West Central High School boys basketball coach Doug Dennison just finished his 3rd season as head coach of the varsity squad. The Heat won ten games this past winter, the most since winning ten games in back-to-back seasons in 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 under then-head coach Mike Kelley. Dennison’s squads have seen steady improvement in his three seasons, going from one win in ’23-24 and six wins in ’24-25. More good news for the future of Heat basketball is that the three leading scorers will be back when the season starts next winter. A pair of underclassmen led the team in scoring last year with then-freshman Sam Deverell and then-sophomore Graham Kelly both scoring over 13 points per game. Kelly was also the leading rebounder. Actually, four of the starting five players from last season will be back this coming season.
All that positive momentum has Dennison excited about the future.
The Heat varsity will play five games this weekend at the annual Monmouth College Shootout in the Huff Center. West Central will play three games on Saturday, at noon vs. Burlington Notre Dame, at 3:00 against Central Lee, Iowa and at 5:00 against Elmwood. They will play two more games on Sunday, at noon against BPC and at 3:00 against West Burlington.
The Heat JV squad will also have five games in the JV Shootout at Monmouth-Roseville High School on Saturday and Sunday.
For the full interview with Coach Dennison, go to the SPORTS PODCAST section.
