Coaches Preview Front/Backcourt

Assistant Coaches Dupree and Byington were interviewed by cofcsports to preview each individual going into the season. Byington provided criticism of the backcourt and Dupree previewed the frontcourt players. 

ANDREW LAWRENCE
"The biggest thing we've noticed this year is he's being much more aggressive. Last year, he was a bit more passive and let Donavan Monroe or Drew Goudelock play their game. This year, when he looks around, he knows it's his team. He's much more aggressive, and it's in a lot of different areas. He's always been our best passer on the team. This year, he's going to show people he's capable of scoring the ball in different ways, too."
MATT SUNDBERG
"Matt is currently dealing with injuries. He's had problems with his knees, arches and ankles. But, the one thing Matt has done is he's shown us he can make shots in games. It's a quality not everybody can do. Matt had a game-winner when we beat Eastern Kentucky on the road in a postseason tournament. There were other games where he made three or four three-pointers in a game. Matt will be kind of a hybrid player for us. Sometimes he will play the small forward, sometimes he'll play the four spot and just kind of change things up for us. He is like our curve ball, where we can put him in and help us stretch the defense."
BART BENTON
"I think on every good team, and every team that has great chemistry, they have a player like Bart on it. Our players are all very tight with him. He is one of the most popular guys on our team. He's one of the guys who always has energy and is always ready to practice. He's always ready to do whatever we ask him to do. If it's to go box-out Trent (Wiedeman) for five minutes, he has to do it. If it's to go pass the ball for five minutes, he'll do it. Bart never complains. He is the ultimate teammate and we are very fortunate to have him on our team."
NORI JOHNSON
"Nori has definitely improved from his freshman to his sophomore year. He's more comfortable out there. He understands our concepts more and what's expected of him. The one thing we can say about Nori is he has definitely gotten better. He's shooting the ball better, he's one of our better defenders and he's athletic. If Nori can keep improving, then he's going to have an impact on this team."
JORDAN SCOTT
"Jordan is the most athletic guy on our team and he has every skill possible. Jordan can dribble, he can shoot, he can jump and he has a lot of tremendous basketball skills. Jordan's thing is he has to get comfortable and learn the game. He's definitely improved from his freshman year. We need him to keep developing and to keep getting better. He's worked hard and is going to have a big role on this team this year."
PAT BRANIN
"Pat's done a good job. One thing Pat is learning right now is the speed of the game is so much different between high school and college. Pat's a good shooter. He's been working hard and is probably our hardest worker on the team. He spends many hours on his own shooting and working on his game. He has tremendous work ethic, and once his body catches up and he starts understanding the speed of the game, his best basketball is ahead of him."
TREVONTÉ DIXON
"TD is physically, besides Andrew Lawrence, the strongest guy on our team. For a freshman, that's unusual. He's got great strength and a strong body. TD is going through the same transition as the rest of the freshmen which is the speed of the game right now. He's trying to catch up with it. He's learning and is very bright. He picks things up as quickly as anybody. We are going to play him at a couple of different positions. We'll play him at the two, the shooting guard and small forward, because of his strength. He's definitely going to have an impact on this team and play a lot."
ANTHONY STITT
"Anthony's been one of the surprises for us as far as his knowledge of the game and how fast he's picking things up. We almost thought Anthony might be a year away when we recruited him, but we know that he's the quickest guy on the team. He's fast. He can really change speeds well. He can dribble the ball well, but what he's shown us is that he's very tough and he competes. He picks up concepts very quickly. We have to find ways to get Anthony on the floor, because he's obviously going to be our back-up point guard behind Andrew Lawrence. He's done enough to prove to us that we're going to give him more minutes."

Frontcourt after the break




ANTWAINE WIGGINS
"Antwaine Wiggins is looking to drive the ball more this year. He has always been a good defender and is very long and athletic. He is also starting to be more aggressive with his increased role this year as our lone senior on the roster."
WILLIS HALL
"Willis Hall is already having an impact in practice even though he is not playing. He is a tremendous kid and a hard worker. He will continue to be a vocal leader and is going to provide positive encouragement to our team from the sidelines this season."
TRENT WIEDEMAN
"Trent Wiedeman is a hard worker and has a very good knack for rebounding. He has a big body and is very productive on the court. The main thing we need from him is to be more aggressive in his post moves. He will definitely be a focus of our offense this year. With the graduation of Jeremy Simmons, Trent is going to get more post touches and get more of a chance to play. We will work on is his lateral quickness and being more explosive."
JAMES CARLTON
"James Carlton didn't play a lot, but started to have more minutes toward the end of last season. He is very athletic and has improved a lot from his freshman year. James does a lot of things around the rim and has unbelievable explosiveness."
ADJEHI BARU
"Adjehi Baru is one of the most talented players to ever set foot on this campus. He gives you 110 percent every day. He plays very hard and has a long wingspan. He is going to have a positive impact on the team as a whole this year."