether. And then we were thinking about, for playoffs, getting new jerseys because we haven't lost in our white jerseys and then we've lost in all of our away jerseys. So we were just planning.

Speaker 3: 10:18

I mean, I don't think it's going to happen for sure, but we were maybe throwing out the idea to get some new jerseys so we could win.

Speaker 3: 10:28

I've got a few things. One is I mean I remember last year I didn't really do anything pregame until Jordan Stribling, who played last year, was like oh yeah, I drink a Monster before every game. But me, I'm not really a monster guy. I never have been. So I was like you know what? I'm going to have a Celsius for every game. I always have about half a Celsius to get the blood flow and get the caffeine in you, and that's actually worked really well this year for me. And then also, one thing we do as a team, collectively, is we have our. So basically we started the year like we think we lost a game early in the year and we're like you know. So we decided to let our team manager, cole Denman who's awesome and he always breaks us down with the saying BTA I'm not going to say what that means on the pod, but it gets us going it really hypes us up to come out there and just with positive energy, start the game.

Speaker 3: 11:08

It really helps us.

Speaker 4: 11:09

Yeah, I don't have any superstitions, but one of the things that we do as a team is we pray before every single game, and most of the time it's Henry Owls who leads it, but sometimes, if he can't make it, somebody else will have to step up and do it.

Speaker 1: 11:22

Right, right. Well, tell us about your coach. What has he done to prepare you for this week?

Speaker 2: 11:31

I mean Coach Peeler, he's like a really well-known coach and he's always super consistent in the way he does things. But he always prepares so much If, if you go in the, if you go down to the locker room anytime during the day, he's just down there watching crazy film. Like his huddle hours are like I don't even know. Like probably like 15, 20 hours a week. He's just always down there preparing for the game and then he always makes sure what we're preparing to like we'll make clips for um for, like most games, he'll have us make clips and he'll make clips Coach um for, like most games, he'll have us make clips and he'll make clips coach now and makes clips too.

Speaker 3: 12:05

But I think a lot of it is just making sure that we're locked in and that he's locked in on what the other team is trying to do. Yeah, coach peeler, coach down, do a great job in, you know, making sure our practices go smoothly. They're, they're all scripted, they're, you know, every five minutes you do this, you do this, you do this, and over the course of a week that really helps us prepare and be ready for who our opponent's going to be that week.

Speaker 4: 12:20

Yeah, like Jacob said, the coaches watch a lot of film and sometimes we even over-prepare for a team to where we'll be practicing for something and then they just won't even do it, and then a lot of teams. This year they'll be more pressure and guard us heavier on the ball ball. So our coach will have the jv team come and like practice against us and we'll play defense and they'll play defense and he'll just like schedule it to a way like where we're playing against the team that we're about to play well, talk to me about the fans.

Speaker 1: 12:52

The highland park fans, I always say, are some of the rowdiest out there and they really come out and support the games and cheer you guys on. How important is it to you to have that?

Speaker 2: 13:04

uh, I mean it's been really important this year. We've had a couple of really really good fans. One of my best friends will hines. He even comes to like I think he's missed probably like five games total, even like the away games. I mean like this year it's been, it's been crazy, it's been fun, even like Jesuit was super fun, colony was super fun. But even like for our small games will probably have like Just like a group of guys that's just out there and you know being a senior this year Normally, because it's normally seniors in the student section. It's like being a senior this year and then being like your guys and you got you know more kind of means more Because it's like your friends and you're playing for your friends.

Speaker 1: 13:41

That makes sense.

Speaker 3: 13:42

There's something pretty special about making a three-year layup and running back and seeing your fat head being waved in the stands. It's just a cool thing to see when you're playing. That's something I'm going to miss, especially graduating this year, is having that student section. Just go crazy when you make a basket.

Speaker 4: 14:00

I really enjoy seeing our fans out there and we're playing. Yeah, I think having a big student section really helps a team win, because most of our losses I think every single one of our losses, except for one was an away game. So our home record is pretty good, especially with the crowd that we got, which is a lot better than most schools. Most schools don't even have crowds sometimes, but when they do, it's a harsh environment.

Speaker 1: 14:18

Yeah, I would agree. I mean, just having that energy and enthusiasm out there really, really creates a great environment for you guys.

Speaker 2: 14:25

Yeah, and a lot of them are really really funny too. Yeah, like they'll be, I'll just be on the bench and they'll be crazy saying like the most absurd things to the players. Yeah.

Speaker 4: 14:36

Like maybe I don't even know.

Speaker 2: 14:38

Yeah, like maybe I don't even know. Yeah, like against Lone Star, they were pulling up this one guy who was playing really good. So like in the middle of the game they just pulled up like I don't even know, it was either his girlfriend or his mom and they all just had like pictures on it.

