Many players gather around varsity boys basketball head coach Trevor Lenear laughing and joking around after a long day of practice.

“It’s just creating a fun environment, holding them accountable, and also you got to be able to have fun in practice,” Lenear said. “I think one thing that allows us to create that environment is that I’m an open book. I know that guys can always ask me anything and that leads to fun conversations about different aspects of life.”

Many coaches from football to track have come and gone from Bellevue East to move on to other things. This season is no exception, this is Lenear’s first season being the head coach for the varsity boys’ after Chad Mustard moved on.

“Trevor Lenear is the new coach, he’s a great coach,” junior Isaac Elmamoun (Gore) said. “It’s his first year so things aren’t always going to go as planned but by next year we will be different.” 

Even though it is Lenear’s first year as a head coach for varsity basketball, he was on the coaching staff before being head coach. This gave him more experience with the players. 

“All of last year to be honest, ‘cause when I was playing for him on JV it was kind of an honor so he kind of like put a lot of games into my hands,” Gore said. “It kind of got me ready for this year and I’m going to be even better next year ‘cause it’s a good thing to have that happen.”

 Before Lenear even became a teacher at East, he played basketball in college as well as in high school.

“Coach Lenear has a lot of experience playing college basketball so I listen to what he says ‘cause I know he has that experience already and he has helped me improve a lot of play-making things and help me improve a lot in my leadership skills,” senior Kael Walker said.

Lenear’s experience in college has influenced his coaching. He uses what he learned from his coaches and puts it into his coaching.

“My two biggest role models are the college coaches that I had when I played college basketball,” Lenear said. “I talk to them about once a week and get guidance from them and they kinds of who I look up to as coaches.”

The coaching strategies that Lenear has been using have been noticed by the players themselves. One of the players who noticed what Lenear was doing was Walker.

“He is a really good motivator for us. He is always good at finding videos and quotes or preparing us for games with different goals and quotes,” Walker said. “One quote that comes to mind is to have the memory of a goldfish. Goldfish apparently do not have a large memory span and so coach uses this to help remind us when things go bad to get it out of your head and move on.”

Coaching is not the only important thing to Lenear. Learning more about the players on the team and building strong relationships is just as important.

“Building relationships is something that I pride myself in,” Lenear said. “Getting to know the guys as people before basketball players is one thing that I think is very important for myself and my staff. Just getting to know the guys and interacting with them in a positive way but also holding them accountable. cause I know if we are letting them off the hook they won’t be able to grow as individuals.”