MBB, Success is the goal this season
A year ago, Penn State Fayette head men's basketball coach Andy Hedrick got a late jump on things when he was hired near the beginning of the start of the season. In fact, he was hired so late that he didn't have an assistant coach.
Hedrick knew getting someone on board for this season was vital, and he did just that in hiring Dewayne Jackson.
"One of the biggest things that helps with my second season is that I have an assistant," Hedrick said with a tone of relief. "Dewayne has come up from Atlanta, Georgia. He was a high school coach there. We are working on developing the attitude that we need to have to be successful both on and off of the court."
The Nittany Lions return two starters in Dasilas "Si" Jones (Fairmont, WV/Fairmont HS) and Dom Boring (Lancaster, OH/Lancaster HS).
Jones averaged 21.6 points per game last season and will serve as the point guard while Boring averaged 11.6 points per game and will be the small forward.
Other key returning players are Matt Forbes (Verona, PA/Massabutten Military Academy), Carlton Canaday (Williamsburg, VA/Peninsula Catholic) and John Loughrie (Kingwood, WV/Preston HS). Forbes averaged 6.5 points per game, Canaday came in at 3.7 points per contest and Loughrie averaged just under one point per game in limited time.
Three players transferred in: Xavier Boyd (Loganville, GA/Grayson HS) from Garrett Community College, Torian Jenkins (Tinley Park, IL/Naperville North HS) from Union College (and also played at Pitt-Greensburg) and Kyle Woods (Conneaut, OH/Conneaut HS) from Penn State Shenango.
The team also has three new freshmen: Javon Watson (Baltimore, MD/Overlea HS), Dylan Holmes (Bentleyville, PA/Bentworth HS) and Garrett Etling (Connellsville, PA/Connellsville HS).
What is Hedrick setting as team goals?
"We want to compete every night, improve throughout the year, and get (back) into the PSUAC playoffs," he said. "The key to our season will be how well we defend and rebound. We have people that can score, so I believe we will be able to put up points. The big thing will be our ability to rebound as we are a small team, and we have to defend to be able to get into the running game we want on offense."
Who does Hedrick see as favorites in the PSUAC West?
"I think the West will be strong, and Mont Alto is always tough," he said. "Greater Allegheny and New Kensington return a lot of players. However, I think that all of the teams will be tough to beat on any given night."
What differences has Hedrick seen from last season?
"So far, our approach has been more focused than a year ago, but we have a lot of room to improve in all areas," he said. "We have the potential to be a very competitive team if we can put everything together."
For more information on the men's basketball team, go to https://www.psfathletics.com/sports/mbkb/index or follow us on Instagram @fayetteathletics.
Article By: Bill Hughes