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By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

It’s a new season and a new round of players putting on the red, white and blue jerseys at Oak Mountain High School, but with that comes a whole new set of expectations and mindsets that the Eagles will need to strive for.

In the 2025-26 season, that means finding a new crop of leaders on the scoreboard and trying to battle for success whenever they can, all with the goal of making it back to the postseason after a rough go around last year.

“We’re really excited about this group,” Oak Mountain head coach Joel Floyd said. “Great group of seniors that we have that have worked really hard over the last few months in preparation for this season and excited to see what they can go out there and get done.”

Oak Mountain finished its 2024-25 campaign with a 21-9 overall record, which on the surface looks like a solid performance over the course of the entire season. However, six of the nine losses that the Eagles suffered were in area play, which became one of the main reasons why Floyd’s squad was unable to reach the Class 7A state playoffs.

Class 7A, Area 6 is filled with the likes of the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies, Vestavia Hills Rebels and the three-time defending state champions and winners of 45 consecutive games, the Hoover Buccaneers.

That trio of opponents in itself are tough to win games against, with each one of them having the abilities to be tough playoff teams down the stretch.

This year, that’s no different.

“Our area, it’s a battle every single night,” Floyd said. “There’s never a game that you were like, ‘I feel good about this one.’ It’s you know going to be about battle every time. Great coaches, great program, hardworking kids. We had the Hoover monstrosity that it was last year and they continue, they bring back Jackson Sheffield this year, so they’re going to be really good again, and you know Vestavia and Hewitt are going to be great again as well.”

The Eagles went 1-6 overall in the area slate last season, with that lone win coming against Hewitt-Trussville in the area opener 58-49. After that, they fell short in each area contest, including in the area semifinals against Hoover.

Trying to compete consistently in those games this campaign is a big goal for Floyd’s squad, and the head coach is looking for his guys to go out and really make themselves a force to be reckoned with.

“We’ve talked about before, you’ve got to win every possession,” Floyd said. “There is no taking off anything, being relaxed. You’re going to have to go out and battle the entire night an find a way to get the breaks to go your right way and you know we don’t really believe in luck. We believe in making that happen for yourselves, and so you’ve got to do that every single night.”

Over the course of the 2025-26 journey, Oak Mountain is going to have to fulfill that goal with zero starters returning to the lineup and having graduated seven seniors from last year’s roster, a mark Floyd says ends up being around 80 to 85 percent of their scoring production.

Highlighted in the losses was star guard Chase Lamey, who now has moved to playing college basketball at Berry. Lamey had an All-County First Team season, averaging 14.5 points per game while shooting 44 percent from the field and 42 percent from deep, being one of the top shooters in the county.

Now, the Eagles will rely on four seniors in Xander Hughes, Patton Knight, Kasen Lemons and Javon Stone, all of whom will be called upon to step up and make some big plays across the floor.

However, Oak Mountain will be held back by the fact that it does not have a player listed as being taller than 6-foot-4, which can pose challenges inside if not handled correctly.

Outside of the tough area, this squad will go to battle as a group that looks to be aggressive and win every single possession over the course of the year. The Eagles will also be a team to shoot a lot from the outside, something that has been traditional for the program.

Oak Mountain will do that against a number of tough opponents this season, including the likes of many county foes in Calera, Briarwood Christian, Chelsea, Pelham, Helena and Spain Park. Also on the docket are a challenge with Homewood and multiple tournaments, highlighted by a trip down to Orange Beach in December. The Eagles notably won a tournament in Gulf Shores last season.

The goal this year though for Floyd, first and foremost, is to build up wins and get back to the postseason by any means possible. After missing out on it last year, it has left an unsettling feeling with him.

“We didn’t get to Jacksonville State last year, and so that’s definitely top of the list,” Floyd said. “We were unable to get out of area and make it to the Sweet 16. We had done that the first two years that I was at Oak Mountain, and so that’s definitely number one on our list is to get ourselves back to Jacksonville State, and then yes, of course, we want to get to the BJCC. Everybody’s fighting for that, but we start with trying to get back to Jacksonville State.”

Oak Mountain will tip off its season on Thursday, Nov. 6 with a road trip to take on the Calera Eagles, with tip-off set for 6 p.m.