Scouting Hoffman Estates boys basketball

Hoffman Estates

Coach: Bill Wandro (20th year, 331-206)

Last year: 15-13, 2-8 (sixth in West)

Key losses: Kelvin Tiongson (all-area G, 12.3 ppg, 39 3s, 93.4 FT pct.), Brandon Fischer (F, 4.9 ppg), Colin Conway (F, 6.2 ppg), Lance Vesper (C, 8.7 ppg, Elgin CC), Jimmy Fabbrini (G, 3.8 ppg), Joe Valadez (G), John Bialek (F, 3.4 ppg), Thomas Iheme (F), Kyo Azumaya (G), Ben Cho (G)

Returnees: Seniors Matt Pahl (6-0, G), Izaac Robinson (6-0, G)

Newcomers: Senior Anthony Christianson (6-6, C), Matt Warda (6-0, G), Joey Havel (6-0, G); juniors Sammy Wilks (5-6, G), Mark Roberts (6-1, F), Kevin Clemment (5-11, G), Mike Gordon (6-0, G), Alex Bonds (5-11, G), Austin Terry (6-2, F), Eric Saubert (6-5, C), Brian Cvitkovich (6-3, F)

Outlook: Wandro’s final Hoffman team before retirement will be one of his most inexperienced. Only Pahl saw significant minutes last year. “We’ll take things a little differently,” said Wandro, who led the Hawks to the Elite Eight in 1996 and 2004. “We all have to work harder and we’re ready to do that. They have the right mindset to work hard and if they continue to do that, I think we’re going to end up being pretty good.” Terry was one of the top players on the sophomores last year and Saubert figures to play a big part inside. And history suggests Hoffman will put together a solid group with only two sub-. 500 finishes in Wandro’s tenure. “Sometimes when expectations aren’t as high you tend to get more out of kids,” Wandro said. “I’m not going to freak out about it because we’ve had some really good years when we’ve had groups like this. I’m really looking forward to it.”