2006-07 Men's Basketball Outlook

10/10/06 10:30AM

- In the fourth season of the Tony Shaver era, there is excitement and anticipation surrounding the William and Mary program. The Tribe will have its most dynamic mixture of youth and experience. After vigorous and beneficial off-season workouts, the 2006-07 season could entail a breakout season for the Tribe. The College returns 10 lettermen, while bringing in a class of five newcomers.

“Our off-season has really been a great one,” head coach Tony Shaver said. “I think this summer and this early fall period have been one of the best stretches in the few years that I’ve been at William & Mary. I think our seniors have done a great job of leading these guys in the off-season and getting better. We are a much stronger team than we were a year ago. I think our conditioning is good right now. We are going to have a little bit of experience, which I hope will benefit our team this year.”

W&M will not be lacking in the depth department. Of the 10 returning playing, nine have starting experience over their Tribe careers. Last season, seven of the 10 returning players averaged nearly 10 minutes per contest. Sprinkle in the athletic and gritty newcomers and the Tribe may have the recipe for a breakout-type of season.

“For the years I’ve been here, this has been the best mix of young players and upperclassmen with some playing experience that we’ve had in our program,” Shaver said. “Again, we hope that will pay dividends for us. I think we have some experience that will lead these young players in the right direction, because we have some freshman we think can make an impact.”

Three Tribe starters return from last season in seniors Corey Cofield and Adam Payton, along with junior Laimis Kisielius. The College returns the bulk of its scoring from last season with four of its top five scorers. W&M also returns over 60 percent of its rebounding from 2005-06.

“There is some excitement in our program,” Shaver said. “I think we all feel, from our staff to our players, that we are really close to making big strides in this program. Whether it will come in November, February or next year, we are really close to breaking through.”

Backcourt
The most important position on the floor to run Shaver’s preferred up-tempo style of play, this group has both experience and youth that provide with the College with an exciting blend as the program continues to grow. W&M will have a pair of players who have been through the wars of starting in the CAA, but the coaching staff is also excited about the potential of a pair of rookies.

The backcourt will be led by Payton, who started 25 of 28 games a season ago. The senior Vanderbilt transfer was one of the top defensive players in the CAA in 2005-06 and topped the Tribe in steals with 1. 61 per contest, which ranked eighth in the CAA. The Burlington, N.J., native added a dynamic mix to the guard position with his ability to score off the dribble and in transition, while also being able to find the open teammate and rebound. Payton averaged 7.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game as a junior. His assist total ranked third on the team. He shot 48.3 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from behind the arc.

Junior sharpshooter Nathan Mann also returns as one of the top guards for the College. The Overland Park, Kan., native ranked third in the CAA a season ago in 3-point field goal percentage hitting on 41.1 percent (51-of-124) from downtown. In just two seasons in the Green and Gold, he has already established himself as one of the top 3-point shooters in the history of the College. Mann ranks eighth in the school annals in career 3-point percentage, while coming in at No. 6 in the 3-point field goals per game list at 1.54 over his two-year career. Despite only starting seven games, he averaged 21.8 minutes per contest and ranked third on the team at 7.8 points per game. Mann topped double-digits on nine occasions in 2005-06, leading W&M in scoring on six occasions.

“We think both (Adam and Nathan) will have great seasons,” Shaver said. “Our backcourt is probably the best mix of youth and experience. Our point guards will probably be freshman. You look at the two-guard spot, and we have some experience in Adam and Nathan. Those guys have to lead us. I have always thought the keys to success were the play of the juniors and seniors. These guys have been very dedicated in the off-season. Physically, when you look at them, you will see a difference. And they are also excited and ready to have good years.”

Senior Adam Trumbower and junior Kyle Carrabine add an important dimension of leadership and depth. A former walk-on, Trumbower has been a key cog in the Tribe lineup each of the last two seasons. As a junior in 2005-06, the Roanoke, Va., native played in all 28 contests, starting a pair. Last season, Trumbower came off the bench in 21 affairs. Carrabine is a lanky shooting guard who has worked hard in the weight room over the last two seasons to bulk up. In 2005-06, he averaged 1.1 points per game as a reserve for the College.

The Tribe coaching staff is excited about the addition of a pair of freshman point guards in David Schneider and Matt McFadden. Both players come from basketball bloodlines as Schneider’s father, Jeff, played at Virginia Tech before being drafted by the Houston Rockets in the fifth round of the 1982 NBA Draft, while McFadden’s father, John, was a four-year letterwinner at Rutgers.

