- October 29th, 2010, 3:09 pm
#326078
Team preview: Liberty
Blue Ribbon Yearbook
Editor's Note: ESPN Insider has teamed with Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook to provide a comprehensive look at all 335 Division I teams. To order the complete 2010-11 edition of Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, visit http://www.blueribbonyearbookonline.com or call 1-877-807-4857.
(Information in this team report is as of Oct. 1.)
COACH AND PROGRAM
The Flames were a slow burn last year but Liberty could be ready to turn up the heat this season. Second-year coach Dale Layer has four starters and six of the top eight scorers back from the fast-finishing 2009-10 team.
Liberty started just 1-5, but then won 14 of the last 25 games, never losing more than two in a row the rest of the way. Not bad for a team that lost its top scorer, Seth Curry, who transferred to Duke, and its coach, Ritchie McKay, to an assistant's job at Virginia. Layer came in with a new system, a new staff, some new players and an old-school work ethic.
"I think we improved as much as anybody around, and when a team does that, works every day and steadily improves, it's fun to be around them," Layer said. "Since no one knew each other much a year ago or any of the coaches or what we were going to run or how we were going to work day to day, I thought we made the best of the situation. We've got great character on our team, an incredible work ethic."
PLAYERS
The Flames have some experience now, too, and a talented backcourt that can carry them back into the thick of the conference race. Jesse Sanders (8.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 4.9 apg) is a tough-as-nails point guard, and the only player in the league to lead his team in rebounding and assists. The 6-3 junior is a terror on the dribble-drive, a demon on the glass and enough of a scorer that defenses can't take him for granted.
"He does anything it takes to compete and win," Layer said. "He's the heart of our team."
The team's leading returning scorer, 6-2 sophomore Evan Gordon (12.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg) returns as a wing guard. The brother of Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Gordon, Jr., and the son of former Liberty standout Eric Gordon, Sr. will be the go-to-guy offensively this year, continuing on the fast track he ramped up to last season.
"Evan went from being a guy just trying to figure out what college basketball was all about to a guy that I thought certainly could have been Big South Freshman of the Year," Layer said. "He had a great spring and summer, and he's developing into a great offensive player with a tough mindset."
The 6-2 Gordon is stronger, 10 pounds heavier up to 195, and has worked hard on his perimeter shooting, though he shot 46 percent last year.
Junior Jeremy Anderson (6.1 ppg, 1.6 rpg) mans the other wing. The 6-4 Anderson underwent off-season surgery on his ankle and knee, bringing his total to five surgeries in four years. He's a heady player, good three-point shooter (.346, 53-of-153) and a steady defender. He is expected back on the floor in early October.
Athletic junior John Brown (16.7 ppg, 11.0 rpg at Roane State [Tenn.] College) should plug into the starting lineup. He's a guard -- a very good one as a second team National Junior College Athletic Association All-American at the Tennessee school -- but at 6-5, he also has good size. Brown also played at The Citadel -- where he averaged 5.0 points and 6.3 rebounds as a freshman -- before Roane, and he's actually a small forward that can even play power forward, if needed. He's an opportunistic scorer around the basket, and can help on the boards.
The height-challenged Flames were still third in the conference in rebounding margin (+1.9) last year, and there's more experience and depth this season among the returning big men. Sophomore Antwan Burress (7.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg) was a revelation around the basket, a "double-double waiting to happen" in the latter part of the season, Layer said. He has added 20 pounds of muscle to his 6-6 frame and is up to 230.
Sophomore Carter McMasters (3.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, .353 3PT) started 11 games last year, and at 6-11, he can give Liberty a larger look, as needed. So can 6-8 freshman Stephen Baird, rated one of the top big men in Texas as a junior when he averaged 11.3 points at Madison High School in San Antonio, the fifth-ranked team in the country then. But Baird sat out last year while being home-schooled, and may have to work to get his chops back.
Joel Vander Pol, who redshirted last year, is a 6-10 freshman with size, too. As a senior at Evangelical Christian in Fort Myers, Fla., he earned all-state honors after averaging 23 points and 14 rebounds.
There's also hope that highly touted 6-6 junior David Minaya (3.1 ppg, 1.8 rpg) can help, though he has to play more physically to get more time at small forward.
"I like the fact that we can play big and play small," Layer said. "We can be versatile and get scoring from different areas."
Along those lines, freshmen Sommy Ogukwe and John Caleb Sanders should fit right in. The 6-7 Ogukwe, who's from Nigeria, was a human highlight reel at Bethel Christian Academy in Leitchfield, Ky., and has the kind of strong, athletic body that can get him on the court right away. He averaged 14.2 points and 17.2 rebounds at Bethel and could be a back-to-the-basket scorer.
Sanders, of Sugar Land, Texas, is the younger brother of Jesse and Thomas, the former Atlantic Sun Player of the Year at Gardner-Webb in 2008. The 6-0 freshman can play either guard spot and has some potential as a scorer.
Chene Phillips, a 6-2 point guard, pumped in 23.1 points and averaged 4.5 assists last season at Renaissance High School in Detroit.
Liberty had some heavy attrition again with forwards Patrick Konan and Bill Weaver and guards Chris Perez and Johnny Stephene all leaving the program. Konan, who averaged 6.9 points and started 24 games, landed at New Hampshire, while point guard Perez went to Stetson.
Graduated Tyler Baker, who could have applied for another year of eligibility after an injury-plagued career, is still recovering from an ACL injury last year, and not likely to return to the team.
BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS
BACKCOURT: A-
BENCH/DEPTH: B
FRONTCOURT: C
INTANGIBLES: B
While there's more experience, freshmen Baird, Phillips, Sanders and Ogukwe all have to provide minutes as important reserves and junior college star Brown is expected to step in and start at forward. The Flames are still young.
"We've got to put it all together and be mature and unselfish," Layer said. "We're a year older in some ways, but we're still counting on a lot of young guys.
Layer's work last year from where the Flames started to how they finished -- a tough out against surging Winthrop in the conference tournament -- proved Layer's coaching props. His motion offense, full of high screens and dribble-drives, proved difficult to defend, and with more offense up front should make the Flames even tougher this go round, though they'll still be undersized most nights against most foes.
--Fumble (1961-2009), RIP
- By Ill flame
- By LU Armchair coach
- By PAmedic
- By Purple Haize