<p>ANNAPOLIS, Md. – A year ago, Navy got off to one of its best starts in recent history despite playing with one of the youngest lineups in the country. And despite hitting a few road bumps during the Patriot League season, the Mids still finished with its best mark in six years. </p>
<p>With a strong nucleus back from last year’s team, the Mids appear poised to make a dent in the upper echelon of the Patriot League standings. </p>
<p>“We feel this will be the deepest team we have had here, in terms of talent, athleticism and experience. We have a lot of different lineup options,” said Navy head coach Billy Lange, who enters his fourth year in charge. “We will still have times where we will be very youthful on the floor, but our program is not young anymore. All the upperclassmen have played quite a bit and even the sophomores on this team can provide a lot of leadership, because of the roles they played last year. That is a valuable asset to have.” </p>
<p>Lange will have just two seniors on the team, but the 11 returning players have a combined 183 starts among them. </p>
<p>“Obviously, our strength will be in the backcourt with Sprink and Kina,” added Lange. “Chris Harris and Derek Young both gained experience at the point some last year. We have added a couple of traditional big men in Mark Veazey and Jeremy Wilson, and with Ben Biles and Brian Richards, gives us some depth in the post that we haven’t had here.” </p>
<p>Seniors</p>
<p>One of two seniors on the squad, team captain Greg Sprink, is coming off a fantastic junior season. He earned second-team All-Patriot League honors, despite leading the league in scoring and being the only player in the Patriot League to rank in the top 10 in all three major offensive categories (in all games played). He is one of five Navy players to have scored 1,000 points by the end of his junior year and his 507 points last year were the third most for a Navy junior behind just David Robinson and Vernon Butler. </p>
<p>The other senior back is center Ben Biles. Biles will be counted on this year in a bigger role. He was playing well in the spring and summer before a foot injury sidelined him for about four months. His production will be vital in terms of leadership among the big men. </p>
<p>“Both of these guys have really evolved as leaders,” said Lange. "With Sprink, we know what he can do. He is a great player that we are going to ask to do more this year. He has worked very hard in the offseason, getting stronger and more in shape and it has shown in the preseason. I am excited for what he has done to become a better leader, not only on this team, but as a future officer. </p>
<p>“Biles had an unfortunate injury last spring which sidelined him for a long time,” said Lange. “He has been working hard to get back into shape and will really contribute for us this year.” </p>
<p>Juniors
Navy’s junior class of five players have been a big part of the program’s resurgence and figure to play a very key role during the upcoming season. </p>
<p>“This group was our first recruiting class, and it seems like they have been around forever,” said Lange. “They really understand what our basketball program and what the Academy is about and they are ready to blossom this year. They have strength in numbers and the way they can lead. Each guy has gotten significantly better since their freshman year. We are very optimistic about the future of this group.” </p>
<p>Leading the pack will be guard Kaleo Kina, who struggled with consistency a year ago after showing signs of brilliance as a freshman en route to 2006 Patriot League All-Rookie Team honors. Kina averaged 9.2 points per game, good for second on the team, and was a strong shooter connecting on 43.8 percent of his 224 field-goal attempts. However, for the second straight year, Kina struggled with turnovers, a fact that Lange stresses must get better as a junior. </p>
<p>Helping Kina in the backcourt will be a pair of other guards in Bryce Brigham and Clif Colbert. </p>
<p>Brigham has appeared in 57-of-58 games while at Navy, connecting on over 37 percent of his 133 three-point attempts in that span. A fiery player that has improved significantly on the defensive end, Brigham may find himself seeing more playing time this year after a solid summer. </p>
<p>The other junior guard returning is Colbert, a physical, aggressive, defensive-minded player. Colbert saw his minutes increase as the year went on a year ago, filling up the statsheet whenever he got a chance. He scored eight points with five steals in just 14 minutes against Bucknell, then added seven rebounds in just 13 minutes in a road win at Lafayette. Colbert has a knack for being in the right place at the right time and gets to the basket aggressively. He could play a big role on a team filled with strong outside shooters. </p>
<p>Adam Teague, a 6-8 junior forward and last year’s most improved player, ranked fourth on the team in scoring, despite playing just 22.6 minutes per game. A strong outside shooter, Teague connected on 43 percent of his 117 (36.8 percent) three-point attempts as a sophomore, but in a 23-game span from Nov. 14 to Feb. 10, he was 40-of-96 (41.7 percent) from beyond the arc. At 6-8, Teague has the ability to stretch the defense. </p>
<p>The lone big man returning among the juniors is 6-9, 235-pound forward Brian Richards. The local product of Stevensville, Md., was called up from the JV midway through the season and appeared in 12 games, all in a reserve role. Richards has worked hard on his game all summer long and should see an expanded role this year. </p>
<p>Sophomores
Last year’s freshmen class scored the fourth-most points for a freshman class in school history and the group figures to be a strong point for the next three years. </p>
<p>“This class is very skilled and coachable,” said Lange. "After being in the mix last year, they know how hard they need to play and what is expected of them. </p>
<p>“Chris and Derek will have the ball in their hands a lot this year running the point, and T.J. has very good skills. He played out of position last year, and I think this year we will see his true skill set come out,” said Lange. “Scott has tremendous upside. He just needs game experience to match up with that.” </p>
