CHEYENNE — Every team needs that one player who has the ability to bring everyone together and do whatever is necessary for the team to win.
For the Thunderbirds, that player this year is senior guard Camden Hassler. It’s a role not everyone is comfortable embracing, but it’s one Hassler feels he is a natural at.
“I feel like I’ve always been comfortable in that role,” Hassler said. “I’m always willing to just do whatever is best for the team, and I know how important it is to do the little things I know everyone wants to do. Like on the defensive end and just passing the ball, getting other people open, not always being the guy that’s just scoring, just doing all the little things.”
One of the biggest parts of that role is being someone who is as comfortable taking a back seat on the stat sheet as they are leading behind the scenes. Hassler has always been someone who wants to get his teammates involved, but has also been a natural leader, according to first-year coach Sly Johnson.
“It’s kind of hard sometimes to be a leader, but overall, I just always try to stand up and just take charge whenever needed,” Hassler said. “I just guide people to do the right things on the court and off the court, whatever it may be. I just always try to do that.”
In his first true season of significant varsity time, Hassler played an increased role for the T-Birds. He averaged 1.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game last season.
While the numbers don’t jump off the page, Johnson said Hassler’s on-the-court importance extends far beyond the box score.
“His IQ is very high,” Johnson said. “As far as (scoring goes), Cam is probably not going to get you 30 points. But he’s going to get somebody 30 points, or he’s going to get somebody (on the defensive end).”
It wasn’t without pitfalls at times. One of the biggest adjustments he had to make was in the difference in speed of play.
“The speed of the game at the varsity level was definitely faster than what I was used in the past,” Hassler said. “Learning that as time went on, and bringing that into this year. Also, getting more aggressive on the offensive side of things is definitely an important thing that I want to make sure that I got a focus on this year.”
Hassler started a handful of games for East last year, as well. But midway through the season, senior Kael Lissman took over the starting position full time.
Hassler, however, continued to get significant playing time for the T-Birds, appearing in all of their games en route to a fifth-place finish at the Class 4A state tournament in Casper.
It provided Hassler valuable lessons that he hopes to carry into this season.
“Having some of those older leaders on the team set an example (was huge),” Hassler said. “This year, I got to kind of take that role over, just be a leader on this team and understand that I got to play a bigger influence on the game, and just overall be a leader for these guys. We have a lot of juniors and kids (who may not have) much experience, but we’re confident in their abilities.”
Hassler’s return to East’s lineup comes at a critical junction for the program. The T-Birds lost all five starters from a season ago, including all-state seniors Drew Jackson and Cam Hayes, who made up a bulk of East’s production.
On top of that, it also went through a coaching change in the offseason. However, Hassler’s familiarity with the systems has helped smooth over some of that transition.
“Camden knows everything that I do, everything that we’re putting in,” Johnson said. “It’s like a coach on the floor. He knows where players are supposed to be at for all five positions.
“It’s not just going to help me, but it’s going to help the whole team as we move forward to getting battle tested.”
For Hassler and the rest of the returners, last year’s state tournament was one that has lived in their minds. While they managed to claim fifth-place by going 2-1 in Casper, it was far from the outcome they wanted.
It’s something the team is determined to change this season.
“The main takeaway for us guys returning this year is just that we have seen how it felt,” Hassler said. “We see what it was like for those seniors last year to not close out the season in the way that they might have wanted to.
“But overall, I’d say that that’s just what we think about. We don’t want that to happen to us. We have to do everything in our power to make sure we end the season how we want to.”