Scouting St. Edward boys basketball

St. Edward Green Wave

Coach: P.J. White (first year)

Conference: Suburban Christian (Gold)

2009-10 record: 11-16 (3-7 SCC Gold)

Top returning players: Aidan Belcher (Sr., 6-5 G/F), Zach Brewster (Sr., 5-11 G), Michael Ellis (Sr., 6-0 G), Ben Lehman (Sr., 6-1 G), Ryan Murray (Sr., 5-8 G), Edward O’Halloran (Jr., 5-11 G), Alex Stecher (Sr., 6-4 F/C)

Top newcomers: Robert French (Jr., 6-1 F), Troy Gudino (Jr., 5-7 G), Doug Johnson (Jr., 6-0 G), Drew Kelly (Jr., 6-0 G), Patrick McGovern (Jr., 6-0 G), Zach McQueen (Jr., 5-10 F), Patrick Puckett (Jr., 5-11 F)

Season outlook: Unheralded St. Edward is the type of team that could do some damage in the Suburban Christian Gold, led by third-year starting point guard Michael Ellis. The returning all-area performer led the Green Wave in scoring (10.9 ppg.), averaged 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals and shot 77 percent from the free-throw line (59 of 77). “He’s just a great kid,” said first-year St. Edward coach P.J. White, who coached sophomore boys at Batavia for the last 24 seasons. “He’s a hard worker and the leader of this team. He handles the ball well and shoots it well. He’s been around the longest, so he should be one of the leaders. We’re looking for him to do big things, but it’s a team game. We want to play as many people as possible and wear opponents down.” Also returning is Ben Lehman, a 6-foot-1 quarterback with a physical presence and solid work ethic. Ed O’Halloran gained some varsity experience late last season. White said Ellis and O’Halloran complement each other well on the perimeter. Zach Brewster is versatile enough to play guard or forward and has leadership skills. The post presence on this guard-heavy team comes from Aidan Belcher (6-5) and Alex Stecher (6-4). “I’m hoping we can do some damage with them in a rotation inside with Lehman and Zach McQueen,” White said. “Sometimes we’ll put the ball inside and beat people with our inside players and sometimes we’ll run and press. We’re a guard-dominated team, but we can do both. I think this is a good group. We’ll stress being a team because we’re only as strong as our weakest link. Right now everybody is working hard to win as many games as possible, do as much damage in our conference as we can and play well in the state series when we start seeing teams our own size.”