Senior Drew Blanton has been starting on the varsity basketball team since he was just a sophomore. As his last season playing for Chelsea basketball quickly approaches, Blanton continues to put in the hard work in order to help his team become the best they can be for the 2024-2025 season.
“He has the best work ethic I have ever seen,” senior Gavin Busch said. “He’s a great basketball player because of all the work he puts in over the summer. If I’m in the gym during the summer he’s always in the gym before me. He is always in the grind.”
Blanton’s drive is obviously strong, but it is also contagious. He strives to push himself and his teammates to outwork the other teams, even in the preseason.
“Some of the other guys on the team and I have been working out together every day, doing conditioning workouts, going to the gym together, lifting together,” Blanton said. “We’re all working super hard together to try and prepare, and build that bond.”
Blanton is eager to get out on the court and play. His teammates find this admirable and can see how much he really cares about this season.
“He is always ready,” senior William McCalla said. “What is really special about Drew is his attention to detail. He holds himself to a very high standard and that’s what makes him such an amazing player.”
Another thing that is very unique to Blanton is his radiating positivity. He is always lifting his teammates’ spirits up.
“He always brings a positive mindset. I’ve never seen him negative with the team at all,” Busch said. “If you mess up, he always brings you up. He’s like, don’t worry about it. It’s only one mistake. He’s such a good guy to be around. Overall, he creates a really good chemistry within the team.”
Blanton’s positive mindset is clear as he discusses this upcoming season. He has high hopes for the future.
“I feel great,” Blanton said. “We keep saying that it’s a reloading year, not a rebuilding year. We’re reloading with new guys and new talent. We’re working super hard every day to make sure that we live up to what we got to last year. And we don’t just want to make it to the same spot we made it to last year. We want to win the whole thing this year.”
The basketball team graduated a significant number of seniors last year; Blanton has already considered the effects this will have on the team.
“I’ll just have to be more of a leader,” Blanton said. “Obviously there will be a lot of shots opening up, so there’s a lot more scoring opportunities. Not just for me, but for everybody. We just have to fill in the scoring roles and continue building on leadership roles. Those are the two big things.”
As Blanton prepares to step up and take on the challenge of becoming a leader on the team, his fellow teammates have no doubt that he will thrive.
“He will be a great leader,” McCalla said. “Just between his talent and how good of a guy Drew is, I am sure that he’s going to do great this season.”
Busch shares McCalla’s confidence in Blanton and adds further insight into how he will be an admirable leader.
“He leads by everything,” Busch said. “He leads by example, he helps you out if you’re struggling. He’s just a great guy. He’s a great leader. I wouldn’t want anyone else.”
