by Allison Coronado for Berryvikings.com
ROME, Ga. – The 2012-13 Berry Men's Basketball team finished 5-21 last year, which was a two-game improvement from the previous year. Under a new coaching staff, the program looks for more progress this year.
Seniors Mac Whalen and Lake Graham lead the returnees. A guard, Whalen avraged 11.5 points last season, posted a team-best 49 three-pointers and dished 71 assists. Post player Graham averaged 6.7 points and led the club with 5.5 rebounds.
Berry's coaching staff has two new faces: Head Coach Jeff Rogers and Assistant Coach Thomas Johnson. In addition, there are six newcomers out of the 11 on the roster.
Rogers comes to Berry after serving as the head coach at Thomas More College—also an NCAA Division III institution—located in Crestview Hills, Ky. In four seasons, he led the Saints to a 77-34 (.694 win percentage) record. Rogers' 2012-13 team went 23-5 and 14-2 in the Presidents Athletic Conference (PAC). He was named the conference coach of the year.
Johnson comes to Berry after four years (2010-13) assisting at NCAA Division I East Tennessee State University. Some of his responsibilities included player development, recruiting student-athletes, and working closely with the academic athletic director.
Jonathan Abrams was an SAA First team pick in 2012-13. He led the Vikings with a 15.2 scoring average--third best in the SAA. Abrams graduated and the opportunity is there for others to pick up the void.
Berry hosts Covenant on Nov. 15th at 8 p.m. in their first game, which is part of the Berry College Classic. The Vikings host Huntingdon the following day.
Interview with Head Coach Rogers (pictured):
Which type of style do your teams usually play?
"Most teams prefer a slower and more controlled type of game. My teams traditionally have played up-tempo, and we've played a lot of players."
What are your goals for the team this year?
"We want to be competitive from day one. Half of our team are newcomers, so we want our players to get used to the new system. Our goal is to play 25 games, but to prepare for one."
What are the strengths of the team?
"Since most teams prefer to play slower, our strength is that we play fast. We want our two main strengths to be depth and unity because we expect a contribution from all of our players and we hope to use this to our advantage."
What are your long-term goals for the program?
"We hope to establish our style, discover our core philosophy, focus on defense, and be competitive enough to win conference championships. For the future, we hope to compete for conference champions every year and eventually compete for a national title."
Any additional thoughts or comments?
"These guys have a unique opportunity to build the culture of the team. While our goal is to be competitive on the court, off the court we want to build a foundation, too."
Men's Basketball Roster ~ Schedule
