Ruder earns Player of Year honor
When the 2025-2026 basketball season was about to tip-off back in early December, Hays High’s Sean Dreiling knew that he had three legitimate experienced players in Dawson Ruder, Izaac Fox and Trey Oakley.
That trio of experienced starters produced just as Dreiling had hoped, carrying the Indians to a perfect 8-0 record to win the Western Athletic Conference and finish out the season with a stellar 19-5 win-loss record.
“We knew we could count on those guys,” Dreiling said of his three seniors. “We wanted to find ways for each of them to provide a better scoring punch and to provide leadership to our younger players.”
Ruder, a 6-6, 250-pound power-packed center (See story below), provided the inside punch for Dreiling, averaging a team-high 18.9 points per game, an increase of more than 5 points from his junior season’s 13.14 average. Fox, a 6-4 wing, averaged 13.6 points and a team-leading 8.6 rebounds. Ruder was next on the boards at 6.8. Oakley was No. 3 in scoring at 8.6 and tops in assists at 3.2. Fox was close behind at 3.0 assists.
“The biggest question we had was at the guard position,” Dreiling said. “We had some talented, but young, inexperienced players and we ended up doing that by committee.”
The two who played a central role in that were 5-11 senior Brody Harmoney and 5-9 sophomore Bryce Homeier.
“Harmoney hit 37 percent from 3-point n the WAC and Homeier did a lot of good things. He made a lot of plays and is a pesky defender. Noah Smalley and Andre Pfeifer played key roles for us, too.”
The Indians got off to a fast start in December, going 6-2 while playing in two tournaments and making the title game in each. The losses were to Life Prep Academy from Wichita and Class 3A power Rock Creek.
“I think when we came back from the holiday break, we came up with some big wins,” Dreiling said. “We lost in OT to Manhattan but came back a few days later and beat Emporia (unbeaten at the time) and won that game. It was a big confidence boost for our kids.”
Dreiling’s squad would then go on a run that saw them win 12 of 13 games, rolling through the WAC like a runaway locomotive. They averaged 63.25 points in the 8-0 run to the title while giving up just 40.25 points.
“I’m very proud of the WAC title,” Dreiling said. “We made a big emphasis to improve our defense, and I think we accomplished that. I think we hit our stride in late January and early February.
“The WAC had a lot of good players – every school had somebody who could score and you had to pay attention and I think our defense was just greatly improved.”
One of the other major switches was a change in the offense, Dreiling said.
“We wanted to be able to put the ball into Dawson’s and Izaac’s hands and then they could feed off each other,” Dreiling said. “We had a lot of high-low situations and could pound the ball inside. It was just such a coachable group.”
Hays’ Ruder plays it big to earn WAC Player of Year award
Since he was a youngster around the age of 5, Dawson Ruder envisioned the day he would one day don the scarlet and gold uniform of the Hays High Indians varsity basketball team.
He got that first opportunity as a freshman to help the Indians to their second WAC title in his four-year career.
With a team-high 18.9 points per game average to go along with 6.8 rebounds and 2 assists, Ruder, a powerhouse 6-6, 250-pound center, earned the WAC Player of the Year as voted upon by the conference coaches.
“I’m fortunate to have great teammates and coaches and I’m honored to be named player of the year,” Ruder said during a telephone interview just 10 minutes after learning he was the recipient. “When coach called me in to say we had a phone interview, I guessed maybe something like this was going to happen.”
Ruder recalled his youthful days when watching the Indians and then witnessed his other brother and sister playing for the Indians.
“It means a lot to play here and represent the school and the community,” Ruder said. “The WAC has always been important in our schedule, and to go undefeated was a real special accomplishment.”
Ruder is the first to credit his teammates for his success over his four-year career in which the Indians won two WAC titles and finished second the other two.
“The big thing is we trust each other and then we re-shaped the offense in the offseason,” Ruder said. “Izaac (Fox) was our No. 4 and he has a lot of experience too, and we could play at a faster pace. There were not many things I hadn’t seen, and the guards did a great job of finding me.”
The big highlights of his season came in the victory over previously unbeaten and No. 3-ranked Class 5A Emporia and then a victory in the final regular season game at rival Great Bend to complete the 8-0 WAC record.
“We’re always fighting for the win against Great Bend, and it was the first time I’ve won in that gym,” Ruder said. “It was just the best way to finish out the WAC season.”
In his senior year, Ruder had career highs of 35 points (twice) and another 33-point outing while his rebounding high was 15 boards. During the Class 5A sub-state, Ruder became the all-time leading career scorer with 1,147 points and finished with 505 career rebounds.
“The one thing I can say about Dawson is that he was consistent in the way he played,” coach Sean Dreiling said of his graduating senior. “I’m already missing him for next season. You don’t replace what he has done for our program.”
In his four-year career, Ruder and his team won 58 games and lost just 31 while going 26-6 in the WAC.
Joining Ruder on the all-WAC first team was his teammate, Izaac Fox; senior Jacob Hall and junior Cooper Ohnmacht of Great Bend and senior Ty Scheck of Dodge City. Dreiling was voted Coach of the Year by his peers.
2025-2026 Team Standings
| SCHOOL | RECORD | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hays | 8-0 |
| 2 | Great Bend | 6-2 |
| 3 | Garden City | 4-4 |
| 4 | Dodge City | 2-6 |
| 5 | Liberal | 0-8 |
ALL CONFERENCE BOYS BASKETBALL
| FIRST TEAM | CLASS | SCHOOL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dawson Ruder | 12 | Hays |
| 2 | Jacob Hall | 12 | Great Bend |
| 3 | Izaac Fox | 12 | Hays |
| 4 | Ty Scheck | 12 | Dodge City |
| 5 | Cooper Ohnmacht | 11 | Great Bend |
Coach of the Year: Sean Dreiling, Hays
| SECOND TEAM | CLASS | SCHOOL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Monarrez | 12 | Garden City |
| 2 | James Fieser | 12 | Liberal |
| 3 | Trey Oakley | 12 | Hays |
| 4 | Cru Lembright | 11 | Dodge City |
| 5 | Jalen Jagels | 12 | Garden City |
