As football season wraps up, the spotlight shifts to boys basketball, where the Westside Warriors enter the winter ranked No. 1 in Nebraska by MaxPreps and widely viewed as a top state title contender. The high expectations come on the heels of a 24-5 season that tied the school record for wins and ended in a 61-58 loss to Papillion-La Vista South in the Class A championship game. That defeat, sealed by three late free throws from Papio South’s Bryson Bahl, has fueled Westside’s drive to return to Lincoln and capture the program’s second state title.
Head coach Jim Simons, now leading the Warriors through another year with championship aspirations, said his players understand the pressure.
“This is a group that knows the expectations will be fairly high, but we try to really just focus each day on ourselves and what we have to do to get better,” Simons said.
The Warriors must reload after losing five seniors, including starters Trell Snoddy, Carson Healy and Tyson Odvody. They also lost standout freshman Lee Robinson to Eagle Academy in New York. Despite that turnover, Simons said the team’s preseason ranking speaks volumes about the roster’s depth and the strength of the program.
“You lose four out of your five starters, then in the preseason you have that type of rating. It shows that there’s a lot of good players here, and we’re fortunate enough to have good depth throughout the program,” he said. In another reflection, he added, “It shows that we have a good program and didn’t just have a good team last year.”
This year’s lineup boasts elite size, with nearly every rotation player listed at 6-foot-4 or taller. The frontcourt will be anchored by 6-7 Augustana signee Emre Gedik, the team’s returning starter and leading scorer, along with 6-10 Hampton signee Will Preston, the only Class of 2026 player in Nebraska to sign Division I on early signing day. High-flying forward Donnie Barfield joins them as a dynamic two-way presence.
“If we can use our length effectively, that will help us,” Simons said. “If we can force people to shoot contested shots over our length, we have a real ability to shrink the court and use our size to our advantage.”
The perimeter features a mix of returning contributors and emerging leaders. Senior Montae Brown brings experience, while Jack Shafer, Kai Fredrick and Darien Jenkins are expected to provide scoring punch off the bench. Senior Kohl Anderson, at 6-8, will serve as a key defensive big behind Preston.
Simons praised senior guard Jack Hawkins, who is competing with Brown for the starting point guard role.
“Jack Hawkins has done a tremendous job in the offseason just really emerging as a leader,” he said. “He’s worked really hard and earned the respect of his teammates and coaches.”
The biggest name on the roster is junior guard/wing London Dada. At 6-8, Dada averaged 7.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.8 assists through 31 varsity games and is rated a four-star recruit by 247Sports—the top player in Nebraska’s 2027 class. He holds offers from Creighton and others, with more expected. Dada said he welcomes the spotlight.
“I’m going to handle the pressure well because I have had pressure on me my entire life,” Dada said. “At the end of the day it is still basketball… I’m just going to go out and play.”
Dada and Barfield will run the wings, both stepping into larger roles after contributing key minutes last season. With Gedik the lone returning starter, four starting spots opened, creating fierce competition and a deep rotation that Simons believes will be one of the program’s greatest strengths.
Simons also plans to adjust the team’s style to maximize their size.
“We’re going to play differently this year than maybe how Westside teams have played over the past decade,” he said. “We want to leverage the versatility that they have with an ability to play those guys—London, Emre, Donnie—on the perimeter and also in the block, and try to take advantage of matchups.”
The Warriors have multiple challenging games before a much-anticipated championship rematch with Papillion-La Vista South on Jan. 16, including a key early-season home test against Creighton Prep on Jan. 9. Prep’s Max Jungers, a 6-8 interior defender, will provide one of the first size matchups Westside must navigate before facing other metro powers such as Millard North and Lincoln North Star.
Westside will open its season on the road at Lincoln East on Dec. 11. With height, depth, star power and experience, the question remains whether this group can finish what last year’s team started.
People inside and outside the program believe this year might be different. Still, all the rankings and projections mean little until the gym fills, the whistle blows, and the Warriors begin their climb back toward a state title.
