First year Perry boys basketball head coach Aaron Lyons knows he faces a difficult challenge.
Lyons must replace 11 seniors from a 5-18 team that finished 3-11 in Raccoon River Conference play. With their graduation nearly all relevant statistics disappear from the books.
Only 80-of-1,339 points scored will return, with no made 3-point shots back, while only 70-of-555 rebounds will be represented.
Junior Brendan Ivory owns almost all of the returning numbers for the Jays. He scored 72 total points (3.4 ppg) last year while sinking 16-of-23 free throws (69.6). He finished with 48 rebounds, 12 assists and 10 steals.
“LeBron James or Michael Jordan is not walking down the hallway and into the gym,” Lyons said. “We are who we are, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be successful.”
“I will use Keghan West just as an example,” the coach added. “What we need is for Keghan West to be the best Keghan West he can be. We need Brendan Ivory to be the best Brendan Ivory, Kato Dougan to be the best Kato Dougan — that kind of thing. That is what I am looking for.”
“We cannot be who were are not, but if we are playing at our best we can be better than some people might think,” Lyons said. “I would rather people sleep on us rather than be talking about us — let them think ‘oh, it is just Perry’ and then see what happens.”
Lyons said he was impressed with the energy the Bluejays had shown in their few early practices and their acceptance of a new outlook. The new coach will be assisted by his father, Dean, former girls varsity coach at Greene County and long-time boys varsity coach at East Greene. Tony Oros will also be assisting.
“My dad has opinions on defense and hustle that I think we need and I know he knows how to reach the kids,” Aaron Lyons said. “To be honest, we had several games last year where I thought we gave less than our best effort, and that is not going to be tolerated. If you can’t give your all we will find someone who can.”
Newcomer Mohammed Abdelnabi should step into the starting lineup at a guard spot. Dougan, West, Alex Morales, Carlos Calderon, Jordan Long, Avery Meister, Mario Cruz and Ivory will also see varsity playing time.
“We are truly starting over,” Aaron Lyons said. “With all but eight starts having graduated, and with a new coaching staff, we have a clean sheet to start with. We will need patience as we learn to play together and will need to keep our heads up.”
“The guys all know this won’t be easy, but here they are going out and wanting to be a part of a team and see if we can’t start turning things around,” he said. “That kind of spirit is a good place to start.”
