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‘I perform for her to make her happy’: Depina cracks Eastern Nazarene roster in honor of late grandmother

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Joey Depina’s late grandmother molded him into the man he is today. 

“She raised me,” he said. “My mother was extremely young when she had me and my gram took care of all us and held the family down. She was more than a grandmother.” 

She passed away in November of 2019, but the values she instilled in him live on. 

“She always taught me to work hard in something you love,” he said.

That’s just what the Whitman native did. After months of training, Depina made the Eastern Nazarene men’s basketball team as a walk-on.

“This is for her like everything I do, whether it is in the classroom or basketball, I perform for her to make her happy,” said Depina, a former captain of the W-H boys’ basketball team. “I know she is always looking down on me, so I always want to work hard in life to make her proud. Making the team this year is definitely an achievement I did for her.”

Depina, a sophomore at ENC, spent most of his freshman year on the junior varsity squad, but when the pandemic began and players returned home, the varsity squad called him up. Depina said he knew if he put in the work during the offseason, he could earn another call-up. 

“The quarantine really helped coming into this year,” Depina explained. “I would lift at my house every day and also play basketball in my backyard, like working on my handles, shooting, footwork and different moves with my friends, Samuel Rodguies and Nyron Dunnamanio. Focusing on myself as a basketball player really helped me get better.”

About a month after school began this year, the varsity squad gave him another chance. He never looked back.

“Coach [Sean] Foley (assistant coach) brought me into his office and asked if I would take the opportunity to workout with the varsity because they are low because of injuries and I am the type of player they can rely on,” Depina explained. “I told the coach that I would take the offer.

“After the afternoon practice, coach said that he wanted to attend media day and smiled at me. When I left the meeting, I was extremely happy and ready to work even harder to get better in my craft for the team.”

Depina and the Lions will likely tip off their season sometime in January.

“My goals before hitting the court are still learning different moves and players with the team,” Depina said. “I want to keep getting better with this group of players, I call my brothers to end up with a ring when the season starts. I am extremely excited about entering this season because it is a new experience for me.”

Preparing to play during a pandemic: Leahy trying to stay ready to hit the court

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Sean Leahy guards his man. / Courtesy photo

Sean Leahy is staying ready to hit the court in the midst of a pandemic.

Sean Leahy has no idea if he’ll get to take the court this year.

Leahy, who hails from Hanson, is a junior on the UMass Dartmouth men’s basketball team. The Corsairs’ season, which was scheduled to begin in November, has already been pushed to Jan. 16. But that’s not definite, as the Little East Conference is set to make a final decision on a winter campaign by Dec. 15, leaving Leahy and the rest of his team in limbo. 

“You don’t know how much work you want to put in if it’s not going to happen, but I mean you still prepare just in case,” Leahy said. 

Most of that preparation is done on his own time via an app with the team only conducting meetings virtually.

“Every three days, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we have like a 45-minute workout,” Leahy explained. “It’s all weights and we have running stuff that we have to do.” 

As for on-the court drills, those are far and few between. Leahy estimates he’s picked up a basketball only about 10 times since school began in September. 

“During the summer, I played two or three times a week with friends in town,” Leahy said. “Now, no gyms are really open and high schools won’t let you in.” 

Leahy, a 6-foot-5 forward, is coming off a productive sophomore season, starting 26 games, scoring 8.1 points per game and corralling 6.6 rebounds per game. But with all this time off, he knows he’ll have to knock off some rust when he returns to the hardwood.

“You kind of lose that touch if you don’t play for that long, so I think jumping back into it is going to be tough without playing for six or seven months, like real pickup,” he said. 

The Corsairs finished last season with a 16-11 record, falling to Western Connecticut State University in the Little East championship game. Leahy said this winter, they’re expecting to be the last team standing. 

“We definitely want to win the conference championship, that’s a big one this year,” he said. “We kind of felt like it was our year. I think it was definitely our year, or is gonna be our year. We just gotta stay ready.

Season Review: A championship run for boys’ basketball

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The Panthers celebrate a win at TD Garden. / Photo by: Sue Moss

This season’s boys’ basketball team earned the program’s first-ever state title.

Preparation for the state championship game was underway when Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ basketball head coach Bob Rodgers heard his phone ring. He had a hunch what it was going to be about.

“We just finished our film session and scouting report and we were about 15 to 20 minutes into the on-court portion of practice when I got the phone call,” Rodgers said. “I stepped out of the gym to take it and walked in and I could see the kids. We all knew it was inevitable.”

