New CLC coach Hirsch hopes patience pays off again

College of Lake County men's basketball coach Mike Hirsch has been down this road before.

At Harper and at Grayslake Central, it took time to implement his system. He is willing to take a step back early in the season to take two steps forward later in the season and into the future.

"We run a system that's out of the box," said Hirsch, whose team is 0-2. "I like how the team is responding, but it's confusing to them right now."

In 2004, Hirsch's girls team at Grayslake Central got off to a slow start and ended the season downstate. A similar scenario played out when he was coaching the Harper men's team in 1999.

"At Harper, that team was 7-11 and all of a sudden we were 23-11 and finished third in the country," he said. "It will take us awhile to get there, but we're making good progress."

This has been a dizzying few months for the CLC program. In August, coach Tom Shields resigned to take a position as a high school athletic director in New Mexico. Chad Good, CLC's athletic director, acted quickly by hiring Hirsch.

Julian Jones, a Warren graduate who was supposed to be the centerpiece of the team, transferred to Division I Western Illinois. In fact, sophomore Zak Jolly (Grant) is the only returning player from last year's team.

In addition to inexperience, the Lancers are challenged in the size department. Every player on the roster is listed as a guard. At 6-feet-3, freshman Terrence Davis (Zion-Benton) is the tallest player.

Not surprisingly, CLC struggled with rebounding in season-opening losses to Triton and the College of DuPage. The Lancers will visit Daley College at 7 p.m. today and play their home opener at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday against Harper.

"Eighty percent of our problems now are defensive related," Hirsch said. "We're confused with our rebounding positioning."

Freshman point guard Naudgee Carpenter has emerged as a team leader, and he is enjoying learning the new system. On offense, the Lancers want to push the ball at every opportunity, with a goal of attempting 100 shots per game. The defense is a hybrid of zone and man concepts.

"When coach Shields left, (Hirsch) didn't have to convince me to stay," Carpenter said. "This system looked fun and I wanted to learn it."

Carpenter also sees signs of progress.

"We're way better than we were a week ago," he said. "We're starting to play harder and smarter."

The guard combo of Carpenter and Andy Bates helps set the tone in practice. Before transferring to CLC, Bates played college football at Illinois State.

"I like Naudgee's attitude," Hirsch said. "He's trying so hard. Bates has a football mentality and gives us a lot of toughness. He can shoot and score. He'll (have to) play every position on the floor."

Early on, Terrence Davis (Zion-Benton) and Jaquan Glover (Round Lake) have both been limited by knee injuries. Freshman Emmanuel Boston is the most athletic player the Lancers have at guard.

Hirsch has been impressed with the play of guard Louie Enriquez.

"He's one of the hardest-working kids that we have," Hirsch said.

Hirsch said this is probably the best coaching staff he's worked with. Joe Paul was the lead assistant for Shields last season.

"He's the heart and soul of what we do; he's worth his weight in gold," Hirsch said.

Dan Johnson played in the NBA and assisted Shields when he was at Harper.

The Lancers will probably press more than Hirsch is accustomed to.

"We're going to be small, so we might as well use what we have to our advantage," he said.