INDIANAPOLIS – The Cedarville men’s basketball program is poised to make noise with head coach Pat Estepp leading the way with another talented group into 2016-17.
The Yellow Jackets were picked third in the G-MAC Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour after tying for fifth a year ago in the league standings.
Estepp has a combination of experienced core group of three seniors, three juniors, seven sophomores that are looking to take that next step forward in their development and a freshman to make up the 2016-17 roster.
Cedarville’s roster composition is very similar to that of Davis & Elkins in terms of the sheer numbers they return.
The Yellow Jackets were 14-15 in 2015-16, but the coaches view this program as one to make strides forward and finish in the top half of the G-MAC.
“I like our team; we went to Italy in August and a little bit of a sneak peek of our guys and thought we played pretty well while we were over there,” Estepp said. “They’re a great group of guys. They’re fun to coach and they come to work hard every day. I’m excited about this season; I think this is one of those years where we have the chance to turn the corner I feel like.”
Cedarville was the lowest scoring team in the league last season, but with three double-digit scorers back in the mix, it’s very unlikely to think that would happen again this year.
Sweet-shooting all-conference senior guard J.C. Faubion can put up points in a hurry and finished top five in the conference in scoring at 15.7 points per game. Everything about Faubion’s game is smooth and he had a pair of 35 point outbursts as a junior while also leading the team in rebounding.
Senior forward Easton Bazzoli averaged almost 11 points and over five rebounds per game. The other senior is guard Justice Montgomery, who started with a 6.8 ppg average.
“I think it’s going to be a really good year with everybody back,” Bazzoli said. “We haven’t had a bad practice yet this year. My role is to bring energy and push everybody to work as hard as they can.”
Junior Patrick Bain put up a solid line with 11.7 ppg and a steal per game while Kwenton Scott remains a key part of the rotation in a reserve role as he played in all 29 possible games.
Sophomore big man Robert Okoro really started to find a rhythm towards the end of the season and at 7.6 ppg and 6.3 rpg, could be someone that plays a more prominent role in Estepp’s system. Colton Linkous sank 40 three-point field goals as a freshman.
The wild cards appear to Dazhonetae Bennett from Indian Hills, a reputable Division I JUCO pipeline, and shooter Joey Morlan, who transferred in from a Florida Southern program that won a national title in 2015.