As November approaches, so does the GHSA basketball season, but in the meantime, all teams, including the Lakeside Vikings, are doing preseason workouts to prepare for this season. The LHS Vikings are back in action to get ready for the long-awaited season. From the newcomers to the veterans, everybody is showing up to make sure that when the lights shine bright, they can still put on a show for the Viking community.
The Vikings play under a highly experienced Head Coach, Coach Ajmal Basit, who has professional experience in playing and has coached for years. Basit has had a lot of freshmen come up through his program, and they usually “consistently show up eager to learn.” On the other side, we have some seniors who have been trying to accept a new role on the team as the older guys, but they “have responded well and have been helping the freshman adjust to the new style of high school basketball.”
Preseason games are scheduled throughout September and the beginning of October. These games are done on Saturdays. With two twenty-minute halves, coaches get a glimpse of what they have to work with this season. Teammates build chemistry, and any new guys can get familiar with the team. Mosley was asked about the difficulty of adapting to new faces and their play styles. He replied by saying, “Though it’s difficult because I got familiar with playing with my guys from last year. I am helping them get on track and am excited to see what they have to bring to the table.” Transfers come in and transfer out of programs every year for new opportunities.
Coming out of a strong freshman season, where he played in 21 of the team’s 25 games. Joshua Mosley shot about 34 percent from the field while being a force on the defensive end, also with about a steal a game. We caught up with Mosley to get his take on the preseason and the impact of having preseason workouts. For most freshmen, they have to work their way up, but due to Joshua’s talent and skill, he was thrown straight into the fire. During his freshman season, he noticed, “players are bigger and stronger, so I have been in the weight room to be fully prepared to give my teammates and coaches my all for my upcoming sophomore season.” That is the best way to get ready for a lengthy season. Lifting not just gets you stronger, it also helps prevent injury during the season.
Lakeside had a pretty underwhelming season last year, which in turn led to some returning guys being determined to get better and get the new guys on the same page. The feeling of walking away from a season early without any hardware leaves many wondering what could have been, and nobody wants that feeling again. To use the offseason to have a better season, you have to have leaders who are ready to help bring the team together. Though Mosley is not a senior, being a returning varsity player, he says, “I feel like I need to be more of a leader for our team this year.” Mosley is taking the initiative to help lead his team this year.
The Vikings have been putting blood, sweat, and tears into this offseason. From the track to the weight room, the guys have been focused on the goal set in front of them. The Lakeside community can not wait to see what the Vikings Basketball Program has to offer this season. Go Vikings!
