Former footballer and sports broadcaster David Icke said, “Today’s mighty oak is just yesterday’s nut, that held its ground.”

This year’s Xavier boys’ varsity basketball team is filled with many great oaks. Three sophomore boys, Brody Hoffmann, Aidan Yamilkoski and Aidan McDermott, have proven that with teamwork and dedication anyone can hold their ground and see their dreams come true, as they join the varsity basketball team this season.

The three boys have history with basketball and their friendship.

“I’ve been playing with the two other sophomores [McDermott and Hoffmann] since the second grade and we  have  always  been  teammates,  so  we  are  used  to  sticking by each other during practices and games,” Yamilkoski said. 

The boys played on Team Iowa Elite in elementary school and together they made some unforgettable memories.

“One of my favorite memories with Aidan [Yamilkoski] and Brody is when we won state in the fifth grade,” McDermott said.

Yamilkoski’s father, Andy Yamilkoski, who has been active in Aidan’s love for the game since the first grade, has been able to witness the boys’ bond growing through the years playing together.

“Brody, Aidan and Aidan have always had a friendly, but competitive, friendship,” Andy said. “I believe that playing on the same team for years created bonds on and off the court and all three of them are very gifted. Their competitive nature tends to motivate each of them to be better.” 

The three boys could not be considered to be achievers today without the support they have given and received from each other. 

“The biggest reason I believe I am able to play on varsity as an underclassman is the encouragement I have received from Aidan and Aidan and them pushing me to try my best,” Hoffmann said. 

Despite Hoffmann, Yamilkoski and McDermott being on varsity as sophomores, they still face struggles playing at a higher level with older teammates.

“Being younger than the other guys on the team makes it hard to gain respect from the upperclassman and gain trust from them on and off the court,” Yamilkoski said. 

However, senior Jack Breitbach has seen the boys’ efforts on the team and they do not go unrecognized by the upperclassmen.

“It doesn’t matter what grade they’re in,” Breitbach said. “Derm [McDermott] and Brody are more quiet and keep to themselves [on the court] and Yamo [Yamilkoski] is more talkative, but no matter how they are, they’re just as much a teammate as anyone else.”

Luckily, the boys face those challenges together and stick by each others’ sides. 

“The boys get through challenges just like they did when they were younger, head on,” Andy said. “You  can’t always teach toughness, you’re either born a willow or born an oak.”

In relation to what Andy said, willows are viewed to have a softer, more delicate bark and oaks are known to have very tough bark. Over the years, these oak born boys have been able to develop a dynamic bond between the three of them, which has helped them value the importance of bonds between teammates.

“The energy has changed, but in a good way. The older we get the more we realize that we need to put our strengths together in order to succeed,” McDermott said.

McDermott is not the only one that has seen a change between the three of them, Hoffmann has seen growth in their bond as friends and teammates as well. 

“The energy between us has changed in only a positive way,” Hoffmann said. “It helps us want to become better players and want to be a part of the game more. Before, we were all stuck in our heads with the idea of being the best and we thought we could only get to that spot independently, but now I know in order for someone to get to the top they can’t do it alone.”

Join the Xavier boys’ varsity basketball team as they take on Iowa City West at Iowa City West at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, January 29 and watch these boys hold their ground and prove that they are great oaks.