The last two years have seen the Garfield G-Men’s basketball team be the young team, having to go through a transitional period after graduating a talented senior class after the 2021-22 season. This season, the G-Men will be fueled by a six-player senior class and are eager to snap their two-season streak of posting a losing record.
“Right now we are very excited and very optimistic,” Coach Andy Olesky told The Weekly Villager on Nov. 30. “We have come in and hit the ground running. The kids have come in with a great attitude and great energy, a great work ethic and things have been very positive. We have done very well in our scrimmages and our practices have been very intense and hard-working so they are ready to go.”
It marks one of the largest returning senior classes that the 12-year coach has had in his tenure with the program. The 2025 senior class has faced a fair number of challenges but is ready to make those two years count for something in their final season.
Having a deep senior class this year, Olesky said that the G-Men have high hopes of competing in the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier. Since joining the MVAC Grey Tier in the 2020-21 season, the league banner has exchanged hands every season, with Brookfield, Newton Falls, Campbell Memorial and LaBrae each having reigned as champions.
With the balance of power constantly shifting, Olesky said that it has made for an exciting race.
“That makes for a very exciting season because we do have several quality teams and any of them could win on any given night or win the league in any given year,” he added. “It is going to be an exciting and competitive race at the end.”
Garfield’s senior class will be fueled by the core of returning forwards Aiden Hill, Cade Rock, Nick Edic and guard Preston Gedeon.
The 5-foot-8 Gedeon paced the G-Men by averaging 19.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 23 games last year.
“Preston has done a nice job and has had great success and we expect success from him this year because of the quality of kid and the quality of player he is so we are very excited for the season that Preston is going to have,” Olesky said.
The 6-foot-4 Hill returns to anchor the G-Men’s front court after averaging 8.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 21 games last year.
“I have told everybody that Aiden is just a tremendous all-around player who does everything for us,” noted Olesky. “He is a ball-handler, he is a shooter, he is a rebounder, a scorer down low, he is long and just does a little bit of everything for us and is a very valuable part to our team.”
The 6-foot-4 Rock will support Hill in the front court after averaging 6.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 17 contests.
“He was big but missed a little of the first half of the season last year, but when he came in and got healthy, the impact was immediately felt,” Olesky said. “It was just a scoring option down low, a rebounding option on both ends and just a defensive force that alters and blocks an incredible number of shots.”
The 6-foot-4 Edic will help fortify the G-Men’s size advantage after averaging 7.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 23 games.
“Nick is a tremendously valuable part of our team,” Olesky said. “Like Aiden, he does a little bit of everything in terms of ball-handling, defending and rebounding. He is just a calming presence out there too and his presence is not measured in the box score.”
Garfield’s senior class will not be its only advantage according to Olesky, the team’s depth will have between 10-12 players competing for varsity minutes including junior guard Brandyn Bogucki, junior guard Camden Chapman, sophomore guards Oliver Walker and Devin Bates.
“As a coach it is exciting, we can try different match-ups and can try different line-ups, we can mix and match to allow us to do certain things on each and every game night,” Olesky added. “That also brings competition and competition breeds success so kids want the minutes and will be working harder in practice and pushing each other so it is a domino effect.”
After a 75-43 win on Monday against Cardinal, Garfield will host Berkshire at the JAG Fieldhouse in Garrettsville this Friday night at 7 p.m.
