Boys basketball: Scouting Conant
By Marty Maciaszek
mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com
Conant
Coach: Tom McCormack (27th year, 431-284; 28th yr overall, 454-291)
Last year: 17-10, 6-4 (4th West)
Key losses: Dylan Bartuch (all-area G, 14.3 ppg, 75 3s, Grinnell), London Dokubo (all-area G, 11.6 ppg, 4.5 apg, Loyola), Brian Wadsworth (F-G, 8.3 ppg), Avery Osby (C, 5.1 ppg), Kyle Lee (F), George Pessimisis (4.7 ppg)
Returning players: Seniors Sean Bourke (6-4, F-C, 3.6 ppg), Jeff Ruser (6-3, C), Josh Copher (5-8, G), Nick Banahan (5-11, C); juniors Tim Manczko (6-2, F); sophomore Mitch Tednes (6-6, C)
Newcomers: Senior Kevin Suffredin (6-6, F-C); juniors Robert Hudson (6-4, G-F), Kevin Schimel (6-4, F-C), Sam Ibrahim (5-10, G), Mike Washington (5-10, G), Jason Lutowsky (6-2, C), Joe Dahm (6-0, G-F), Joe Muska (6-1, F-G), Mark Monti (6-0, G), Colin Fritz (6-1, F-G); sophomores D’Angelo McBride (6-3, G-F), Joey Ranallo (5-10, G)
Outlook: There are a lot of new faces but the Cougars have faced their share of reloading before en route to nine consecutive winning seasons. “I like our depth with a solid nine- to 10-man rotation and we’re not completely inexperienced in that regard,” McCormack said. “This team really put things together as the summer progressed and by summer’s end they were playing at a pretty high level.” Bourke is the most experienced returnee but provides a solid inside presence on a team that has plenty of length. Copher played sparingly last year but will be at the point with Ranallo and Tednes and Manczko came up to the varsity in the second half of the season. McCormack is hoping Manczko, the MSL West offensive player of the year in football, could play next week after injuring his shoulder in the first-round playoff game. “He’s a very good athlete and a skilled player,” McCormack said. McCormack said Hudson “is pretty talented” and Schimel, Ruser and McBride, who also started in football, figure prominently in the Cougars’ plans. A key will be approaching the defense provided on the ball by Dokubo, who has walked on at Loyola and played in its first two games. “You’re not going to replace that,” McCormack said. “What he could defensively, there aren’t many kids in our league who could do that.”