The Panthers Div. 2 state title game against Taconic was canceled. While the initial reaction was heartbreaking, Rodgers said it didn’t take long to put it into perspective.

“One thing I told the kids is to look up at the banners in the gym on that boys’ basketball league championship banner, there’s a co-champion in there,” said Rodgers, who wrapped up his 20th year on the Panthers’ bench. “Nobody knows what year it is. It’s such a great accomplishment for the kids to win our first-ever state championship. It’s not going to say co-champions, it’s going to say state champions. That’s what they are.

“We were all pretty confident we were gonna be able to complete it if we were able to play that last game.”

It’s tough to argue with that. The Panthers (25-2) hadn’t lost in nearly two and a half months and were riding a state-best 23-game winning streak.

“When I realized how good of a basketball team we were was when we were at Scituate,” Rodgers said. “Scituate was an outstanding basketball team and we played near flawless basketball and made a big statement (75-45 victory).”

One of many big statements for the Panthers, who knocked off Div. 1 contenders Brockton (75-70) and Mansfield (72-59) to win the Roundball Classic, and capped the season by getting over the hump at TD Garden with an 86-68 rout of Beverly. 

“The accomplishments of the team, to end the season with a win at the TD Garden,” Rodgers said, “so many positives we can take from it.”

The Panthers were buoyed by a balanced attack all season — led by senior captain Stevie Kelly. The Clarion University commit was a stat-sheet stuffer, recording 14 points, 6.3 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per game en route to being named Patriot League Keenan Division MVP.

“Stevie is a great story,” Rodgers said. “He was cut from the middle-school basketball team and he is somebody who has a tremendous work ethic and if he’s not good at something, he’s going to keep practicing it until he gets better at it. He’s like having another coach on the team. He’s one of the all-time best players that ever played at Whitman-Hanson.”

Many of Kelly’s assists were to fellow senior captain and Patriot League Keenan Division All-Star Ben Rice. Rice, who stands at 6-foot-7, knocked down 77 3-pointers, leading the team with 14.7 ppg to complement 5.9 rpg. 

“He just had such a passion and love for basketball and the basketball gods rewarded him by making him 6-7,” Rodgers said of Rice, who will play at Connecticut College next season. “I think he played his best basketball at the end of the season.”

Juniors Cole LeVangie (11.4 ppg, 5 rpg) and Nate Amado (13.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg) were also named Patriot League Keenan Division All-Stars. The captain-elects combined for 99 3-pointers. 

“They’re both incredible, multi-dimensional basketball players,” Rodgers said. “They can shoot it, get to the hole, they can rebound, they can handle it. They both have very similar styles of play. They’re both extremely coachable, very kind and outstanding leaders. I’m really excited about having them as the foundation for trying to continue what we’ve been having going on at Whitman-Hanson for a long time.”

Seniors Tommy Vassil (headed to play at Springfield Commonwealth Academy prep school next year) and John Zeidan were also key parts of the Panthers’ run this season. 

“I consider us to be a character-based program,” Rodgers said. “We try to be the best people we can be. Not perfect people by any means but my kids take pride that they’re role models for the younger kids in the community. They have been through the Whitman-Hanson experience as kids so they recognize the importance they have on the future of Whitman-Hanson basketball and take great pride in it. For me, that’s what makes this program special.”

MIAA cancels upcoming state finals; boys’ basketball team named D2 co-state champion

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It was not the way the Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ basketball team expected its season to end, but it became inevitable.

The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association has canceled this weekend’s state finals amid the current conditions of COVID-19.

W-H was scheduled to play Taconic in the Division 2 state final on Saturday. It was the program’s first-ever state final berth.

As a result of the cancellation, both W-H and Taconic will be named co-state champions.

W-H boys’ basketball head coach Bob Rodgers said he agreed with the MIAA’s unanimous decision.

Rodgers added: “For me, the hardest part of every season as a coach is the final game and final practice. When the realization sets in that you don’t get to coach your seniors ever again, it’s a sick feeling. It has nothing to do with winning and losing.

“Our season started with a disappointing loss, but from that adversity we grew closer as a team and stronger every day. The team was unselfish and had a tenacious work ethic to record the best season in school history ending the year with 23 straight wins and a 25-2 record.”

Kelly points the way for W-H boys’ basketball

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Stevie Kelly slices to the hoop for two. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Stevie Kelly is the floor general for the Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ basketball team.

At the outset of last winter, Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ basketball head coach Bob Rodgers wasn’t sure who was going to emerge as his team’s starting point guard.

