The Blue Devils’ basketball team is looking to improve upon a season in which the team won six games.

The team started working on improvement as soon as last season ended, and now the team is increasing the intensity of the practices as the new season approaches.

Head Coach Scott Stephens has the athletes run through a number of different workouts each week.

Usually the players will work in the weight room on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to improve their strength.

Then, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, practices consist of one on one drills that focus on passing, ball handling, and shooting.

The athletes spend hours trying to improve as players, Stephens said.

“For the most part I’ve been pleased with how the upperclassmen have handled the day in and day out grind of getting ready to play a season,” Stephens said.

“It’s been a pleasant surprise mentally and physically how we’ve been able to handle that grind.”

The experienced players have taken charge and embraced the leadership positions they’ve been given.

Team members Caden Thompson and Connor Tynes have improved tremendously over the years, and will be key parts of the team this season, Stephens said.

Another important player for the squad is Kelton Seal, a senior point guard who Stephens said has become the head of the team. “He is our vocal leader, and he’s done a nice job of becoming a leader,” Stephens said.

The team’s schedule this year is difficult, and Stephens said that there won’t be a single game where his players could perform poorly and still win.

Instead, he’s hoping his players give it their all each game.

“This past summer was a lot better than the summer before, and we use that as a measuring stick,” Stephens said. “It gives you a lot of hope and excitement moving into the year.”

That hope and excitement will hopefully translate to wins for the Blue Devils, and Stephens said that the expectations would remain the same for his team.

“Our expectation is going out to win every night on the floor,” Stephens said. “There’s no doubt in my mind we’ll improve.”

The season is still a couple of months away, but for the coaching staff and players, this is the time to get players comfortable in their roles.

Stephens said in a perfect world he’d have 10 players on the team that he could rotate throughout the game in order to keep the athletes fresh. While that may not be the case right now, that’s what Stephens is hoping to improve upon.

“I think that if you’re not going to have numbers, then you have to switch from the quantity aspect to the quality aspect,” Stephens said. “How good can we get the seven or eight kids we have? How productive, how comfortable can we get them? The goal right now is to build that depth.”