This is a message of hope and inspiration taped to the wall of
the Discovery Canyon gymnasium for every one of the school’s 17
boys basketball players ready to start another preseason practice
with their coach, John Paul Geniesse.
By Ken Mellott
“All success stories begin with a dream.”
This is a message of hope and inspiration taped to the wall of
the Discovery Canyon gymnasium for every one of the school’s 17
boys basketball players ready to start another preseason practice
with their coach, John Paul Geniesse.
Most coaches dream of building a team from scratch, molding it
to their approach and seeing the dreams of coaches, players and the
school played out in success and wins. That’s why Geniesse jumped
at the chance to begin a basketball foundation at Discovery Canyon
High School.
Originally from Denver, and Sheridan High School in Englewood,
he was glad to get back to Colorado and take the
position.
Geniesse brings college-level playing and coaching experience
from the University of Great Falls in Montana, where he played for
four years and became the assistant head men’s basketball coach and
head JV men’s basketball coach for two years.
“I was ready to start my own program,” he said. “I was ready to
start a foundation.”
This year, every player will make the team. Geniesse sees it as
an opportunity for the kids to get out, play the game and get an
opportunity to see the floor, something they may not get in a
bigger school as freshmen.
“We are trying to build a program here,” Geniesse said. “There
is no better way than to start with freshmen and have these kids
together for four straight years.
“We’re off to a great start, but it’s going to be a challenge.
To build a program from scratch is never an easy thing.”
When 17 freshmen out of a class of 120 come out for boys
basketball, it’s a great start. The only downside is that only
about 10 of them have really played any basketball at all, so any
experience at all stands out.
The core of the team looks to be a group of four boys – Kyle
Pilipovich, Zack Parker, Josh Kuder and Brady Chambers. Geniesse
will count on them.
“Those four will really be the foundation in terms of leadership
and making sure we stick with the program, but it will be a team
effort,” he said.
The team’s full 19-game schedule is more than some varsity teams
play and will give his players significant court experience in
their first year at 2A.
They got a chance to test their fundamentals in a scrimmage
against Air Academy Nov. 24 at Discovery Canyon. The first real
game, and another in the long list of the school’s sports firsts,
was Nov. 30 against Valor Christian at home.
The Thunder also will play schools like Englewood and Denver
Christian. The Denver Christian game will be a mark of progress, as
that team is a 3A powerhouse every year.
The boys will mostly play schools like TCA, Evangelical
Christian, Vanguard and Miami-Yoder – a good mixture of schools to
get them exposed to as much basketball as possible this first
year.
“We are not very big, so we will press full court and use
variations zone-wise,” Geniesse said. “We’ll use the 1-1-3
half-court zone and trap full and half court.
“Offensively, we will use a lot of variations of the motion
offense. I plan to keep it as simple as possible, yet still
somewhat complex. These kids are extremely smart; they comprehend
what we are doing, and that’s a big bonus.”
As Geniesse started yet another practice session, he reminded
his team to “start hard, finish harder.”
It’s an entire team off to a fast start and dreaming of
success.