For Ellsworth head coach Derek Staley, the 70-38 defeat on the road against Saint Croix Central in the first round of the Division 3 playoffs on Tuesday, Feb. 28, officially marked the end of what he called ‘year zero.’

Staley borrowed that term from Minnesota Gophers football head coach P.J. Fleck, who used it to describe his first season as the headman of a new program. Although on a smaller scale, Staley found himself in a similar situation this year.

The 2022-23 campaign was Staley’s first year as the head coach of the Ellsworth boys’ basketball program. Staley spent his debut season with the Panthers implementing his philosophies and observing what needs to change to turn the program into a consistent conference contender.

The Panthers’ 5-20 overall record this year marked the fifth consecutive season below .500. Coach Staley spoke about culture and how it needs to change to turn the program into what he hopes is a perennial powerhouse.

“I’m stealing a P.J. Fleckism because this was kind of like year zero,” Staley said. “That’s not quite fair to the seniors, but there were a lot of changes in my mind that needed to happen. The buzzword is culture, but culturally I think a lot of things needed to change.”

Staley made it clear that he wasn’t speaking about a poor locker room culture perpetuated by the previous coaching staff. Instead, it was offseason programming that seemed to have fallen by the wayside during the seasons impacted by COVID-19.

Most elite high school teams all but require offseason programming involvement. Throughout the last couple of years – especially since the 2020 season – Ellsworth had some players seeing significant varsity minutes that didn’t do offseason basketball-related programs.

“The offseason as far as lifting and getting shots up needs to be structured,” Staley said. “Of course, Jordan Petersen (the previous head coach) did that stuff, but then COVID happened and it got thrown off. I think that habit was lost and a lot of these kids didn’t do anything last offseason.”

Although the departing seniors won’t get to see the fruits of Staley’s new offseason programming, some of the younger players on the roster almost certainly will. Parker Woodland will be one beneficiary as he goes into his senior campaign next season.

After being a sixth man for more than half of the season, Woodland cracked the starting lineup and made an impact immediately. The six-foot-six junior played the small and power forward positions and stretched the floor with his shooting while also being a versatile defender.

Woodland will share the floor with forward George Rohl, who enters his sophomore year next season. Rohl quickly became one of Ellsworth’s best players this year, as he scored efficiently on the block, played high-quality defense and stretched the floor at times.

“We’re going to have a ton of length with Parker (Woodland) at the three, George (Rohl) at the four and (sophomore) Brayden Anderson at the five,” Staley said. “That’s a lot of length, athleticism and skill. It will be fun to see what those guys do in the offseason to see where we’re at next year.”

Developing physically will be at the forefront of the efforts to avoid a sixth consecutive losing season, but making strides mentally and responding to adversity won’t be far behind. When Ellsworth struggled this season the young, inexperienced players often strayed from the game plan and didn’t handle adversity well.

“If you’re looking at our varsity roster, it was almost the exact same kids that played JV last year,” Staley said. “We’ve got to be able to handle adversity, respond and work to get smart possessions and good shots. That will come with experience and playing more games.”

While the seniors will never enjoy the fruits firsthand of the strides they made this year, they will see the results of what they started in the performance of Ellsworth’s future teams. The Panthers’ senior class includes Lance Gipford, the team’s leading scorer, as well as Kaden Schommer, Kaeden Graff and Jurell Gooden.

Each of the seniors brought a unique skill set to the 2022-23 roster. For Gipford it was his slashing and ability to finish at the rim. Graff was one of the best shooters on the team. Schommer was an interior force and Gooden was the team’s best defender. Staley spoke about what he’s losing with the four seniors that will graduate in May.

“I think we took a really nice step forward culturally this year and part of it is a credit to the seniors that lived by that,” Staley said. “They were trying to be good people, work hard and have great attitudes and effort all the time. They laid the foundation and hopefully we can build on that moving forward.”