Speaker 3: 14:49

Especially when shooting free throws too, though yeah, thought him off their game. It's really funny when they miss, they go crazy. When they miss, they go crazy.

Speaker 4: 14:57

When they miss, they think like they're the reason he missed a free throw, so it's awesome making fun of like their tattoos or their haircuts or something like.

Speaker 2: 15:02

Yeah, really oh, there was this one time this guy had his shorts on backwards. Yes, it's like literally the whole game. I don't even remember who it was against, but the whole game. Like I was just dying laughing on the bench because all I'm hearing is number two your shorts are on backwards it was so Well that's got to be uncomfortable because your shorts are really long. Yeah, yeah, they've kind of gotten shorter, though with time. Now it's the style five-inch inseam.

Speaker 1: 15:26

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Speaker 1: 15:41

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Speaker 2: 16:40

So for me, like neither of my parents are athletic, I think my dad I don't think my dad played organized sports and my mom was the basketball manager for her high school. But so when I was younger we didn't have TVs in our house because my dad didn't like us just sitting at home. So when I was bored I'd go outside and I had this basketball and I'd just go outside and dribble for like hours at a time and then so my parents didn't really want me to play sports. But there is one of my friend's mom she like begged my parents to let me play basketball or like track or something, and that's kind of what started it. And then after that I wasn't very good when I was younger and then after that I was I wasn't very good when I was younger and then after that I just started because I got bigger, taller and I just started becoming better and better. And then by like middle school I just like, I just loved it, like it was all I did pretty much.

Speaker 2: 17:31

And then COVID hit and um, the YMCA that was close to our, like the Moody YMCA on Preston. It was closed for COVID, so I went to like every day after school. I went to one in White Rock and I'd just go play there all the time. That kind of what like separated me and I really like those are probably like my most like developmental years was just spending time playing basketball. Like I loved that it was. It was really fairly really fun.

Speaker 3: 18:02

I mean I couldn't be more opposite for me from how I started. I mean I think there's a picture of me when I was like two with the basketball and my shoulder just rocking around. So I've been in the game since I was pretty much born and my dad never really forced basketball upon me, though he's always like try every sport. So I played baseball and football I mean up until I think eighth grade, freshman year. I mean I I love baseball and football, but you know I wasn't really into the contact for football necessarily, and then baseball was just too boring for me, so kind of gravitating me towards basketball. And then I mean I I played, I think all year round, pretty much from starting in third grade with, you know, triumph basketball club and then going into middle school, eighth grade, seventh, seventh, eighth grade those are awesome times playing for the Raiders. And then, starting freshman year, me and Jacob both made JV and that's when I realized, you know, that's in my sport.

Speaker 4: 18:50

So I dropped football and then I went all in and then I haven't looked back since because I mean basketball is, I think, definitely the sport for me yeah, when I was younger I mean both of my parents played basketball like my mom was the captain at Highland Park and my dad I don't know if he was a captain, but he played basketball.

Speaker 4: 19:07

He didn't play football. But uh, when I was in elementary school I quit basketball in second grade because I guess I didn't like it and football was my like main sport all the way up until eighth grade. So I didn't really pick up basketball again until like seventh or eighth grade and then I started having like like back problems. So I was like, dang, this football thing might not pan out like I want it to, so I dropped basketball, or I dropped football, started playing basketball. And then in eighth grade it like really started to take off a little bit when I started playing with Coach Adams on Triumph. And then I made JV my freshman year as well and I was like, yeah, basketball is probably my thing.

Speaker 1: 19:44

Well, those are all great stories. Basketball really is a year-round sport, though, wouldn't you say, because even when you're not playing with highland park, you were playing with. What other team do you put? Guys play with, you just play with your club team.

Speaker 2: 19:56

Yeah, like I think we all played triumph at some point, but the first team I played for it was for this is also what kind of got me into basketball. A lot was, um, this guy named coach fisher. He talked to my parents for like maybe like three hours one day and he got me to play and I was like probably I think that was my second team I played for like my like ymca team but that kind of like set up my um basketball and like that's what got me into AAU for me, because my parents wouldn't really want me to unless someone convinced them to.

Speaker 3: 20:29

Basketball is a huge commitment. I mean. I think, starting in third grade, it really is year-round. You're playing in the winter, you're playing in the summer. I mean, if you want to get that exposure from some college coaches or if you want to just really improve, you have to play all year round because everyone else is or else you're going to fall behind. I mean I remember playing I mean even in fifth grade it was every single weekend just going to a different tournament, different tournament and practicing like three times a week. And I think that's probably the main reason why I am where I am is because the amount of practice I've been through in tournaments I played and just it accumulates over time and leads to be such a I mean a better basketball player than you would have been if you didn't do this travel, ball stuff yeah, you really can't take more than like two days off because then you'll like start losing like your feel for like your jump shot sometimes and you'll have to like get it back if you take it off.

