Reply To: Lehigh Starting 5 '13-'14 season

[LU65Participant]

Here’s a brief look at our guards (4 experienced and 4 recruits – mostly raw) we’ll have when camp opens. I put Devon Carter in the recruit column even though he got into 9 games for a total of 26 minutes and hit 1 for 7 from the field.
The experienced guys (MM, AD, CS, and SC) are just that – experienced ! Together, they have participated in 314 of the 326 combined games played. Heck, Mackey and Corey have each missed only 2 games since coming to Lehigh while all four saw action in each of the 31 games played last year. Here’s a brief look at their 2012-13 stats:

Player / FG% / 3FG% / FT% / Minutes / Pts. per Min. / A to TO Ratio

CS / .455 / .396 / .759 / 604 / .24 / 2.8
MM / .429 / .308 / .788 / 1032 / .36 / 1.6
AD / .403 / .349 / .556 / 717 / .28 / 2.3
SC / .392 / .376 / .737 / 439 / .33 / 0.9

All in all, you got to be happy with the returnees – perhaps the best set of backcourt returnees in the PL. As for the newcomers who wish to play the point, be prepared to learn from the League’s best in MM and CS.

As an aside, over 4600 players competing in D-I basketball last year. See if you can name the seven – that’s all there were – who posted an Assist to Turnover ratio of 2.8 or greater while connecting on more than 45% of their field goal attempts. Give up? You probably heard a few of their names before. They are: Mike Hart of Gonzaga, Taylor Stormberg of Creighton, Trey Burke of Michigan, Todd Fletcher of the Air Force Academy, Eric May of Iowa, Tom Droney of Davidson and oh yeah Corey Schaefer of Lehigh.

I, for one, expect to see much more of Corey in the coming year – with increased time at the point. Forget the unheard of A/TO numbers, Corey is a career .825 FT shooter and topped all the others in 3FG% last year. He uncovered new found success last year in driving the ball to the basket and laying up a high aching shot of the backboard. In my opinion, that shot – above everything else – led to the dramatic rise (.338 to .455) we saw in his year-over-year FG%. The son of a coach who is always cool, calm and collected (first noticed when as a freshman he drained his free throws against Michigan State under the glare of national television lights) is definitely my pick to grab everyone’s attention this year. His ‘all business’ approach to basketball is right in Reed’s wheelhouse.

As for the newcomers, DC plus Austin Price, Miles Simelton, and Cole Renninger, it’s anyone’s guess as to what to expect. I’ve read the many board postings and viewed the numerous video highlight reels and can’t help but be excited over the prospects of finding the next CJ, Marquis (Hall), or Jose (Olivero) in the mix. On paper, my present day pick is AP.