2006-07 Season Preview

After four straight playoff appearances and graduating a total of 16 seniors over the past three years, there are a lot of unknowns about coach Rich Miller’s 2006-07 Mansfield University men’s basketball team.

Miller, who moved up from assistant to head coach last season directing the Mountaineers to a second-place finish in the PSAC East, knows there will be early season growing pains for his youthful team – but also expects to be in the thick of the playoff race by season’s end.

“We’ve been senior orientated for the past three years,” said Miller. “So there’s obviously going to be a learning curve. But I like our guys and know we’re going to get better as the season gets longer.”

Miller will have just five familiar faces to build his team around and only one returning starter in senior guard Terrance Williams. Still he expects to play the same up tempo style that ranked the Mountaineers among the top four scoring teams in the PSAC in each of the last four years including a PSAC East best 81.2 points last season.

With the loss of last season’s top four scorers, Miller will be banking on Williams and junior John Hampton to set the pace early in the season. Both are capable scorers with Williams averaging 8.0 points per game last season and Hampton 7.1 including better than 10 points per game over the last 15 games of the season.

 Point guard Chris Greene played in all 28 games last season including, 10 starts and will be expected to become more of a scorer this season after averaging 6.8 points per game last year. Greene has an explosive step to the basketball and can also hit the 3-ball.

Junior Kevin Hill will see increased minutes after appearing in 25 games last year. The 6-5 guard has shown steady improvement over the past two seasons and is a solid 3-point shooter.

Chris Pender is the only other player on the roster with game experience from 2005-06 when he appeared in the first five games before suffering a season ending injury. He is expected to be fully recovered for the upcoming season.

While the Mounties have experience on the perimeter, they will feature nothing but new faces inside. Brandon Smith is a 6-8 redshirt freshman and a natural shot blocker and could become an inside scoring threat.

Junior college transfer Brandon Lawley will be counted on to bring some experience inside after averaging 11.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game for a 28-3 team last year.

Freshman Jovoun Webb is a 6-4 forward who has been impressive the preseason. A rebounding machine in high school were he averaged 15.5 boards per game as a senior, Webb has also shown an ability to score and will vie for a starting spot.

Fellow freshmen Cory Boone (6-8) and Dhimitri Luarasi (6-7) will also see plenty of action. Boone led Bald Eagle Area to a 24-6 record last season averaging 10.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Luarasi helped his high school team to a 17-3 season in 2005-06 averaging 7.3 points and 10.9 rebounds per game.

Newcomer Wayne Sanders will backup at point guard with Rodney Norris providing depth both at guard and forward.