There is no denying the thought process of the Thomas Jefferson boys basketball team.
Coach Dom DeCicco said the Jaguars’ expectation is to “make the playoffs. As always, we expect to contend and make the playoffs. We’ve been working in practice mostly on continuity and being unselfish.”
With the likes of 6-foot-6 senior center Nick Trklja, 6-3 junior forward Justin Fry and 6-1 junior guard/forward Kane Eggerton back from last season, the Jaguars appear built to make a strong playoff run.
Trklja scored 32 points to lead TJ to a 74-50 victory Nov. 29 against South Allegheny at the MVI Shootout at West Mifflin. Frey finished with 19.
The Jaguars also won their season opener Nov. 28 against Serra Catholic, 79-62, in the MVI Shootout as three TJ players topped 20 points. Fry led with 24; Eggerton and Noah Sear each added 22.
Trklja averaged 18.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in 2024-25 and was a first-team all-section selection. He needs 278 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau for his career.
“I expect Nick to be one of the best players in the WPIAL,” DeCicco said, “but it’s up to him.”
Trklja aims to lead the Jaguars to the section championship, a playoff berth and, hopefully, a win in the WPIAL finals.
“We’ve been working hard on our defense and physicality,” Trklja said.
Fry also scored in double figures last year, averaging 11.9 ppg, and Eggerton tossed in 8.8 ppg. Fry and Eggerton pulled down close to nine rebounds per game between them and will help Trklja on the boards this winter.
Three other key players at TJ include 5-9 senior point guard Josh Gardiner, 6-2 senior forward Brady Kraus and Sear, a 6-2 sophomore guard and a transfer from Seton LaSalle. Gardiner led the team in assists last season.
“We are really looking forward to a great season and making a run in the playoffs,” Kraus said. “Our expectations are to win our section and make a long run in the playoffs. Four of the seniors (Kraus, Trklja, Gardiner, Jeff Raible) have been playing travel basketball together since third grade.”
Raible, a four-year quarterback/defensive back on the TJ football team, is a 6-3 forward. His basketball goal is the same as the Jaguars’ annual football goal — to win a WPIAL title.
“We work hard every day to improve on defense, perfecting our offense, making each other better and playing together as a team,” Raible said. “We want to be a tough (basketball) team to play against. We also want to make the team and program stronger for years to come.”
Kraus is involved in the Best Buddies club at TJ, supporting and spending time with students in the school’s special education programs. Kraus also is a member of Big Jag Little Cub, serving as a pen pal to an elementary school student then having the opportunity to meet his pen pal at the end of the school year.
Kraus already has made his college decision and will continue his career at Carlow, where he will major in elementary education.
“I have committed to playing basketball at Carlow for coach (Jake) St. George,” he said. “They started recruiting me over the summer, and I committed to them in the fall.
“I really like what the coaching staff has to offer and also really enjoy what the school and campus have to offer and appreciate the opportunity to continue playing basketball at the next level.”
DeCicco, who is in his 19th season at TJ, forecasts Peters Township, South Fayette and Baldwin as the teams to beat in Section 3-5A.
“Just because we have a bunch of returning starters and guys with experience does not mean we will have success,” DeCicco said. “If they work, they could be pretty good. But really, it’s all about toughness and if they can get that, we could have a very good year.”
Along with TJ’s veteran floor boss, the Jaguars’ coaching brain trust consists of assistant head coach Bill Corbin and assistants Bill Arre, Ryan Alderson and David Alderson. The four assistants have 65 years of coaching experience between them with Corbin leading with 24 years.
The Jaguars are striving to recover from a subpar 2024-25 season in which they qualified for the WPIAL playoffs but lost in the first round to Chartiers Valley and finished 10-13 overall.
“In practice and offseason workouts, we’ve been working on coming together as a team and improving on our record from last year,” Kraus said. “Although we made the playoffs, I feel our team was better than our record showed. We want to improve on that this year.”
The Jaguars are members of Section 3-5A along with Baldwin, Bethel Park, Peters Township, Ringgold, South Fayette and Trinity.
Baldwin won last year’s section championship with an 11-1 record, followed by Peters Township (9-3), South Fayette (9-3), TJ (5-7), Bethel Park (4-8), Trinity (3-9) and Ringgold (1-11).
Peters Township advanced to the WPIAL finals at Petersen Events Center where it lost a 73-66 decision to Chartiers Valley.