The expectations are super high for our 2009-2010 Montrose Christian boys basketball team after last year’s 22-3 season where we finished #6 in the nation (USA Today) and #1 in the greater Washington, DC area (Washington Post). Our only losses came from the nation’s top two ranked teams (we lost to #1 ranked Findlay Prep and lost twice to #2 ranked Oak Hill). This year’s pre-season polls should have us ranked in the top 10. Not bad given there are over 26,000 high schools eligible for the rankings!
To add to this year’s excitement is the fact we have several new faces in the program; including new coaches and players. We had two assistant coaches leave to pursue other professional opportunities and have since added three new members to our staff – all of which have done a fantastic job this pre-season in getting acclimated to the program.
We are still led by the legendary Coach Stu Vetter who is entering his 34th year as a head coach and is only two wins shy of 800 (798-98); which puts him in a very exclusive class. For a complete history of Coach Vetter, including a team picture from every year since 1975, please visit www.StuVetter.com. Associate head coach Dan Prete (9th year), myself (7th year), and Damien Jenifer (5th year) add veteran experience and stability while our new assistant coaches Billy Vernon (University of Maryland), Mark Vincent (Bishop Ireton), and Don Shopland (St. John’s Prospect Hall) add a fresh perspective and enthusiasm.
We only return three players that saw considerable playing time last year; senior Terrence Ross (committed to University of Maryland), sophomore Justin Anderson (one of the top 5 sophomores in the nation), and junior Tyler Hubbard (Bowie, MD). We graduated 7 players from last year’s team and had two players transfer; which opened the door for a lot of incoming talent. Senior Josh Hairston (committed to Duke) and sophomore Lebrent Walker (from Queens, NY) will play major roles this season. We also added some international flavor and got four outstanding players in junior Paul Gombwer (Kaduna, Nigeria), junior Nazareth Long (Toronto, Canada), sophomore Michael Carrera (Anzoategui, Venezuela), and freshman Yuki Togashi (Tokyo, Japan). Despite so many newcomers, our guys have developed an outstanding chemistry during their pre-season workouts. In addition to our skill work and strength & conditioning, we constantly reinforce the intangible qualities of communication, toughness, and competitiveness with our players. This is integral with players who haven’t played together before.
While the schedule is not yet finalized or officially “public” (and is subject to change); it is packed with several big time games and events. We have preliminary plans to scrimmage Bishop O’Connell in late November which will be a great test for our guards as O’Connell is led by one of the nation’s top point guards, Kendall Marshall (committed to UNC). As far as the regular season, we will be playing Theodore Roosevelt in the Caron Butler Classic (at Coolidge High School) and St. Mary Ryken in the National High School Hoops Festival (at Wise High School) in early December. In mid December we will head to Honolulu, Hawaii to play in the 26th annual Iolani Classic. As always, the field will be packed with stellar programs including Gonzaga (DC), Yates (TX), Neumann Goretti (PA), Columbia (GA), Hamilton (AZ), Kingston (NC), Lutheran (CA, and Tsinghua (China). Last year we lost to Oak Hill in double OT in the Championship game. We have our sights set on getting over the proverbial hump and winning it all this time!
We will have several great local games including our annual battle with Virginia powerhouse TC Williams (at their place) and three games to be played at the University of Maryland. We are in the process of finalizing a late January trip to Orlando to play in the 7th annual Montverde Academy Invitational Basketball Tournament. In addition to the host team (Montverde Academy), it is a loaded field with Findlay Prep and one of Florida’s strongest programs in Arlington Country Day.
One of the highlights of the year will be in mid February when we go up to Trenton New Jersey to play in the prestigious Nike Primetime Shootout at the Sovereign Bank Arena. We will face off against one of the most acclaimed programs and coaches in high school basketball history – St. Anthony’s and Coach Bob Hurley. It will be an honor to play them and promises to be a real dogfight! I just finished reading “The Miracle of St. Anthony.” It was a phenomenal book; I highly recommend it.
To finish off the season we expect to travel down south for our yearly showdown with Oak Hill. Although not 100% finalized, this game should take place in early March. If all goes as planned, we will be invited back to play in the 2nd annual ESPN/RISE National Invitational Tournament. Last year’s event was an amazing experience.
I will make sure to announce when the schedule is finalized (which will include all games) and will post regular updates throughout the season via this blog, Twitter, and Facebook. I will provide a season long, behind the scenes look inside the Montrose Christian program.
If you attend any of our games, please make sure you come say hello. The next two week’s blog posts will be dedicated to starting the high school season and will include a checklist of questions and reminders to help make sure your season is a success. Those posts will be a must read for all high school coaches and players; so make sure you check back!
As always, if I can ever help you or your program, please email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com. For daily motivational quotes and hoops tidbits please follow me at www.Twitter.com/AlanStein and for the Exercise of the Week please subscribe to www.YouTube.com/StrongerTeamDotCom.
Train hard, train smart.
Alan Stein