Albany Boys Basketball Eyes Another State Tournament Run This March

The Albany boys basketball team will be making their 4th straight state tournament appearance next Tuesday as the #5 seed and will play against 4th seeded Jackson County Central at 8pm March 24 at Target Center.  Albany is the defending Class AA champion after finishing the 2024-2025 season with a 32-0 record.  The Huskies are 24-6 this season and are riding an 8-game win streak heading into Tuesday's game.  First year head coach Grant Johnson joined me on WJON.

First Year Head Coach

Grant has coached in the program for the past 14 years as their freshman coach.  He says it is great to maintain the system they've established with many of the assistant coaches staying on the staff.  Johnson explains many of the principles they stress with the Albany boys basketball program are taught starting in 4th and 5th grade in the Albany Youth Basketball Association.

Replacing Top Players

Johnson says they lost some fantastic basketball players to graduation with many of them going on to play either college basketball or other sports in college.  He says he knew they had a great nucleus of players coming back with this current group of seniors going undefeated as freshmen.  Johnson says this group has a great understanding of how to play the game.

Top Contributors

Johnson says their top contributors this season starts with their senior class.  Ashton Olson leads the team in scoring and assists and Johnson says he's been really consistent all year.  Other top performers include Braeden Justin and Jake Buttweiler.  Johnson says Braeden and Jake have been consistent scorers and provide top end defense.  Johnson also highlighted seniors Griffin Lange, and Brady Rueter.  Junior Jackson Austin is averaging 15 points a game and Johnson says he's done a good job making the leap from JV to varsity.

Albany Roster

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Grant Johnson, click below.