The high school boys basketball team is set to have a fresh start this season, complete with an extremely young roster and a brand new program helmed by incoming coach Bradley Weber.

Beginning his tenure as a FHHS English and world history teacher this fall, Weber said he grew up around the game of basketball and has always had his eye on moving into a leadership role for a high school team.

Originally from Illinois, Weber said this is his eighth year in Arizona. Starting off teaching in Surprise, he saw an opening for a teacher and basketball coach and thought he’d take a shot.

“I’ve wanted to be a head varsity coach at the high school level for quite some time,” Weber said.

“I saw the opening in Fountain Hills and I took a chance.”

Taking that chance paid off, as Weber is now a member of the Falcon flock. He said he was brought on-board in time to host a summer program to get a feel for the team, and regular practices have been going for about three weeks now.

When asked what draws him to the sport, Weber was quick with an answer.

“I love the excitement and intensity of one-on-one matchups and working in a team environment,” he said.

“Unless you’ve played before, you can’t really describe it. Everything happens so quickly. If you make a turnover, you don’t have time to think about it, you just have to make it back and switch to defense. You could score but, two seconds later, you could do something that costs the game.

“I like that there’s a lot of skill involved, but also strategy. It’s a crazy game.”

Most recently working at a Division I program, Weber said he was not too familiar with the Fountain Hills program before coming in.

“I was told there were a lot of seniors on the previous team and that they were successful, making it to the state playoffs,” he added.

“So coming here is something of a fresh start.”

That goes double for the team itself, which is comprised mostly of underclassmen.

Weber explained that, after a large class of seniors graduated from last year’s squad, he does not have a single senior on this year’s roster. There are only five juniors on the team all told, with a large number of sophomores and a handful of freshmen rounding things out.

“I only have one player returning who played significant varsity minutes last year,” Weber said.

“I have another few who were on varsity but did not see any significant playing time. It’s mostly fresh faces.”

In a way, Weber said that can work to the team’s advantage.

“It’s nice because I can teach the game of basketball to them, including set offenses and defenses, as well as fundamentals and working together as a group,” Weber continued.

“It’s like I’ve already told them on a number of occasions, they’re only juniors and sophomores, so they’re going to get better and grow as a team over the years. I think they’ll grow into my system, too, so it can be a positive.”

Weber said he would describe himself as intense but fair.

“At the end of the day, I want to win,” he said.

“I expect my players to have a good attitude. Both in the classroom and on the court, I want them to be positive role models.”

Weber said the team is catching on quickly both on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.

“I like that they’re there to work and get better, and nobody is complaining,” he continued.

“They’re really taking things in, which makes me happy. The more we play together, the better we’re going to get. I’m already seeing things I didn’t see two weeks ago. It might be scary to see what we look like in a month when we’ve had some time to play together.”

The Falcons began their season this week with the long Poston Butte Thanksgiving Classic.

The tournament is spread out across Nov. 23, 24, 25 and 27, with the Falcons beginning in pool play against teams from Apache Junction, Poston Butte and Santa Cruz.

The regular season kicks off next Tuesday, Dec. 1, with a road game against Valley Christian at 7:30 p.m.

The first home game of the season is two nights later on Dec. 3, when the Falcons host Scottsdale Christian at 7 p.m.

“We’re a new team, but my goal is still to make the playoffs and see the guys grow, have fun and learn the game of basketball,” Weber said.

“The fans are going to see a team that works hard and comes to play. We represent the community, and I think if people come out to see us even one time, they’re going to like the product on the floor and they’re going to want to come back again.”