FROM KEITH GROLLER
Fitting that on one of the rainiest nights we've had in a long time, I checked in with the Hurricanes at Memorial Gym.
That's the Liberty Hurricanes, defending Lehigh Valley Conference champions.
It's one of the best programs in the area; consistent title contenders now for eight years now. In fact, over the last eight years, Liberty is a combined 164-65 and has made the state tournament seven times.
And when I got to the gym door, I found myself outside with one of the many great athletes to shine at Liberty over this glorious eight-year run the basketball program has experienced -- new JV coach Trevor Van Ackeren.
I watched him conduct the JV practice and I sense a rising star in the coaching ranks with Van Ackeren, who was an All-American and Ivy League champ in track at Princeton.
Van Ackeren was a very good guard in his basketball career at Liberty and the Hurricanes could use the savvy and hustle he brought to the position this year after the graduation of several quality guards who delivered in last year's LVC title season.
Here's a closer look:
LIBERTY
Coach: Chad Landis (6th season, 99-40)
Last year: 19-9, 10-4 LVC.
Postseason: Beat CCHS 53-45, and Parkland 66-48 in LVC tournament. Lost to Parkland 62-59 in District 11 4A semis, but rebounded to beat Stroudsburg 66-53 in consolation game. Lost to Williamsport in state tournament.
Staff: Trevor Van Ackeren, new JV coach.
Scrimmages: Already scrimmaged Hatboro-Horsham and Southern Lehigh; will scrimmage at Methacton with Wissahickon at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Openers: host Emmaus on Saturday, Dec. 7 in Yasso-Rothrock Christmas City Classic. Play at Becahi, Fri. Dec. 13.
Key date: Host Reading at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1
Players to watch: Sr. G K.J. Williams; Sr. F DeShawn Oyeniyi; Sr. F A.J. Kocher; Sr. G Martin Santana; Sr. G Daren Seaman (transfer from Freedom); Jr. G Darius Jones; Jr. G Isaiah Avent; Jr. G Trenton Bishop; Jr. G Ludwin Gonzalez; Jr F Anthony Miller.
What's to like: Landis likes having two key guys back in Oyeniyi (making a block at right) and Williams. They averaged 14.6 and 11.4 points per game respectively last year. But he also likes having a lot of unknowns who are looking to prove themselves. "The rest is a bunch of guys who have little or no varsity experience," Landis said. "There's going to be some struggles early I am sure, but these kids are excited to get a chance to play at the varsity level. There's a handful of guys fighting to earn some spots."
What's to worry about: The lack of experience at the guard position and the lack of proven depth overall. "We're going to need our guards to play well for us to be good," Landis said. "We've got some key guys who we know we need to get the ball to, but we need to get five guys on the same page. We need to defend as a group, we need to play in the halfcourt as a group. That kind of meshing in an important situation is going to be a key."
Quotable: "I think we're going to be competitive," Landis said. "But there's going to be a handful of close games and we're going to need to get that experience quick. The league is really going to be competitive this year. Central is probably No. 1 and then you've got Parkland and Becahi and a couple of other teams right behind them. We always say we want to be in that group that's right behind the leaders and chasing them. Early in the year, there will be other teams that will be better than us from an expereince standpoint. But we hope to close the gap as the season goes on. Our goals are always the same. We want to play in meaningful games at the end of the year and that means league, district and state playoffs."
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