City of Basketball Love

Matt Cooper (@macoop2)
--

(Ed. Note: This article is part of CoBL's "Prepping for Preps," our series of articles previewing area high school teams for the 2015-16 season. For the complete list of schools previewed so far, click here)

~~~

Despite coming off of a 2-17 (2-11 Suburban-One League) record that placed the team second to last in the SOL’s American Conference last season, Upper Merion is looking to take big strides this year. And rightfully so.

Returning starters Aidan Newell (who averaged 6 points per game and assists per game in 2014), Ethan Miller (10 ppg, 10 rebounds per game and 3 blocks per game) and Matt Faw (15 ppg and 7 rpg on 53 percent shooting) are all coming off of impressive sophomore seasons.

Newell is a scrappy guard who has a knack for executing the offense, while Miller and Faw represent impressive height at 6-foot-6 and 6-7, respectively. Last year, this talented trio was put to the test immediately as underclassmen. Coming into this season, they will look to build on the experience they gained by playing against the bigger, stronger competition last year.

While the program hasn’t finished with a winning record in more than 10 years, coach Jason Quenzer believes that his team’s fortunes are on the brink of turning. In his third season, this team is by far the most talented he’s had to work with. Now, with the element of added experience, Quenzer is hoping that the talent can translate into on-court success.

“A few of the guys are starting to realize the impact they can have in the league this year and the impact they had last year so it gives them a little bit of confidence to say, ‘Hey I can play with anybody,’” Quenzer said. “I think this season, especially early on, is all about who’s going to be that guy to step up and lead us and help us turn the corner.”

Senior forward Isaiah Graham-Mobley is a player who is very well-respected in the locker room. Graham-Mobley is a Temple University football commit who brings much needed toughness and leadership to a young team. In terms of leading by example on the court though, Quenzer need not look any further than to Faw, who is garnering Division I interest as a junior.

“I think college coaches see a guy who can shoot the ball, is fluid, is getting a little bit more aggressive,” Quenzer said. “It’s fun to watch him and coach him and go through this whole process with him. He’s going to be a good college player one day.

“He’s really athletic at 6-7 and he’s probably going to level out at 6-8; he’s got a lot of good guard skills and we’re trying to develop him and get him some confidence in his ball handling this year. We’re telling him that ‘you can lead a break, you can be a point guard at times on this team.”

Faw is not the only player on the Vikings with elite size for the Suburban One American Conference; Miller, a physical, wide-shouldered inside presence, also projects to be another anchor for this team. Quenzer is more than aware of the rare size that his team possesses and plans to use it to limit the opposition on the defensive end.

While Faw and Miller receive the most attention, the Vikings have a few other players with good size. Junior guard Chris Carita is a guy who could represent a mismatch on other guards standing at 6 foot 6. Meanwhile, Junior forward/center Anthony Shepperd is another big body who will log minutes this year

“It’s funny because every coach that I come across, especially in the offseason, they go ‘man, your size’ and I laugh,” Quenzer said. “Obviously it’s something that we want to try to take advantage of. It’s definitely rare in this league and I think we are one of the bigger teams. You would think that we would out-rebound you but we really haven’t been the strongest rebounding team out there which is surprising. I think our length can get us some defensive stops that could lead to breaks.”

While the Viking’s size will lead to some mismatches, it is perhaps their smallest player who Quenzer will look to to keep the engine running. Standing at just 5-9, Newell surely doesn’t look the part as his two running mates do, yet he will be called upon to run the offense this year and, Quenzer has full confidence that he will be able to excel.

“I don’t think there are any dribblers better than Aidan in the league. His decision making skills could be a little bit better but I think they’re improving and he needs to facilitate before anything else. I think he could be a really good facilitator for everyone else and lead the offense. I think he’s getting smarter in knowing when to do that. I think he’s one of the better ball handlers in the league and he can deal with pressure and that’s huge.”

Running alongside Newell on the wing will be 5-10 junior Andrew Persaud and 6-foot junior transfer Joe Bernardo. Bernardo is a player who has raised eyebrows this summer and adds to what is already a stacked junior class.

Coming off of a disappointing season, it may appear from the outside that the Vikings are in for another long year. Yet, there is confidence in the locker room that this year could be the start of a lasting turnaround.

“When you have a season like that you just have to look for progress and sometimes it’s harder to find but you can always find it. If you look at the games the second half of the year, our points scored against went down and we were in games, Quenzer said. 

"As a coach you look at this and you see something to build off of. We just need to prepare these guys to go out and compete. I think they have all the talent in the world. I think getting over that first hurdle, beating a team that nobody expects us to beat or we haven’t beaten in a while is going to be huge for us.”