It didn’t take long to figure out. Insert Stevie Kelly, a then-junior coming off a Patriot League All-Star season as a center back in soccer.

“Pretty much our first game (we knew he was our point guard),” Rodgers said. 

Kelly was no stranger to Rodgers, but like most young players — he had some work to do entering the year.  

“I’ve known Stevie since second grade and watched him coming to my camps,” Rodgers said. “I’ve known him his whole life, he’s always been a great athlete, and when he was a freshman and sophomore, I always saw great potential in him, but he had to mature.”

He did and became a Patriot League All-Star on the court in the process, dishing out 136 assists and steering the Panthers to the Div. 2 South semifinals, which included a stunning upset over top-seeded Randolph, a game in which Kelly hit a clutch layup in the final minutes to help seal the victory. 

“I didn’t expect to have as big of a junior season as I had,” Kelly said. “I just went in working hard.”

Said Rodgers: “Stevie is tough as nails. He’s one of the best competitors I’ve ever coached. He just competes hard all the time.” 

This season, Kelly, who is now a senior captain, has elevated his game to another level, despite an extended soccer season that culminated with a spot in the EMass All-Star game in late November. 

“After soccer practice, I would come up into the gym and take some of my teammates and if they’re not up here, I’m up here by myself,” Kelly said. 

Rodgers noticed the dedication.  

“He’s improved immensely,” Rodgers said. “His shooting and passing are both better.”

But where Kelly has shown the most growth from last winter is with his communication on the court. 

“Talking is probably the hardest skill to be taught to any basketball player,” Rodgers said. “Stevie was at the point where he could talk about what he was doing and where his game was or his defenders were. Great point guards see it all. We’ve started to see Stevie do that more. The great point guards that we’ve had at Whitman-Hanson are the guys that make everyone around them better.”

Kelly has been doing just that. He posted a triple-double in win over Marshfield on Friday, Jan. 17, scoring 24 points, dishing out 11 assists and corralling 10 rebounds.

“I look to attack first and I try to get by my guy and if someone helps, I’ll just hit Ben Rice or someone in the corner or J.Z. (John Zeidan) down low, but if nobody stops me, I’ll just go to the hoop,” he said. 

 Kelly also had 11 assists in a win over Pembroke earlier in the season on Jan. 8. 

“He’s obviously one of the best in the league at getting to the basket,” said Rice, a fellow senior captain. “He’s quick. He can do a lot of things. He helps me get open because he has really good court vision.”

The Panthers are off to a 10-2 start so far this season, and if they’re going to get where they want, Kelly is going to be key. 

“If you look in the gym at the banners of the South Sectional titles, those teams communicated,” Rodgers said.  “And if Stevie does that, then it becomes contagious and the rest of the guys do that. Out of all the things we try and work on with the team — communication and sharing the ball are the two things we need to do to reach our potential.”

Ben Rice carries on a family hoops legacy

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Ben Rice uncorks a 3-pointer. / Photo by: Sue Moss

Ben Rice is following in his brothers’ and father’s footsteps in taking the court for Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ basketball.

Then there was one.

After dumping in a team-high 13 points in two-plus quarters, helping the Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ basketball team build a 40-point lead over Pembroke, Ben Rice’s work was done for the night. His older brother Tyler was seated in the top row to watch him. 

“I definitely wanted to play good in front of him,” said Ben, a 6-foot-7 swingman and senior captain for the Panthers. 

Meanwhile, a few miles away in Quincy, their older brother Josh was on his way to a 17-point performance, while connecting on five 3-pointers, pushing Eastern Nazarene College past Becker College.

Basketball is a passion for the Rices, who have been penned on W-H’s varsity roster for parts of seven straight seasons. 

Ben has been in the starting lineup since last year. Josh, who scored his 1,000th career point at ENC in November, was also a two-year starter for W-H before graduating in 2016. Tyler, who graduated in 2018, started his senior season. All have contributed significantly. 

All-Star

Ben tossed in 11.6 points per game and was tabbed a league all-star last winter as the Panthers reached the Division 2 South semifinals. Josh played a major role (14.3 ppg) in the program claiming its first-ever Division 2 South Sectional title and trip to TD Garden his senior year. Tyler helped the program to a pair of Patriot League Kennan Division titles. 

“I’ve never had anything like that since I’ve been here,” said 20-year W-H boys’ basketball head coach Bob Rodgers. “I’ve never seen anything like that — in basketball — anyway. In basketball, I would say the Rice family stands apart.”

