Lasker’s sophomore campaign lead Trojans to quarterfinals
Hot Springs rolled to an undefeated 5A South conference title before falling to defending state champion Marion in the quarterfinals of the Class
5A state tournament under second-year head coach Antoni Lasker.
Lasker is The Sentinel Record’s 2020 Winter Sports Boys Coach of the Year.
“Being selected Coach of the Year in any facet is a tremendous honor,” Lasker said. “I appreciate y’all for thinking about me and the work that we’ve done with our program. I just want to thank my family for their endless support — my wife, kids and other family members, my players and my coaching staff because without those guys, especially having good players and a good coaching staff, none of this would be possible. I’m just one piece, but overall, being selected coach of the year is an amazing honor. … It’s always good to be recognized for the hard work you’ve put in. Without those young men that I coach every day who are bought in and believe in me, and without the great coaching staff that I have, none of this would be possible. I’m definitely grateful for this.”
After a 25-5 overall record and 12-2 5A South record in his inaugural year at the helm of the program, Lasker led the Trojans to a 25-6 overall mark this season while continually striving to implement the mentality of buying into the team’s “ultimate goal” while not being afraid to own and hone individual strengths and identities, on and off the hardwood.
“I want everybody in our program and all our young men to just be themselves,” said Lasker. “To come in every day with a hard-hat mentality that we’re just gonna work and grind. … [I’m] trying to get those young men to understand that it’s a lot bigger than just yourself. If you wanna have success in the team game then you have to buy in to the whole team concept, and I feel like we did that. We had a bunch of different personalities [and] a bunch of guys that were able to score the ball that needed to have the ball in their hands. We were able to stick together as a team, as a unit and not fall apart, and have some success because of that.
“That’s just one thing that I continue to stay on these guys about is playing the right way and always doing the right things whether you’re on the court or off the court, being young men of integrity. … I firmly believe that if you’re handling your business off the floor in the classroom, then you’ll be able to handle your business on the court and in the film room without the coaches having to stand over your shoulder.”
While the team thrived on the court, Lasker also made sure that his players performed well in the classroom.
“For me, the season had its ebbs and flows, but I was overall pleased with the way our student-athletes bought in; the way our coaching staff dedicated [itself] to endless hours of film and developing our athletes on and off the court,” he said. “The biggest thing for me is developing those young men off the court, and we were able to maintain a 3.0+ GPA for our team. We had a couple of kids that did excellent jobs on the ACT and had qualifying scores, so for me, just building those young men up to where they can go out there and be productive citizens in our community once they’re done playing at Hot Springs, that’s probably the most important thing.”
While the Trojans had their 22-win run snapped in the quarterfinals, Lasker is confident in his team’s morale and ambition to progress as the players continue to put in the work when they can for next year.
“The season as a whole and having our win-streak was really cool,” he explained. “… It didn’t end the way we wanted it as far as us losing to Marion, but like we told our guys, ‘That’s no reason to hang your head. Marion
is a great team. They had a prolific player in Detrick Reeves who was a handful.’ Overall we’re satisfied with the way the season went, not necessarily satisfied with how it ended, but you know, that’s just fuel for next year for us to look forward and push forward, to get even better this off-season and just continue to work towards our ultimate goal of winning the state championship.”
With a state title in their sights for next season, Lasker maintains the importance of taking care of things in the classroom and on the floor.
“Off the court we want these young men to get their grades and do everything that they need to do, but as far as just basketball we’re looking to have another successful season, win conference and eventually win state,” he said. “We’ve got a good group of guys coming back — got a nice core with Jabari [West], Caleb [Campbell] and J.J. [Walker]. We’re gonna put them with our good group of junior high kids that’ll be tenth graders next year. … We’re bringing in a good group, and we have a good group returning so we’re just looking forward to getting better each and every day, pushing these young men on and off the floor, and hopefully that’ll turn into success on the court.”