After a woeful 2013 season with a 10-21 record the men’s basketball team is looking to get back to their winning ways of old. The squad will eventually be without their longtime head coach Mike Jeffers, who will soon take a medical leave of absence. Ryan Morley will take over as head coach in Jeffers’ stead. Morley is going into his eighth season on the staff, and has experienced success as a player at high school, junior college, and university.
“It’s been a challenge,” Morley said. “Coach and I are preparing for when he takes his leave and getting me situated in the things he does as a head coach and transfer them on while he is out.”
The Cavs will feature plenty of new faces on the court with new freshmen and players that couldn’t play due to off court issues and injuries.
“We tried to recruit high character kids,” Morley said. “Kids that we know are going to stick it out, kids we don’t need to worry about off the court.”
This year, the team is really looking to improve the defensive end of the floor more than anything.
“We were more offensive dominant and now we are trying to be defensive,” Morley said, “We recruited kids that can score so we can teach them how to play defense. You don’t need to teach them how to play offense.”
Guard Zach Nelson is one of two players on the Cavs with playing experience from last year, and helps provide leadership for the team. Nelson expects this team will be a much more fun squad to watch this year.
“I think we have more scorers and more balance,” Nelson said. “Our defense is a lot better than last years and it’s a lot more active with getting a lot more steals and I think we’re a much more exciting team than last years.”
The Cavs are 1-1. They will play Wentworth Military College at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12 at home.