It began in the driveway. 

“I still remember how intense our two-on-two games would be,” Josh said. “Me and my brother Tyler would be on the same team and my dad (Jon) and my brother Ben would be on the same team. I think that made us all a lot better and grew us closer. 

“It was cool growing up with two brothers who really were interested in the same things you were interested in. That helped all of us get better.”

Their father Jon, a 1986 W-H graduate, also played basketball for the Panthers and then at ENC. 

“It’s been incredibly remarkable watching them play, especially at my alma mater,” Jon said. “It’s been an incredible investment, but everything we’ve put into it we’ve got back tenfold.” 

A prime example was when Josh and Tyler shared the Garden parquet in 2016. 

“That was really cool — something I’ll never forget,” Jon said. 

As Ben enters the last few months of his senior season, he has his eyes fixated on the prize, just like his brothers did.

“We obviously want to win every time out,” said Ben, who is coming off a 30-point outburst against Hanover on Tuesday, Jan. 21. “We’d love a league championship and to go far in the state tournament.”

As for Jon, it will be a little strange not writing in a full W-H basketball schedule on the calendar next winter.

“Who knows what I’ll be doing this time next year?” joked Jon. 

Season Preview: Boys’ basketball ahead of the game

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The Panthers bench during a scrimmage against Sandwich. / Photo by: Sue Moss

The Panthers return most of their production from last season’s 18-7 club.

For Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ basketball head coach Bob Rodgers, it’s like night and day going into this season compared to last winter.

Last year, the Panthers were tasked with finding a new starting five. This season, they return all of their key pieces from a Div. 2 South semifinals run.

“As a coach, it’s really about staying out of their way and letting them be as good as they are,” said Rodgers, who enters his 20th year at the helm of the boys’ basketball program.

Rodgers said with more experience comes heightened expectations.

“Now we’re veterans, most of the league knows most of the guys on the team — they know who they are and what they can do,” said Rodgers, whose team has qualified for the tournament for 11 straight seasons. “It’s a lot of fun because we’re way further ahead than we ordinarily would be this time of year so a lot of the stuff we’re doing is mostly reviewing. It’s great when you have a veteran team.”

Rodgers said while his starting five is likely going to fluctuate throughout the season, there are a few players almost set in stone, beginning with senior captain Stevie Kelly. The team’s returning MVP, he will once again man the point after averaging about 8.3 ppg and over 130 assists last season.

“Stevie Kelly is tough as nails and is one of the best competitors I’ve ever coached, he just competes hard all the time,” Rodgers said. “His basketball skill level has improved immensely. He shoots it really well and he’s a great passer.”

A 6-foot-7 swingman, senior captain Ben Rice will start after averaging close to 12 ppg and sinking close to 50 three-pointers last season.

“Ben is a great kid to coach, who has such a great demeanor,” Rodgers said. “Everyone on the team loves him. He can shoot it, he’s getting better diving the ball to the whole, he can rebound it and I think defensively he can make a difference with how long he is. He’s a weapon.”

Junior Cole LeVangie is also a weapon with an efficient inside and outside game for the Panthers.

“All Cole LeVangie has done it gotten better,” Rodgers said. “He’s going to be in the mix to start.”

While Rodgers said he expects his club to shoot the ball well from beyond the arc again this season, his team’s strength isn’t something that’s going to be found on the stat sheet.

“They all (the players) genuinely care about each other, they genuinely want their teammates to have success,” said the coach. “They can push each other in practice without other guys getting offended and they can play hard-nosed in practice without somebody feeling like they’re trying to show them up. That intangible of a team’s character, as I look at all the teams I’ve coached over my 30 years of coaching, I always look back and say, ‘Where were we on the character scale?’

“The teams that were high on the character scale always achieved higher than I thought they could. They’ve exceed what they can be. If this team achieve what they can be, sky’s the limit because just what they can be is really good.”

The Panthers return to the court Friday, Dec. 20 at 6:30 p.m. on the home against Plymouth North.

“Nothing is ever guaranteed in high school basketball,” Rodgers said. “It’s not played on paper, it’s played on the court. On paper, I like what we are, but we got to go play it on the court.”

Welcome to the club: Josh Rice joins his dad in Eastern Nazarene’s 1,000-point club

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Josh Rice (left) and his father Jon after the game. / Courtesy photo

Josh and Jon Rice become the first father-son duo in Eastern Nazarene College history to both score 1,000 points.

There was already plenty to celebrate.

