Brian Deadmond has never coached high school basketball at the varsity level.  

However, he’s not nervous and feels prepared to take on his new role as head coach of the Charleston High School boys basketball team.  

After all, he spends plenty of time around many of the players on the team while fulfilling his duties as athletic director and is familiar with spending late evenings at Baker Gym.  

“I enjoy being around these boys,” Deadmond said. “As the AD last year, I was in practices hanging out. I’m kind of a gym rat myself so I enjoy being around it.” 

Charleston is preparing for the upcoming season with optimism after a 13-20 season last year that included a playoff victory in the regional quarterfinals. 

The postseason victory was the first by the program since 2018.  

Charleston had a large turnout of kids who wanted to play high school basketball. 

There are 33 players in the program, meaning Charleston was able to have multiple levels to teach players the fundamentals and get them more live reps in games.  

The Trojans were also able to bring people back to the program that had played previously but decided not to play last year.  

“It’s nice to have the numbers that we’re having,” Deadmond said. “Being able to practice and split up and have two full courts going on at the same time to get guys a lot of reps is nice.” 

Charleston will have 12-13 players on the varsity roster and a senior heavy team with a lot of basketball and leadership experience.  

The Trojans are returning both guards who were among the team lead in points last season. Junior guard Tyler Oakley was second on the team last year in scoring with 306 points, and senior guard Luke Bonnstetter was third with 302 points.  

“It’s super comforting as a coach to know that you’ve got two of your leading scorers back, and you’ve got two guys that can really handle the ball and play really good defense,” Deadmond said.  

Charleston will need to make up for the absence of its top scorer, Adam Rudibaugh, who graduated after last season. The Trojans plan on shooting from range more often, leaning on the offensive strengths of Oakley and Bonnstetter who combined for 120 of the 170 three-point shots made by the Trojans last season.  

Senior Garison Blagg, who is 6-foot-7, should give Charleston some size along with fellow seniors Mason Redfern and Chase Clough, who didn’t get a lot of minutes last year but have gotten stronger in the off season according to Deadmond. However, the rest of the team isn’t super tall, especially compared to some of the Trojan’s opponents.  

Deadmond also said that the Trojans will play a different brand of basketball this season. Instead of a possession-based offense, Charleston aims to play a fast brand of basketball, quickly getting the ball down the court and taking open shots when able.  

Charleston gets its season underway on Tuesday with a home game against Triad, with the Trojans set for their first Apollo Conference matchup on the road against Mahomet-Seymour on December 10.  

Deadmond believes that this team is capable of meeting and exceeding the expectations, if the players buy into the game plan. 

“My goal as a coach here is to create better basketball players and to create better men, and to create people who can go into society and help out,” Deadmond said.  

2024-2025 CHS Boys Basketball Schedule 

Home games are in bold 

*Denotes Apollo Conference game 

^2024 Toyota of Danville Classic at St. Joseph-Ogden High School 

11/26/24: Triad High School 

12/3/24: Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond^ 

12/4/24: Watseka High School^ 

12/6/24: St. Joseph-Ogden High School^ 

12/7/24: TBD^ 

12/10/24: Mahomet-Seymour High School* 

12/13/24: Unity High School (Tolono) 

12/17/24: Robinson High School 

12/20/24: Effingham High School* 

12/26/24-12/28/24: Effingham/Teutopolis Christmas Tourney 

1/3/25: Taylorville High School* 

1/4/25: Newton High School 

1/7/25: Casey-Westfield High School 

1/10/25: Mattoon High School* 

1/14/25: Centralia High School 

1/16/25: Mt. Zion High School* 

1/22/25-1/25/25: Salem Boys Mid-Winter Invitational 

1/28/25: Rantoul High School 

1/31/25: Taylorville High School* 

2/6/25: Mahomet-Seymour High School* 

2/8/25: Rochester High School 

2/11/25: Effingham High School* 

2/12/25: Mt. Zion High School* 

2/14/25: Marshall High School 

2/18/25: Paris High School 

2/21/25: Mattoon High School* 

2/24/25: IHSA Regionals Begin 

Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at ghnewman@eiu.edu.