<p>Leading the returning core is T.J. Topercer, a physical forward that likes to mix it up inside, but can also step out and hit the three-pointer. Topercer set a school record for scoring the most points by a freshman in his first career game when he tallied 17 points (15 in the second half) of Navy’s season-opening win over Loyola (Md.) last year. He also scored 11 points in his first career Army-Navy game and averaged 9.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 1.0 apg in just 22.5 minutes against the Black Knights last year. He ended the year as being Navy’s top three-point shooter by percentage (40.9 percent; 18-of-44) and shot a remarkable 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from beyond the arc in Patriot League games. </p>
<p>Guard Chris Harris is back after a good freshman season. He averaged 3.5 ppg and 1.4 rpg and led all Navy players with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.30. Harris showed flashes of brilliance last year, including a 21-point, four-assist, four-rebound performance in just his fourth career game, an 87-76 win over Stony Brook, and a 12-point showing against Bucknell on national television. However, throw out the 9-of-13 performance behind the arc in those two games, Harris was just 15-of-62 (24.2 percent) from three-point land in the other 28 games. Lange is looking for more consistency in year two from Harris, who will be asked to man the point guard spot more often during the coming year. </p>
<p>Guard Derek Young had an outstanding summer and will also compete for a starting job. Young played in 28 games a year ago and while he is known much more for his defensive prowess and intensity, Young’s offensive game improved drastically in the offseason. </p>
<p>The X-factor of the class, and perhaps the whole team, is forward Scott Brooks. Brooks has perhaps the most athletic talent of anyone on the team, but needs to develop more consistency. He played in 13 games with his most-significant action coming against Patriot League champion, Bucknell. </p>
<p>Freshmen
For the fourth straight year under Lange, this year’s rookie class may be relied upon heavily once again. </p>
<p>“We feel once again that we went out and got players that will contribute right away,” said Lange. “We are really excited about this group’s athleticism and toughness.” </p>
<p>With just two true post players on the roster in senior Ben Biles and junior Brian Richards, a pair of freshmen may be counted on significantly on the interior. The only difference from the past is that the duo are more traditional centers that play with their back to the basket. </p>
<p>Mark Veazey prepped at powerhouse Meadowcreek in suburban Atlanta, playing alongside Michigan State recruit Chris Allen and Teondre Williams, who is garnering interest from Florida, Illinois and Tennessee. Veazey was one of the top players at the Chick-Fil-A Tournament over Christmas break last year, averaging a double-double. He finished his senior season with 14.4 ppg and 10.2 rpg average. </p>
<p>Jeremy Wilson, meanwhile, was the South San Antonio MVP and was one of the top 50 players in the state of Texas as a senior, averaging 19.4 ppg and 7.3 rpg at O’Connor High School. Both players stand 6-10. With Biles also standing 6-10, it marks the first time in school history Navy will have three 6-10 players on the same team. </p>
<p>“We have added size and recruited a pair of traditional centers in Mark Veazey and Jeremy Wilson that will rebound and block shots and help our interior defense significantly,” said Lange. “They are an athletic pair and could see the court at the same time together. Their potential is limitless. They won’t be great scorers this year, but could evolve into that later in their careers. They do a lot of little things well, and will give us a true inside presence this year and down the road.” </p>
<p>Guards Romeo Garcia and Greg Brown round out the incoming class. Garcia, who is 6-4, 202 pounds, averaged 15.3 ppg and 6.7 rpg as a senior at Cypress Creek High School (Texas) and spurned interest from Army and Air Force to attend Navy. He was a Class 5A All-District player and can do a lot of things well. </p>
<p>“Garcia is a complete basketball player. He has terrific court awareness and is an outstanding defensive player,” added Lange. “His development this year will be tightening up his skills, but he can play a lot of different roles.” </p>
<p>Brown is a local player from St. Mary’s Ryken in the powerful WCAC Conference. He was the second-leading scorer on his squad, averaging 15.1 ppg, playing on a team with several Division I prospects, including West Virginia signee John Flowers. </p>
<p>“Brown is a very athletic player who needs some time to develop,” commented Lange. “He does a lot of things well and I have been impressed with his whole game.” </p>
<p>Schedule
With five teams on the 2007-08 schedule that played in the postseason a year ago (Navy will play four of them), Lange thinks this is the hardest schedule to date his staff has put together. </p>
<p>“From top to bottom, this is the hardest schedule we will have played,” said Lange. “We have fewer home games, no more D-III’s (per Patriot League rules) and the teams we play will be better. However, this year, we aren’t worried about a confidence level. I think last year we were worried that losing early might deflate us, but I’m not as concerned about that with this group.” </p>
<p>Out of conference, the Mids will face NCAA Tournament teams Virginia or Penn (in the Philly Hoops Classic), as well as NIT teams Drexel and San Diego State and Big East member Seton Hall. </p>
<p>In the Patriot League, Holy Cross and Bucknell will likely be the favorites, but Lange feels that any of the other six teams could contend as well. </p>
<p>“The league is filled with parity this year,” said Lange. “The league season is what we play for and we think the non-conference schedule should prepare us for that.”</p>