Friday, Nov. 22 was both Jon Rice and his wife Nancy’s birthday. Their son Josh gave them a memorable present — at the place they first met.

Josh, a senior swingman on Eastern Nazarene’s men’s basketball team and 2016 Whitman-Hanson Regional High graduate, entered his game that night against Worcester Polytechnic Institute on the verge of school history. He needed 14 points to join his dad in the college’s 1,000-point club — and to become the first father-son duo in program history to do it.

After hitting four quick 3-pointers, Josh was just two points away. Then, with 5:17 left in the first half, he got a screen, a pass from his teammate Noah Cheney, spotted up from the top of the key and connected on another one from beyond the arc. This one, pushed him over the 1,000-point mark.

“I definitely don’t think I could have asked for a better present,” said his father Jon, who ranks 18th all-time on Eastern Nazarene men’s basketball’s scoring list with 1,226 points that he scored from 1986-90. “And to do it at my alma mater — I’m so proud of Josh.”

Said Josh: “I’m definitely proud of it, especially since it’s the same school that my dad went to. He’s a big reason I went here. It‘s nice for us to have and be able to share that forever together. It was a great feeling — especially for him to be there.”

And it was appropriate for Josh, a Hanson native, to reach the milestone with a 3-pointer. He’s connected on 199 of them so far during his college career.

Josh said his father molded him into the shooter he is today.

“He didn’t let me shoot threes until I was in high school,” Josh said. “He taught me how to shoot, the form, everything.”

Jon coached his son in town and AAU basketball from fourth grade until his sophomore year of high school. Josh credits his father for helping foster him with a love for the game.

“My dad loves sports, especially basketball,” Josh said. “His history at ENC and his passion and his love and knowledge of the game really grew that passion in me.”

It began when Josh was in elementary school and his father Jon was the head boys’ basketball coach at Hingham High.

“I would bring him with me to practices and games,” the elder Rice said. “There was one time, I remember coaching a game in Weymouth and we had just enough seats for everybody on the team and the last seat was for the water cooler. Josh was in second or third grade at the time. There was one of those big, heavy water coolers, and he was like, ‘Well, dad said I could sit on the bench this game, so I’m just going to move this water cooler.’

“So, he attempts to move the water cooler and it falls over and it floods the court, so that was certainly an everlasting memory.”

Jon eventually gave up his spot on the Hingham bench so he could coach his son.

“It was one of the toughest decisions I had to make,” Jon said. “It was hard, but I don’t regret a second of it. I cherish the memories I have coaching Josh and my other two boys, as well.”

But the memories that stick out to Josh occurred in the driveway, where he and his younger brother Tyler, a former starter on the W-H basketball team, who graduated in 2018, played against their youngest brother Ben, who is a senior on the Panthers now, and their father.

“I just remember how intense those games would be going down the stretch, being like 20-20 and the first to 21 wins,” Josh recalled. “Losing to my brother and my dad motivated me to work even harder.”

It’s what happened after the game when no one was watching that defines Josh’s work ethic.

“The next day, I’d be out working on the shot I missed in those games,” Josh said. “Those games were so valuable growing up. We all wanted to win so badly.”

Josh entered this season just 40 points away from the 1,000-point mark. His offseason was rigorous, but typical. 

“I would work out wherever I could,” Josh explained. “When Whitman-Hanson was open, I’d get in there when I could, I’d drive up some nights to ENC. I also work at the YMCA in Hanover, as a camp counselor, so I’d go early and get a workout in, and then after my shift was up I’d get shots up.”

His drive, determination, and prowess on the court are a few aspects of Josh that stick out to ENC head men’s basketball coach Scott Polsgrove. They explain why he’s a captain for the Lions.

“He’s a great leader for us,” Polsgrove said. “His teammates all know that he cares about them, and he’s a fun, loving, player who has an infectious attitude and energy about him that draws people to him. We rely on him heavily.”

While Josh finishes his ENC career, he’ll forever have a memory in the college both he and his father called home.

“I’ll be able to take my kids to an ENC game one day and say, ‘That’s your grandfather and that’s me,’” Josh said.

Hanson’s Sweeney ready to tackle freshman campaign for Springfield College football team

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Whitman-Hanson Regional High alum Quinn Sweeney is a freshman on the Springfield College football team.

Growing up, Quinn Sweeney’s father Keith always had a simple message for him when it came to the college selection process.

“He just said to pick the school that was the right fit for me,” said Quinn, who hails from Hanson.

So, that’s what he did, and his choice just happened to be Springfield College, where his father achieved all-star status as a defensive back. He’d also get the opportunity to play football there, but education was a bigger factor in Quinn’s decision.