Speaker 4: 21:14

But one of my favorite things about playing in the summer is just like how fun it is and you make a lot of friends and like sometimes summer basketball can be more fun than school basketball, depending on like who your teammates are and how well you play. But yeah, playing summer basketball is like a huge part of it.

Speaker 1: 21:33

Well, and then I would imagine you travel some and get to go to some fun places.

Speaker 2: 21:37

Yeah yeah. Some of my best memories are just messing around in the hotel when we're traveling.

Speaker 3: 21:42

Yeah, I think I've been to, you know, colorado, florida, south korea. I mean you really did travel the country and you see so many different cool things when playing basketball in different cultures. I mean a bunch of my teammates aren't from highland park. I mean I got friends from lancaster, I got friends from de soto and, like pierce lake, highland. So I really meet a a bunch of new people that you wouldn't have if you didn't play basketball. I'm really thankful for that.

Speaker 4: 22:06

Yeah, this past summer one of the coolest places I went to was Chicago. We played our finale tournament in Chicago and me and my dad and my family went on a tour in the river and the lake and it was nighttime so the sun was setting and it was really cool to see all the buildings and stuff.

Speaker 1: 22:27

I bet that was pretty. I love Chicago. So talk to me about high pressure situations. You guys definitely are gonna have some high pressure this week. How do you keep your calm?

Speaker 2: 22:33

um, I don't know for me, I'm always pretty scared, but I always think to myself like I don't know, just don't be scared. But I still get pretty scared but, like, most of the time, I'll like, I'll be like, even if you get the ball, you got to make sure you're doing what you're doing confidently and not being scared. To be able to like my junior year, um, like one of my biggest memories. So I airballed three times.

Speaker 2: 22:58

I airballed three times and then it was like we were down by. I don't even remember it might have been tied, but, um, I remember I was in the corner and this was I hit a game winner on Jesuit and I was. I remember I was in the corner and I was just thinking to myself like, like, I was really, really scared, like I'm like, I'm serious, like my legs were probably shaking, but then, um, I'm like, if the ball comes to me, don't be scared, shoot it. And then so I got it, I shot it and I just made it and I was like I was pretty surprised because I airballed like three times that game. But, um, I think for me it's just pushing through what your mind's telling you and kind of, um, having like the mental toughness to like push through the scaredness and the nervousness.

Speaker 3: 23:36

Sure, I think us all being returning players helps a lot too, having that year of experience under our belts, because I remember that first year last year I mean it was it was pretty tough. You know, when you're first year in varsity the nerves are all there. You don't really know what to expect. But now it's my second year in varsity I think Will's in Jacob's third. It's really, you know, calming feeling, knowing you've been here before and also it's just in the day. It's just a game, so just trying to have fun out there while you're playing, I think it's super important to calm the nerves and also making sure you breathe, because when you're tense in basketball it's it's really difficult to like be at your best. So if you just breathe and calm down, it's really, I think, beneficial to achieving the outcome you want to.

Speaker 4: 24:24

Yeah, for me, especially if it's a big game, I'll be nervous all the way up until the tip off. But once I start, like going up and down and like get a shot in or something that's like kind of when I start to settle down but like I'll be on the bus ride like thinking about all the outcomes and possibilities, like super nervous for the game. But then once the ball goes up, then it like all calms down.

Speaker 1: 24:38

Well, very nice, this is all good advice. I like that Well. So we keep saying what a big and exciting week you're going to have. Tell us what you would like the community to know.

Speaker 2: 24:52

Game on Tuesday at Top El. She come support. I think it'll be a good game. But we're ready, we're excited, we're ready to make a deep playoff run go to state win. But it all starts with this one game on Tuesday.

Speaker 3: 25:06

I think having the community behind you is super important. I mean, I see how the whole entire Highland Park rallied behind the football team and I think we're hoping for the same thing for us, because it's just a cool feeling looking in the crowd and seeing the community out there having your back for the games. I mean, playing in front of them is part of the reason why we played the game in general was for Highland Park, and so I think it's just important for them to be there and just to show their support for us.

Speaker 4: 25:30

Yeah, another cool thing is when you win the game and you get to celebrate with all of your friends and students next to you.

Speaker 1: 25:35

I would imagine that's a great feeling. Well, to see the schedule, visit scottsillustratedcom. And be sure to follow them on Instagram. At HP men's basketball, you guys have been posting some great pictures, great videos, and so it's a really great thing to follow along with you guys. Well, I wish you all the best this week. I can't wait to follow along and hear what's going on.

Speaker 2: 25:55

Yes, ma'am, thanks for having us. Thank you so much for having us Appreciate it. Thank you Go, scots.

Speaker 1: 26:00

That's been another episode of the bubble lounge. I'm Martha.