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| Senior Tyrie James slam dunks the ball. The regular season begins Friday, Dec. 5. PHOTOs BY MATT PASCARELLA |
A lot of the players trying out for the Windham varsity boys’ basketball team began preparing for the 2025-2026 season since before the fall season began. Windham has made themselves well-known as they’ve won back-to-back state champions in 2024 and 2025, and this naturally makes them a bit of a target with the regular season approaching. However, Windham is well aware of the hard work it takes to accomplish what they have previously and are more than up to the challenge. The team you see step onto the court during the regular season is different from the team that won the gold ball in March. Some of the same players are returning, but this new team is here to carve their own path, not defend an existing one.
“Every year is a brand new group, a brand new identity, and a brand new climb,” said Windham varsity boys’ basketball coach Chad Pulkkinen. “What we did before doesn’t guarantee anything now. “It just reminds us to stay humble, stay hungry, and focus on the day in front of us. We’re attacking this season the same way we always have with work ethic, togetherness, and a growth mindset.”
Expectations will always be there when a team has had a lot of success, but that credit goes to the players who came before this team. The goal for this team is to try to be the best version of themselves they can possibly be.
This year’s motto is ‘entitled to nothing.’ It’s a clean slate for every team at the start of this new season. Success comes from daily habits, not banners on the wall. Tough competition is not new in Class A South; it forces Windham to stay sharp and continue to grow.
In the offseason, the coaches of Windham varsity boys’ basketball challenge themselves just as much as they challenge their players. Pulkkinen and his assistant coaches George McCrillis, Geoff Grigsby, Noah Estey and Chris Sargent reflect as a staff on what worked and what didn’t last season. They provide honest feedback, and each try to improve individually before they start building a plan for the group they have coming in.
As coaches, they believe they have to model the expectations they ask of their players; they can’t just talk about growth and improvement, they need to work toward it. Every coach on this team wants to be better than they were a year ago.
“Our job is to be ready to give this team the best coaching we’ve ever given,” said Pulkkinen.
The team graduated eight seniors last year, so there are some spots to fill in the upcoming season. Seven high-quality players will return and, in that returns a group with a lot of experience and character.
While the roster will be different, the strength of the team is their mindset, maturity and the standards these returning players bring. They understand the work and the culture and are ready to prove themselves. Juniors Landon Wyman and Luke Drottar, and sophomores Sean Lebel and Boston Krainis are all returning; they have been in the varsity environment, learned what it takes and are ready for their turn. The time is now for them to make their impact.
Seniors AJ Moody and Tyrie James will be leaders on the court once again, just like they have been in previous seasons, along with junior Colin Janvrin, who played a major role in the success of last year.
“We just want to be together and as close as we can because we can be nothing without the (underclassmen),” said Moody. “The guys under us bring us up ... we’re relying on them how they’re relying on us. We just want to become a family and build our chemistry as soon as we can. No easy games in our league. Taking it one-day-at-a-time, trying to better ourselves; every day we’re going to get better and better; every team will not be taken lightly.”
James said as seniors and captains their job is to motivate underclassmen and have them give their all. The team has been bonding and spending time together on and off the court to strengthen that bond.
Janvrin said there are going to be some tough games ahead, but they’ve got to battle through that adversity.
While they’d like to earn a third consecutive state championship win, it’s more important to prepare themselves to improve as the season progresses.
“Every program wants to win championships, but we don’t start the season talking about trophies, we talk about habits,” said Pulkkinen. “If our habits are championship-level, the results will take care of themselves.”
The regular season begins on Friday, Dec. 5 at Thornton Academy in Saco at 7:30 p.m. The first home game will be ‘Pat Moody Night’ and is on Tuesday, Dec. 9 against Sanford at 7 p.m. <
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