The Irish are ready for a slam dunk season

Talent isn’t an issue for the 2022-2023 basketball team, but the players coming back may be lacking experience. The team returns many great players from a squad that had a surprising exit to Eastside Catholic last season in the quarter finals in the state tournament. The team hopes to have a bounce back season and they definitely have the personnel to do so this season.

This season, junior BJ Shannon looks to break out on the court. After seeing some playing time last year in crucial games, he is looking to show his talents and abilities on a nightly basis.

The team is also bringing back senior point guard Mason Williams who recently committed to Eastern Washington. Last year, Williams had a great back half to the season averaging 13.6 points per game, leading the team. His experience will be crucial for the team this season.

The team has big ambitions for this season as they have set high goals for themselves. They hope to have a better record than they did last year. This will be a hard task as their season this year has become a lot harder adding good teams to the schedule.

Shannon is optimistic for the upcoming season.

“We can definitely make it to the Tacoma dome and win a championship," said Shannon.

This season some young players will have an opportunity to contribute, such as outstanding freshmen Brian Webster.

“Brian (Webster) will be on the team this year, he’s a good player that will probably get some minutes this year,” said Shannon. At a program as strong as O’Dea, this does not happen often

Last year, the team was without one of their biggest advantages - their great student section was limited. O’Dea’s student section is like no other and will certainly bring extra enthusiasm that they will have boiling from last year.

This year, the overall talent on the team is unmatched, having multiple players going on to play division 1 college basketball. The team will also be able to bring on some new guys on to varsity this year that did not quite make the cut last year. The team overall definitely has the pieces and attitude needed to make a long run this year in state, and possibly win it all.