Frostburg Men’s Basketball is Back
With tryouts and final cuts finished, the 2015-2016 Men’s Basketball pre-season is under way. In his 16th season at the helm, head coach Webb Hatch leads a 21 man roster as we approach the upcoming season. The team returns 14 players, 8 whom are seniors. “Our most experienced players are at shooting guard and small forward,” says Hatch.
Senior James Peters enters his final season after missing all but 1 game last year. “Taking off a year was tough to watch, but I worked hard over the summer and now we have a better team, now that I think we have a lot more threats both on the wing and in the post areas.”
Peters’ backcourt mate Nick Smoot is the longest tenured player in the backcourt entering his 4th season playing for the team. Smoot led the team in scoring last season with 12 points per game.
“I think this upcoming season is going to be a good one. We have a lot of new faces so chemistry is the one thing we have to build on, but once we get that, we should be rolling,” says Smoot.
“We will miss our starting frontcourt players Jabari Kamau and Tyler Campbell but them leaving opens the opportunity for talented players such as Terrell Goodman and Zachary Coalman.”
Post player Zachary Coalman looks to build on an impressive freshman season that saw him lead the team in blocked shots and break the school record for blocks in a single game.
The team has quite a few changes to adjust to in the upcoming season as well. After the departure of 8 year coaching assistant Sean Brown, the Bobcats bring back former player Maurice Williams as the new assistant coach.
Williams spent last year as an assistant at the Capital Athletic Conference champions, Salisbury University.
“Coach Williams is very familiar with the system which was one of the reasons I hired him,” says coach Hatch. Williams was a member of the Bobcat team from 2009-2012.
The Bobcats also named Bradley Johnson as the new graduate assistant coach after the graduation of coach Schmitt.
The Bobcats have 8 new players on the roster, 4 whom are freshman. “Freshman Tavari Merriman shows a lot of promise. He’s still learning the offense but we expect his playing time to increase over the course of the season,” says Hatch.
6’7 post Johnson Ogunyoye bolsters a versatile frontcourt with 4 players standing over 6’5.
The team’s first test of the pre-season (at press time) is against Potomac State College, which is where Senior Breon Powell started his college basketball career.
“It will be good seeing the coach and old teammates, [Potomac State] is where I learned the fundamentals. Coach Anderson taught me a lot about the game, but I will approach the game the same I would any game.”
Saturday’s starting lineup consists of: Quinton Dodson playing point guard, Nick Smoot at shooting guard, James Peters starting at small forward, Zachary Coalman and Shawn Henson in the post.
The Bobcats officially open the season on November 16th away against Mount Aloysius in Cresson, PA.
The Bobcats will then host the FSU Tournament on November 21-22, which will include Hood College, Randolph Macon and St. Vincent.
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