Jude Binkley is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Mesquite for AZPreps365.com. 

This year the Mesquite boys’ basketball team will be headed by junior point guard Nate Calmese.

Calmese is the only returning starter from last year’s roster. He averaged a team-best 22.1 points on a team that finished 14-4 overall and made a run to the state semifinals.

While nine players from that roster graduated, Calmese has high expectations for what this year’s squad can accomplish.

“Last year’s team was really good. We made it to the elite eight, I think we could have made it farther,” Calmese said. “But this team is really talented so I think we could do better than the team last year, but we’ve got to work way harder than we did last year.”

The 6-foot-3 guard is ranked as the No. 8 recruit in Arizona for the class of 2022. He has received scholarship offers from Nevada, Portland State and UC Santa Barbara.

Calmese’s main goal after high school is to find a big college that’s a good fit for him.

While Calmese shines on the court, basketball wasn’t his first sport. As a child, he was a swimmer and was drawn to basketball during seventh grade. He started playing because he always had a love for the sport and the intensity it brought.

Calmese started out with the Wildcats by splitting time between the junior-varsity and varsity teams his freshman year. By the beginning of his sophomore year, he was a starter on varsity and consistently led the team in scoring.

Off the court, Calmese likes to play video games, mainly Call of Duty and NBA 2K.

Calmese’s teammates describe him as funny, outgoing, and a leader.

“When things come up everybody looks to talk to me, I’m the vocal person on the team and in practice I have to bring energy,” Calmese said.

The Wildcats will be under coach Shawn Lynch this year, who has been with the team for just over a month. Last year Lynch coached and taught at Eastmark High School, after serving in administration at several schools around the Valley.

Lynch says in his short time coaching Mesquite he can tell that Calmese is an unselfish scorer, deceptively quick and a smart player. Off the court, Lynch says that he is respectful, polite and a leader.

This year Calmese has goals to elevate the aspects of his game outside of scoring. He wants to lead the team in scoring, rebounding, and assists. A feat that Lynch also believes he can accomplish.

“Nate’s going to be the leader,” Lynch said. “He was the leading scorer off of a very good team stacked with seniors last year. Nate’s going to be the leader in all facets, he’s going to need to be, and other guys are going to need to reach his level.”

Part of that will involve the team playing to its best potential this season. Expectations remain high, and Calmese’s playmaking and scoring will be pivotal for the team’s success as they look for another run to state.

“We want to play up to our maximum ability,” Lynch said. “In terms of expectations outside of that, it’s like everybody else, we want to do as well as we can. The goal is really to maximize our potential as individuals and as a team.”

The Wildcats open the season on Dec. 1 when they host their rival Gilbert Tigers.