2024-25 Winter Sports Preview: Nash Dunham provides spark for Mead In wide open Greater Spokane League 4A/3A division
If you surveyed folks involved with boys basketball in the Greater Spokane League 4A/3A division, they would likely tell you two things heading into 2024-25 season. Number one, with the high graduation rate of last year’s all-league players and offseason injuries to some key returning players, the league is as wide open as it has been in recent memory.
And secondly, Mead’s Nash Dunham is poised to be one of the most talked about players in the league this season.
“To hear that, I think it’s a testament to the work I’ve put in,” Dunham said. “I’ve spent countless hours offseason and during season, just putting in the time. … It’s really an honor and a blessing to be like in that conversation. And I will not take that for granted.”
Dunham, a wiry 5-foot-11 guard, may not look like the prototypical MVP candidate in the perennially tough GSL, but his heart and determination far outweigh any perceived physical shortcomings.
“He’s phenomenal,” Mead coach Luke Jordan stated simply. “I say that both as a player, but more importantly as a person.”
Jordan mentioned Dunham’s extracurricular activities such as working on the school’s award-winning yearbook and serving as ASB president in describing Dunham’s character and leadership abilities.
“I love being able to integrate him into what we do from a schematic standpoint, but he’s just the kind of kid every team would like to have in their program. He’s such a strong teammate. He looks to facilitate as often as he looks to score,” Jordan said. “He gets guys involved in school activities. He helps bring kids who are kind of on the periphery from a school standpoint, into more engaging things. I’ve loved having him, you know, since he came his sophomore year, and I think he’s in line for a really, really big senior year.”
Dunham was a second-team all-league pick last year. In an informal poll of coaches around the league, Dunham was listed as one of the league’s biggest impact players heading into the new season. If he flew under the radar last year, he’s not taking anyone by surprise this season.
Jordan cited the “Spider-Man Principle” with Dunham assuming a starring role in the GSL.
“With high expectations, comes a lot of responsibility, of course,” he said. “But I think it’s a role Nash has been ready to accept, willing to accept, and able to accept the last couple of years. He’s one of those kids, just the way he’s built, he wants to shine in the biggest moments. He wants the other teams to be scouting him. He wants the scouting report to focus on him, and he doesn’t shy away from that.”
“It’s nice knowing that I am a figure that teams have to think about,” Dunham said. “But the same time, the wins don’t come for me. They never will come for me. They come from us as a collective.”
Collectively, the Panthers – who finished 9-11 overall and 3-6 in league last season – went 8-1 in the summer league and many have them at or near the top of the league heading into the season.
“We say all the time that summer league outcomes don’t matter,” Jordan said. “But I think there is something to be said about the confidence that comes from wins and losses over the course of the summer.”
The summer league success has fueled preseason workouts and instilled a confidence the boys program at Mead hasn’t enjoyed for quite a while.
“It’s definitely weird, you know, hearing our name in the topic for a GSL championship,” Dunham said. “It’s been 23 years since we last won a GSL championship, and we’ve been talking about that all offseason and, you know, especially in these couple weeks of practices. We have a chance to make history. … We know that it’s up for grabs. We just have to go accomplish it and execute at the highest level.”
“That’s the open nature of the GSL this year.” Jordan said. “I mean, there’s a pathway that we could see Mead High School being GSL champions this year. But I think there’s a lot of coaches right now who are telling their team they could see a path to a league championship this year.
“It’s a really fun time to be in the GSL when one through 10, the door’s open. You know, it’s there for the taking.”
As Dunham said, he doesn’t have to do this alone. Sophomore point guard Karson Maze was an all-league honorable mention last season and junior guard Brady Thornton was voted as team captain as a sophomore.
Jordan said last season he tried to resist the urge to bring Maze up to varsity, but the player dictated his playing time.
“Karson, throughout (last year’s) summer league, throughout fall league, and throughout our tryouts, just made it abundantly clear he was going to be a player that not only could hang with varsity talent, but he started every game for me last year, you know, as a sub 6-foot freshman in the GSL.
And the Panthers finally boast a little size in the paint, as football linemen Vance Gustafson (6-6) and Cooper Daines (6-5) will provide a little muscle.
“We historically talk about how at a size disadvantage we are. And we joke, you know, ‘What are they putting in the water in other places?’ ” Jordan said. “But to have guys who can come in and be a really tough matchup, size-wise, for other teams is an opportunity we have not been afforded so far. I look forward to continuing to see how to work those guys into the mix and allow them to just be big bodies, big size, knowing that they can set screens, roll hard, rebound, finish in the paint, and embrace the fact that they’re multi sport athletes.”
While Jordan’s goal every year is to win league and make it to Tacoma for the state tournament, those things seem more attainable than ever heading into the new season.
“We’re hopeful that with the leadership we have, with the returners that we have, with kind of the variety of skill sets and things that guys bring to the table, we’ve got a really good mix of talent and experience and new talent coming in that can do some really exciting, fun things for us and cause some chaos. We’re looking to do, hopefully, a number of things that haven’t been done at Mead High School in a while.”