“(David and Matt) are very capable young players,” Shaver said. “I think normally, in coaching, if you were counting on playing freshman at the point, you would be pretty nervous about it. I think our point guard position is going to be stronger than it has been in the last couple of years. David and Matt both are guys who have a really good understanding of the game. They are point guards with a ‘pass first, score second’ mentality, but both are very capable scorers. They are young guys who can run a team.”

Schneider was an all-state player at Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, Ariz. He garnered first-team all-region accolades his final two years of high school, averaging 18 points, six rebounds and six assists as a senior.

McFadden was a two-time all-conference honoree, and as a senior, was a Second-Team New Jersey All-Group 4 choice. He averaged nearly five assists a game in each of his final two seasons at Shawnee High School in Medord, N.J. McFadden is a floor general with deceptive speed and a workman-like mentality.

Junior Marcus Barnett earned his way on to the Tribe roster, impressing the coaching staff during a workout period. Barnett lettered as a combo guard at Phoebus High School in Hampton, Va.

Frontcourt
Much like the backcourt, the Tribe will have a nice mix of youth and experience in the frontcourt. Topping the list of returners is three-year starter Corey Cofield. In 2005-06, Cofield joined an exclusive list of 14 W&M players that have registered 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds. He enters his senior campaign 25th on the Tribe’s career scoring list with 1,039 points. Over his three-year career, Cofield has averaged 12.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest.

In his first three seasons in the Green and Gold, Cofield has played in every contest (85), making 63 starts. In fact, he has only played fewer than 12 minutes in a game on one occasion (the second game of his career), while averaging 22.4 per contest. Cofield ranks sixth on the career field goal percentage list at the College, hitting on 53 percent of his attempts (357-of-674). The two-time All-CAA performer has 12 career double-doubles. Cofield has notched 51 games with double-digit points and 14 with double-digit rebounds.

“For us to have a great season, Corey has to have a great year,” Shaver said. “We need Corey to be consistent in every phase of the game; offensively, defensively and as a leader. I really feel that he has had a different level of off-season committment than he’s had in the past. I have told these guys many times that you win titles and championships in the off-season. So I think our players have approached this off-season in a really positive way.”

Junior Laimis Kisielius returns for the Green and Gold after enjoying success on the international front over the summer. Kisielius averaged double figures for Lithuania in helping the squad to the silver medal at the Global Games in Dallas, Texas, June 19-24. He tallied his best game in pool play against Argentina scoring 17 points on four three-point field goals to go along with seven rebounds and three assists in a team-high 38 minutes in an 80-77 victory.

Over his first two seasons with the College, the 6-8, 210-pounder has averaged 7.9 points and 3.3 rebounds, while playing in 56 games and starting 45. As a freshman in 2004-05, Kisielius earned CAA All-Rookie team honors.

Junior Chris Stratton also returns in the Tribe frontcourt. The walk-on appeared in nine games as a sophomore. During his freshman campaign, Stratton earned his first career start against Hofstra on Jan. 31.

A trio of sophomores in Chris Darnell, Alex Smith and Peter Stein return to the fold after seeing significant minutes as rookies a season ago. Smith appeared in 27 of 28 contests, while making three starts. He averaged 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

Stein averaged 14.8 minutes a game as a rookie, playing in 25 games. He finished the year shooting 57.7 percent from the floor, while averaging four points and two rebounds a game. Stein turned in his best performance of the year against James Madison in which he scored 16 points on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and 8-of-11 from the free throw line.

Darnell finished his freshman season at 2.6 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. The Stafford, Va., native averaged 11.3 minutes per game, appearing in 21 contests. His lone start came against Hofstra on Feb. 20, after he turned in his best performance of the season against Delaware five days before with eight points and seven rebounds.

The Tribe’s freshman class includes a pair of frontcourt players in Danny Sumner and Steven Hess. Sumner enters as the Tribe’s most heralded freshman having earned Washington Post First-Team All-Metro and Virginia Independent Schools State Player of the Year honors as a senior. He averaged 19.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game at Paul VI Catholic in 2006.

Hess was a McDonald’s All-America nominee last season after averaging 13.1 points and nine rebounds per game at Gaston Day School. He earned all-conference accolades as a junior and a senior. During his junior campaign, the 6-10, 230-pounder helped his team reach the semifinals of the state tournament in North Carolina’s largest independent-school classification.