Head coach Steven Pinchback understands that he has a generally young team but that doesn’t change the expectations for San Marcos in his second year leading the squad.
“The goals that we're going to have are going to be the same that we've always had — is to win district, win region and win state,” Pinchback said. “You gotta set the goals high and have a vision. Those are the things we're going to try to attain.”
Those goals may seem tough for a team led by sophomores and juniors but it’s the mentality Pinchback has instilled in the team since last year. The Rattlers have adopted the culture that they can compete with anyone. Junior guard Caleb Williams doesn’t take people mentioning how young they are on the floor personally.
“I don't think that gives us a chip on our shoulder because we've been through the process and we just know how to play. We just have to go and play our games,” Williams said.
San Marcos does have some hidden gems in its city with sophomore guard Kaden Gumbs and forward Malik Presley. Gumbs and Presley are two of the top sophomores in the area and, in a lot of people's eyes, the state. Presley has improved his game tremendously over the summer, adding a butter smoother jump from the outside, which will force his defenders to step up and defend him 25 feet from the basket. That allows him to get his strong suit going, which is getting to the rim at will. Most guards are too small to guard the 6-foot-5 forward and big men are too slow, which creates a mismatch most games.
Although he has a skinny frame, he uses his body well when on the attack to draw fouls and scores efficiently — a big reason he picked up Division I offers from SMU, Houston, Oklahoma State and IUPUI this summer.
“I always want to just stay humble because like, really, just getting offers, it makes me want to keep going. You know, I'm never really gonna settle for that. It just gives me that mentality of working harder,” Presley said.
Gumbs’ offensive abilities make him a valued point guard, but his intensity and flow during the game starts on the defensive side of the ball. His ability to fluster opposing point guards sets the tone for the team. On offense, the elevation he gets on midrange pull-ups makes it almost impossible to block. His basketball IQ allows him to make passes most guards at his age won’t see until after the play — most notably, in a fall league exhibition game this offseason, he threw Presley an off-the-backboard alley oop, which was flushed on a defender.
“It makes it easier for me because I don't have to gameplan against them. But they're just great teammates, and they're two heck of a players, but they are also team players and make their teammates better. Where they're really starting to flourish is becoming leaders,” Pinchback said. “I know that they're good, but I need them to step up and be leaders because this is their team from now until the next three years. It’s big to not just get caught up in these two guys being the main guys because at the end of the day, we're really a team.”
Other players have important roles to fill, especially sharpshooter Williams, senior stretch big Mateus Perkins and tall and lengthy senior forward Grayson Harris.
San Marcos’ biggest competition this season will likely be Austin Westlake, which hasn’t lost a district game since 2017. With senior forward K.J. Adams — a Kansas commit — Westlake will be a good test for the Rattlers and a big-time matchup between D1 athletes Presley and Adams.
The Rattlers may struggle a bit on the boards and with their perimeter defense this season. Last year, the Rattlers had six games in which a district opponent made six or more threes in a game. But in fall league, they picked up the intensity defensively and their rotations on that side of the floor can be exceptional when they are engaged. You can expect to see a lot of charges from this scrappy squad.
“I do feel like we need to take a lot more charges this year, because we are smaller, if we want to get a playoff spot” Gumbs said. “If we can get better at that, consistently, we can make the playoffs and go on a deep run this year.”
More toughness is going to be added when they get some of the football players back, including sophomores Jon Vega and Isaiah Deleon and junior Nathan Henry. All three should contribute in major ways after their gridiron season is over.
Bold prediction: San Marcos will finish second behind Westlake in District 26-6A. The talent they have, mixed with the state championship pedigree of Pinchback, assistant head coach Jason Napoli and Jimmy Flores will get them ready for a big time run. Led by Gumbs and Presley, the team will make leaps and bounds in comparison to last season.
