Boys basketball: Scouting Buffalo Grove
By Marty Maciaszek
mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com
Buffalo Grove
Coach: Ryan O’Connor (12th year, 182-122)
Last year: 16-11, 6-4 (T4th MSL East)
Key losses: Nick Prus (two-time all-area G, 14.3 ppg, 61 3s, MIT), Jeff Zabrin (G, 11 ppg, 27 3s), Dan Recht (F, 8.4 ppg), Brian Akialis (F), Kevin Tennenbaum (C, 2.6 ppg)
Returning players: Seniors Sam Wacker (6-7, all-area C, 11 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 66 blocks), Rich Zirngibl (6-0, G, 6.2 ppg), Alex Fritz (5-11, G), Milan Nesic (6-0, G), Ryan Inlow (6-2, F); junior Luke Potnick (6-1, G, 9.5 ppg, 22 3s).
Newcomers: Senior John Mares-Coleman (5-7, G); juniors Steve Soifer (6-0, G), Jonah Malin (6-3, G-F), Kevin Newman (6-4, F-C), Jose Aguirre (6-5, F-C), Todd Ahlers (6-9, F-C); sophomores Andrew Apel (6-1, G), Colin Inlow (6-1, G)
Outlook: BG is experienced in three key areas — Wacker in the post, Zirngibl at the point and Potnick on the perimeter — as it looks for its eighth straight winning season. Wacker has increased his strength and shooting range and O’Connor said “he’s a little more confident on the floor.” Zirngibl goes from an all-MSL football season at quarterback to running the offense, bringing leadership and hustle. And Potnick returns after missing the last eight games and the summer for shoulder surgery. “It’s good to see him out there doing his thing,” O’Connor said. “He has a gift for putting the ball in the basket but he’ll have to do other things for us on defense and handling the basketball.” Fritz and Ryan Inlow have some solid varsity experience as they move into starting roles. “We need defensive tenacity and both of them give us that,” O’Connor said, “and they’ll take care of the basketball on the offensive end. We’ll need Inlow to be a battler and rebounder for us.” Nesic, Newman and Soifer will be big parts of an eight-man rotation as BG looks to cut down the 59.4 points a game it allowed last year. “We’re hoping to be solid defensively,” O’Connor said. “Because of the pressure we tried to put on teams defensively we gave up some easy baskets. We have a lot more size than we typically do and hopefully that will be a factor for us.”