Rosemount Boys Basketball looks to return to the state tournament for the second time in three years. The Irish made the state tournament for the first time since 1987 during the 2020-21 season, but fell short in 2021-22 to Eastview in the section semifinals. This year’s team, however, will have several new faces. With the school’s all-time leading scorer, Caleb Siwek, graduating last spring, the Irish will turn this year’s three captains. 

Head Coach Lance Walsten says “Anish Ramlall is a huge part of our team. He is a really great leader and a really great scorer and defender, just an all-round player”. Ramlall, was a crucial piece of the team last year as he scored 14.6 points per game at an efficient rate. “And I’m expecting that he and Carter Theisen, captains with Will harder are gonna be, you know, valuable parts. I also think they gained some good experience last year during our playoffs and I expect that we’re gonna be competitive in the conference”. Theisen, a third-year member of the Varsity team, looks to move into an increased scoring role after being more of a gritty rebounder the past two seasons. Will Harder had an excellent section playoff run last season and provided great energy last season when Siwek missed time. 

But these guys are only some of the few returning players so I asked Ramlall and Coach Walsten about who will have an increased role. Both gave similar answers and both had confidence in Junior Ben Siwek, the younger brother of Caleb. Ramlall commented, “He will be stepping up into a role but he doesn’t have a lot of experience, but he will be playing, and I think he will have a big defensive impact”. Walsten mentioned Ben as well but he also mentioned Juniors Bennett Arlandson and Kyson Leenderts. “Bennett Arlandson is just a really terrific shooter and I think that he’s really gained some confidence and then last, another guy who played a little bit of varsity, but I think he’s gonna have a much larger role is Kyson Leenderts. He is 6’8 and he’s got some good skills. He’s kind of the modern stretch four with his size and the ability to shoot the basketball”. 

The Irish will have nothing close to an easy schedule as they play top-ranked teams like Wayzata and also play Eastview and Lakeville North twice. Ramlall and Walsten know the toughness of the South Suburban Conference and they both emphasized a well coached Lakeville North team. Sam Kuseske, who also graduated in the spring, took on the role of defending Wisconsin commit Nolan Winter who averaged 17.5 points per game last season. Walsten said, “Nolan Winter from Lakeville North, he’s a tough matchup and we’re gonna have to figure out ways to have other guys step into that role of defending him”. North also has another Wisconsin commit, Jack Robison, who averaged 16.8 points per game. 

This season, the Irish want to focus on “Running as one” and look towards a team approach. Ramlall said, “Our goal is to really get as many guys as we can involved and we wanna run as one and build a family here at Rosemount”. The Irish tip their season off on December 7th against Maple Grove. Their first home game is December 13th against a tough Bloomington Jefferson team. The Irish will have many new faces but the end goal remains the same, get back to the state tournament.