The infamous Goats recreational basketball team has made a comeback at De Soto High School with its first game this coming Thursday, Jan. 12 at the Lawrence Recreational Center. Last winter, a group of senior boys began the Goats basketball team, and they reconvened for a second year of Goats basketball.

“We all have a good time and enjoy playing together when it doesn’t have to be taken 100 percent seriously,” senior Matt Graves said. “We’re looking forward to cementing our legacy in the recreational basketball history books … beating up on old men, college kids and the [DHS] juniors.”

That’s right: boys from the junior class have also started a recreational basketball team for this season, calling themselves ‘Deez Nets.’

“We decided to have a rec basketball team this year because none of us play a sport in the winter, and we all like playing basketball. We are all competitive, so we thought it would be a good idea,” junior John Kraus said.

In their first game of the season, the Goats and Deez Nets will face each other for what is predicted to be a very competitive game.

“Our first game is against the junior class team, which will be a pretty big one,” Graves said. “We need a big win to show that the seniors are the best De Soto has to offer.”

Even the freshman class has picked up on the idea of a recreational team, starting one of their own through Olathe Parks and Recreation called the Outcasts.

Though the freshmen will not face the juniors or seniors due to being in separate leagues, the freshmen still believe they will have a lot of strong competition to face.

“We’re like KU. We are every team’s rival,” freshman Adam Baruth said.

As far as future seasons go, each team has a different perspective. The seniors intend this to be the final season for the Goats, as most will play on intramural teams at their universities next year. The juniors, on the other hand, plan to “carry on the legacy next year” as long as everyone is willing and able to play, according to Kraus.

For the freshmen, “that’s too far down the horizon. We take one game at a time, and who knows? Most of us will probably have NBA contracts by next year,” Baruth said.

The boys are excited for the coming season of recreational basketball and have encouraged students to attend their games in Lawrence and Olathe.

“Anyone is welcome to come support the Goats on Thursday nights at the Lawrence Rec Center,” Graves said.