By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
The 2024-2025 campaign ended at 14-8 and a first-round appearance in the State Tournament for Topeka West boys basketball last year under then first-year head coach Christian Ulsaker.
That was the Chargers' first trip back to the big dance since 2022 after they were the runnerups in Class 5A in 2021.
Topeka West senior Malakyah Duncan was a second-team All-Shawnee County pick last season for the 14-8 Chargers. [File photo/TSN]
Senior Keimani Paul is a top returner for Topeka West, receiving Second 10 All-Shawnee County honors last season. [File photo/TSN]
Ulsaker is appreciative of what legendary coach Rick Bloomquist brought to the USD 501 community and the tradition of having all his players ready for any situation, and Ulsaker said it’s his job to uphold that.
“My saying this year is the standard is the standard, this is what we want it to be and where it’s going to stay and we got to continue to do that,” Ulsaker said.
The Chargers will have three starters back from last year's team but the goal is to develop the collective with what the Chargers have and Ulsaker is confident this group can do that.
“I’m ready to see some of those now upperclassmen fill those voids that might be missing from last year,” Ulsaker said.
“My goal this year is a player-led team. I want a group that’s going to stick together through thick and thin, deal with adversity really well and be able to do that together. They won’t need a rah rah speech from the coach at halftime, they’ll be able to do it themselves.”
Ulsaker said West wants to continue to be a top team in 5A like area schools Shawnee Heights, Highland Park, Seaman, etc. and the United Kansas Conference helps with that and there’s never any Tuesday or Friday nights off.
Some things you’ll see with the Chargers are athleticism, high basketball IQ and that the players are in the gym constantly.
Ulsaker said they’ve seen a lot of different scenarios which he said is hard to coach if they’ve never seen it but they have.
“I genuinely think this team loves each other,'' Ulsaker said. "That’s a huge thing for a team to have success is to see their teammates have success. It doesn’t have to be about ‘me’, they want them to have success and be happy for their teammates because they’re almost like brothers,” Ulsaker said.
Guys who can help with that are MalakyahDuncan, Keimani Paul and Jayveon Traylor to name a few.
“Our chemistry is through the roof and I’ve been playing with them for a while now and it’s been great,” Traylor said.
“Our quickness and our size (are plusses). Our size will be nice this year.”
Ulsaker will show his intensity and emotion in practices and games and that feeds into the team
“I’m able to coach them that way because they know I truly love them,” Ulsaker said. “They understand that they can come into my office and call me whenever they need and I’ll be there for them.
"You can’t have a relationship where you can constructively criticize a player if they don’t think you love them. These kids are allowing me to coach them hard because they know off the court I’ll do whatever I can for them.”