“Toward the end of my sophomore year, I decided I wanted to become a physical education teacher,” Quinn said. “We researched a bunch of schools and Springfield and Bridgewater [State University] were my top choices. I felt most comfortable at Springfield. Following in his footsteps is like icing on the cake.”

His offseason was busy.

“[I] lifted three times a week and did conditioning three times a week,” Quinn said. “The strength and conditioning staff is really big on recovery and giving your body time to recover from workouts. I was lucky to get to play in the Shriners [Football Classic] game in June, so that was kind of like a mini camp to get back into the football mode.”

Whitman-Hanson Regional High football coach Mike Driscoll often lauded Quinn, who was a Patriot League All-Star last fall as a senior, during his playing days for the Panthers, coining him the “energy guy” and an essential part of the “heart and soul” of the line at either his end position on defense or post at tackle on offense.

“He loves football,” Driscoll said of Quinn last August. “He’s just the type of kid who can get off the ball and he’s worked on a lot of his quickness.”

Now, as Quinn readies to kick off his freshman campaign on the Pride, he’s is taking it one practice at a time.

“Preseason camp goes until Sept. 4,” he said. “I’m just trying to get better every day and put together a string of good practices. If I do that, everything will take care of itself.”

Springfield begins the season Saturday, Sept. 7 on the road against Western New England at 1 p.m.

“I have been given an amazing opportunity and I want to take advantage of everything the school has to offer,” Quinn said. “Football-wise, I’d love to be part of the team — brotherhood is what we call it here. Just do my part to help our team have success.”

Season Review: Boys’ basketball courts success

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Photo by: Sue Moss

The boys’ basketball team finished the year 18-7, including a pair of playoff wins.

Once again, the Whitman-Hanson Regional High boys’ basketball team was tasked with replacing its entire starting five at the outset of the season. Once again, it was no problem as the Panthers marched to their 11th straight tournament appearance.

“It sets the foundation for future teams to build on,” said 19-year head coach Bob Rodgers, whose team finished the year 18-7. “It’s now an expectation that we’re gonna make the state tournament.”

However, unlike last season, the Panthers advanced in the tournament, winning their first two games as the eight seed. In the first round of the Div. 2 South playoffs, they knocked off ninth-ranked Dennis-Yarmouth, 60-57, followed by a win over top-seeded Randolph, 60-51, in the quarterfinals.

“I didn’t really know what to expect going into the season,” Rodgers said. “It was really a case of a really balanced team. We didn’t have anyone who scored 15 or 20 points per game. I couldn’t be more happy than what this team accomplished and how we grew from the beginning of the year to where we were at the end.”

In their third trip to the semifinals in the past four seasons, they succumbed to second-ranked New Mission, 79-70, in overtime.

The Panthers were indeed led by a balanced effort on offense with five players contributing 5.5 ppg or more.

“We didn’t have any inside presence, in terms of pounding it into a post player, but we really got to the hoop really well,” Rodgers said. “We had a lot of guys that could drive and knock down the 3 really well.”

The Panthers certainty did knock down the 3 ball really well. After connecting on just 149 triples last season, one that Rodgers coined an apparition, they sunk around 200 this year.

Junior Ben Rice scorer led the 3-point barrage with around 50. He also led the team in scoring with over 11.6 ppg.

“Ben is an absolute gym rat,” Rodgers said. “He’s always in the gym working on his shot. He had steady improvement in his game in terms of becoming a better defender and becoming someone we can rely on to do more than just shoot the ball.”

With an ability to get into the lane for a quick two and knock down a shot from beyond the arc, sophomore Cole LeVangie produced close to 10 ppg, which was good for second on the team.

“He can handle the ball and can shoot it,” Rodgers said. “He’s very unselfish and plays a total team basketball game.”

Junior Stevie Kelly was a sparkplug at the point for the Panthers’ offense, delivering over 130 assists on the season and averaging right around 8.3 ppg.

“He’s just a hard-nosed, tough player who can affect the game on both ends of the court,” Rodgers said. “He’s a terrific defensive player. He’s physically stronger than most guards he goes up against. He was an outstanding player for us this year.”

Rodgers said he knows exactly what he is looking for from his players this offseason.

“It’s going to take the entire group to committing to getting stronger and basically playing the game together, and still improving our shooting and still improving our basketball skill,” said the coach. “It’s going to depend on which guys are bringing guys into the gym with them, not just going into the gym themselves.”