Scouting Immaculate Conception boys basketball
Immaculate Conception
Coach: Darren Howard.
Last year: 12-16, 4-6, fourth in the Suburban Christian Conference Gold Division; lost 51-47 to Timothy Christian in the Class 2A Immaculate Conception regional.
Top players: Cody Baker, jr., F; Clark Brinkman, so., F; Demetrius Carr, jr., G; John Cheng, sr., G; Brian Harvey, sr., F; Tim Hipskind, jr., F; Adam Muellers, jr., F; Charlie Pulkownik, sr., G; Dan Ribando, sr., F.
Scouting report: The Knights have won 10 or more games six straight seasons, their best string since 1978-87. All-stater Demetrius Mobley and bomber Anthony Loss graduated; strong, athletic Harvey returns 9.2 points, 4.9 rebounds a game. Returning to a motion offense from a read-react scheme, Howard hopes the shift also helps discipline the defense, particularly against the fast break, after the Knights allowed 60 points a game in 2010-11. He sees inside-outside scoring as St. Joseph transfer Carr supports Harvey, Ribando and Cheng. Only Ribando exceeds 6-3, so rebounding is a group effort, but IC will vie for its first conference title since 1967. "I want to get that done before my time at IC is over," Howard said.