Long gone are the days of the Silver Streaks perenially contending to make a trip to the state finals, ala the John Thiel era. However, coach Mike Reynolds is beginning to put his stamp on the GHS basketball program, and return the Streaks to a higher level fans so desire.

"We improved to 11 wins last season, but are looking to greatly improve on that this season. We were young last season and will be again with six or seven juniors in our top nine," second-year head coach Reynolds said. The Streaks return Victor Davis (6'5" Sr.), who is receiving attention from some mid-major schools, following a junior campaign where he was named Special Mention All-State by the IBCA. Last year, Davis averaged 11 points and 11 rebounds, leading the Western Big 6 in boards and was named All-Conference.

Another Davis is back at GHS, Dalton Davis (6'1" Jr. Point Guard). As a sophomore, he was named Honorable Mention All-Conference, and led the Streaks in scoring (13 points/game). Dalton Davis also shot 39% from beyond the three-point arc. Another junior that saw significant floor time as a sophomore is Brandon Thompson (6'0" Jr. Guard). "(Brandon) started half the games last season and has unlimited potential," Reynolds says.

A trio of players are back in the varsity program after see some time last year. Chad Thompson (6'6" Jr.) was more of an outside threat despite his height, shooting 40% from the three-point line. Garrett Williams (6'2" Jr.) was the leading scorer on the Streaks sophomore team, and the team used Ryan McElmurry (6'0" Jr.) for his stellar defense a season ago.

The Streaks staff is looking to build even further from last year's finish and make a run in the Western Big 6, and the postseason. "We were very competitive last season with the top teams in the area but struggled to get over the hump in the big games. Part to blame was probably being the first year in our new program," says Reynolds.

Now that the Reynolds regime is in year two, what is the 2009-10 prognosis? "We should be better offensively. We need to step up on the defensive end to have a chance to be succesful."

The Western Big 6 has a strong basketball tradition, a some top talent in the conference yet again. League favorite is Rock Island, led by Chasson Randle, but the Silver Streaks would like to give the Rocks a run. "Hoping to contend for the conference title," Reynolds said on the WB6 outlook.

Mike Reynolds enters his second season at Galesburg, as it was a homecoming of sorts for the Orion native, which is located just north on highway 150. Reynolds had spent five seasons as the head coach at Bismarck-Henning, where he won 118 games, against only 39 losses.

It's been nearly a decade since the Streaks claimed a Regional championship (2000-01). Galesburg has a strong hardwood tradition, placing 2nd in Class AA in the Joey Range/Rod Thompson season of 1997-98.

Galesburg won a state championship in 1912-13 under head coach E.W. Hayes, when that team finished 17-1. The Streaks also took 2nd place in 1911-12, 1930-31, 1965-66, and 1967-68. Another trophy came in 1958-59, finishing 3rd.

Legendary coach John Thiel, in which the Galesburg High School gym is named after, led the Streaks to eight state finals appearances in his 18 years of coaching at the school. During that time, he had a coaching record of 398-90.