Wayne Jessen had considered applying for the Houston boys’ basketball job before. After a year away from coaching, he finally thought the time was right.
Jessen was hired during the offseason to take the reigns of the Tigers from Aaron Griffin, who resigned in the spring shortly after his contract was renewed.
“I didn’t want to take just any job,” said Jessen, who spent 11 seasons on the sidelines at Conway and another at Fordland before taking 2006 off. “I wanted something you could build and you can here.”
Jessen, who worked at a middle school in Springfield last year and started a home business, was ready to get back into coaching when the Houston job became available. He’s known girls’ basketball coach Brent Kell for more than 20 years – they played junior college basketball together at Crowder College – and said he’s always been fond of the area.
“I love working with young people, and I miss that more than anything,” Jessen said. “They usually have kids here that work hard.”
Jessen inherits a team that struggled through a 6-18 campaign last season and several eligible returning players are not playing. But there are still some pieces to work with.
Sharpshooter Michael Buckner is back after a record-setting junior season, and returning point guard Ryan O’Neil gives the Tigers an experienced backcourt. The front line is anchored by two players – Ty Scheets and Tom Oakley – who did not play last season and Jonathan Page, who will be thrust into a bigger role after coming off the bench last year.
Jessen, who promoted underclassmen Tyler DeWitt, Jesse Setters and Cory Scheets to the varsity to fill out the roster, said he was not concerned that several players unexpectedly did not come out for this year’s team.
“I just want the ones that want to work. The ones that are here are the ones that I want to work with,” Jessen said. “I’ve never asked anyone to come out. You don’t need it to graduate. You should be out here because you want to be.”
Jessen’s Tigers will play a completely different style of basketball than the run-and-gun, 3-point happy team of the past few years. Just over 44 percent of Houston’s shot attempts last year were 3-pointers.
Jessen is focused on protecting the basketball and getting good shots. He also wants to develop an inside game.
“Anybody that can make good decisions with the basketball and guard is probably going to get a lot of playing time,” he said.
The Houston offense will again be led by Buckner, who made a school record 86 3-pointers while leading the Tigers in scoring (16.1), assists (2.9) and steals (3.5).
O’Neil averaged 7.0 points as Houston’s third-leading scorer, and Page averaged 2.7 points in limited action.
Scheets will be asked to provide an inside scoring punch and guard the other team’s best interior player.
The Tigers open their new season Monday in the 48th annual Houston Invitational.
“I’m not looking for us to start out of the gate fast,” Jessen said. “But I’m hoping after Christmas and beyond that we’ll be hitting our stride and people won’t be wanting to play us.”