Hendricks Speaks on 2021- 2022 Season

Now that Andy Hedrick's first season as head coach of the Penn Fayette men's basketball team has concluded, he will be able to catch his breath after the whirlwind of a season the team had.  While they finished 10-16 overall and 6-13 in Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) action, Hedrick is excited to see where the program goes.  Considering he was hired shortly before the season, Hedrick tried to lay the foundation for the program and coach the team at the same time.

"I think the late start put us behind where we were catching up the entire season," he said. "It was difficult to implement many things because once the games start, the practices decrease.  I am looking forward to having the opportunity to be in the position from day one next season as well as getting an assistant coach to help me out."

Despite Hedrick's late start and the team's record, they were in a lot of close games.  He spoke about it and the challenges he and the team faced.

"Even though we were behind, we were competitive against all the good teams," he said. "In our four games with Mont Alto, York, and Wilkes Barre, it came down to the final minute before the outcome was determined.  All three of them were in the top five of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA).  I think the biggest struggle was building the culture that I want here.  The players lost the coach who recruited them right before the season and I believe a lot of them did what was natural and that was to look out for themselves.  When you don't have the time to build trust, then human nature is not to work together.  I feel like that team attitude is growing more now that the season is over with the players coming back.  To put into perspective how unfamiliar things were, I didn't even know all the players' names when we started practices. That had to be difficult for them as well. We had a group of players who are talented basketball players.  They showed that in being the fourth best scoring team in the USCAA. We need to work on bringing them together and doing the dirty work like playing defense and rebounding.  The biggest hurdle this year was working to get to the attitude that we want to have."

Hedrick saw development in different aspects.

"I think the biggest growth was in some of our maturity," he said. "Early in the season, we dealt with a lot of emotional outbreaks and it was tough.  We got better as the season went on.  We still have a way to go, but I think it is going the right direction."

Hedrick spoke about several including Dom Boring (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster HS), Tave Mozie (McClellandtown, PA/Albert Gallatin HS), Mo Freeman (New Castle, DE/Salem Community College), Dasilas Jones (Fairmont, WV/Fairmont HS), Will Hagwood (Willoughby, OH/Willoughby HS), Matt Forbes (Verona, PA/Massabutten Military Academy) and Gavin Postlethwait (New Martinsville, WV/Magnolia HS).

"I felt that Dom is a leader who we will use to build for next year," Hedrick said. "Tavian finished a tremendous career scoring over 1,000 points and Maurice was an energetic player who was recognized as 'Player of the Week' in the conference one week.  I think Dasilas will be the best point guard in the conference next year.  Will had a great year as a freshman and finished very strong.  Matt is a team guy who brought a lot of energy off the bench all year.  Gavin improved greatly throughout the season as he was our only big man."

Hedrick spoke about the offseason, recruiting and also showed appreciation.

"Our main goals for the offseason are to get our current players on a lifting program to get stronger and to bring in players who will help us get better and provide competition for players who are already here," he said. "Recruiting is a lot of fun.  We are in the running for some very good players.  It comes down to how many of these players we will get.  When you go after good players, they have a lot of options and these are the types of players that we want to bring to Fayette.  Lastly, I would like to thank the administration, and particularly (Fayette Director of Athletics) Steve Oberly and (Fayette Athletic Coordinator) Sam Swetz, as they provided a great deal of support and guidance for me in my first season."

For more information on the men's basketball team, go to https://www.psfathletics.com/sports/mbkb/index or follow us on Instagram @fayetteathletics.