When most Hillcrest High boys on the school basketball team graduate, they may not be signing with a college team. However, they will be taking some valuable lessons with them.

“I tell our athletes we want them to be good basketball players, but it's more important they leave our program more prepared for life,” Hillcrest head basketball coach Brandon Sluga said. “I want them to learn how to respect others and set themselves up to be prepared for the future to make the world a better place. They have a lot of opportunities to play basketball, but within basketball, there are opportunities to improve as a person. I talk to them and give them little tidbits, when there's teachable moments. As high school kids, they're going to do some exceptional things, and we praise that. When they don't do so well, we try to use that as a teaching moment that we can all learn.”

It's something he learned from his dad.

“My dad was superior at that; he tried to connect everything to life,” said Sluga, who before his coaching career played for his father, then became the University of Utah’s most famous walk-on player, playing for four years, including on the team that played in the NCAA finals in 1998.

Former Bingham High coach and Hall of Famer George Sluga often said he was in the business of building character, which was more important than the wins and losses. Even so, he helped create the winning history and pride within the school, coaching six teams to state titles and accumulating nearly 500 wins.

Brandon Sluga follows that philosophy, recently having opportunities to praise and educate his team.

“The way I started practice today is I told the kids how proud of them I was. I watched film, and in the film, we missed a lot of open shots in our last game, even though we won by 22. But I said, ‘Keep sharing the ball. It's beautiful basketball. We'll make more of those shots. They're going to fall. Just keep sharing it. I'm proud of how you guys love to pass the ball to each other,’” he said. “You can connect that to life. Like, ‘Are you happy when you do something for yourself or are you happier when you do something for someone else?’ Most meaningful things we do in life are team oriented. It’s rewarding to see kids get more excited for their teammate than themselves.”

At the first team practice, Sluga educated freshmen about the importance of team.

“I talked to them about how we should respect each other and how you can't be successful if you're fighting with your teammate. I related it to family and said, ‘There are times where in our family, we don't always get along perfectly, and you don't necessarily agree with each other 100% of the time, but you can respect the person and find common ground to work together,’” he said. “It’s an opportunity to teach them that value.”

Sluga, who has coached at Hillcrest since 2020, also praises his seniors, who have become leaders on and off the court.

“I’m proud of my senior class. This is our first senior class who has made it through our program since Bantam league. They understand the value of teamwork. They do an awful lot together. They're good friends, not just teammates. That's something I can't take a credit for. The neat thing is their friendship shows on the floor. I've coached fun teams in the past, and this is probably the most fun I've had at this level. It's how close the kids are and their desire to be successful. Some things I can't coach, they just have it. They grew up playing with each other, they know how to help and make each other better,” he said.

In fact, the players on their own decided to commit to five hours of basketball per weekday this past summer.

“The main things I did with them was lift weights, occasional open gyms and our spring and summer leagues and tournaments. But it was the boys who wanted to have consistent work and took it upon their own to work out. I have a senior class that really wants to win and do well,” he said. 

That desire to play well combined with playing together for years is showing on the floor as the Huskies started the season 3-1, led by senior co-captain Myles Mahler, who returned from a knee injury.

“We have three guys back who started last year. Myles is like a whole new kid; he had knee surgery, and it's healed up extremely well. He's our leading scorer so far through the first four games. He's averaging 17 points a game, and seven or eight rebounds,” he said, adding Myles’ twin, Anton, and junior Ezra Bell also are returning starters. “It’s been a fun year so far. Even the game we lost, we were right there to win. Those are games we feel like we'll win down the road. We're going to keep getting better.”

Also in his rotation are seniors Guillermo Martinez, Thomas Ashby and Josh Pike, who is a co-captain. Ashby’s younger brother, Tyler, who is a sophomore, also is in the rotation as well as junior Jay Watkins, Grady Court and Jack Bradburn.

The coaches’ preseason poll placed Hillcrest third in region, behind the state’s 4A No. 1 and 2 seeds, Cottonwood High and Murray High, respectively. 

“I told our players we have as good of teams in our region as there are in the state and we can compete with the best of them,” he said. “We play a lot of different defenses. We are a bit smaller and quicker this year so we're trying to make the most of those assets. We're scoring a lot more this year. We do like to get up and down the floor, but we can play half court as well. We’re playing at a high speed and it's a fun brand of basketball.”

The team will play Olympus High and Mountain View High in a tournament late December, followed by Cedar Valley High before Region 10 play begins.

“We'll be well prepared with the start we've had; we're excited to get to region,” Sluga said.

JV and sophomore teams are 3-1, with the freshman team, 4-0.

“It looks like we're starting to see the fruits of those labors for years now. Our Bantam program has about 80 kids again, between fifth and eighth grade; they are going to continue to play and develop. We're building something that's sustainable. Our coaches are working hard to keep kids developing, working on skills and their knowledge. We have parents involved, who are helping facilitate the program,” he said.

Sluga not only is proud of is how well the team has played and fundraised for their uniforms, tournaments and opportunities to play, but also of their academic successes.

“Five boys in the senior class have a combined GPA of 3.5 and three of them have a 3.9. I’m proud of their academics. But there's one boy on the team who has a family situation, and he struggles. We made a goal with him to go to school every day, and I'm proud when he tells me, ‘Coach, I went to school; I made up this, I did that.’ He's making progress toward graduation. Everybody's success is not the same, but everyone can have some success, and those habits bleed over into your team, and you have more success as a group. That young man, he’s building habits that down the road will pay off for him and give him other opportunities outside of basketball,” he said.

That value reflects lessons he learned from his coach and dad, who at 82, will watch some Husky games.

“He’ll still give me tidbits, but if you asked him what the most important things are, it would not be the X's and O's,” Sluga said. “The X's and O's are fun, and that's part of why we love basketball, but the more important part is just helping people grow for their future. Most aren’t going to be like me and stay in basketball. They're going to do other things with their lives, but hopefully those lessons they learn through basketball can help them out along the way.” λ