HICKORY, N.C. — The Catawba Valley Community College men's basketball program enters the 2017-18 season with both excitement and uncertainty.
The Red Hawks feature a 20-man roster, which includes 16 young, yet talented freshmen.
The challenge is one that seventh-year CVCC head men's basketball coach Bryan Garmroth is familiar with.
"I don't know the exact numbers, but I've had plenty of years with a lot of freshmen," Garmroth said. "It's difficult getting them to buy in and understand that they have got to play at a whole different level. They've got to be demanded of and pushed more than they are accustomed to. They've got to take care of fundamentals that they've not been able to take care of in the past because they were good enough just to get by."
Four sophomore leaders — wing players Myles Williams and Dante Starr, guard Caleb Bryson and post player Steve Ruszala — will help to anchor the young group of Red Hawk freshmen.
Garmroth has been pleased with what he's seen from the veteran quartet.
"They are a good group," Garmroth said of his sophomores. "They are doing a great job. The sophomores have really matured. They are a good nucleus of guys. It would just be nice if there were about eight of them."
While his team lacks overall maturity, Garmroth believes it has the chance to be extremely strong on defense.
"This is my seventh year here (at CVCC), and this is probably the most talented team we've had," Garmroth said. "We've got the athleticism that we could be really, really good defensively, but I don't know yet if we have the mentality to be really good defensively. That's a heart issue. That's a toughness issue. I don't know if we've got that mentality and grit to be good defensively. From an athletic standpoint, a length standpoint and a size standpoint, we could just create havoc for people. To do that, it takes a lot of energy. It's just too early to know if we're going to have that."
CVCC opens its season with a home scrimmage on Tuesday, Oct. 17 against Warren Wilson. The Red Hawks' first regular season game is Wednesday, Nov. 1 at the Tarlton Complex against Brevard College.
As for his expectations and goals for the season, Garmroth is keeping things in perspective.
"Our goals are a lot of little things," he said. "We aren't setting goes like 'are we gonna win the league?' or 'are we gonna win the region?' We aren't even in the vicinity of being able to think like that right now. Our goals right now are to grow up and mature."