Plenty expected from Mansfield men

This season, the PSAC may be one of the toughest conferences around, loaded with talented, veteran squads.

A year after qualifying for the PSAC playoffs, the Mansfield Mountaineers hope that once again this year they are one of the teams near the top of the conference.

"It's good to have four starters back and nine guys, really eight guys, that played significant minutes last year," Mansfield coach Rich Miller said. "We have six new guys and really two of those guys will be impact guys for us."

One of the key players for the Mountaineers this season will be junior forward Yuseff Carr who, at 6-feet, 6-inches tall and 286 pounds, led the team in scoring at 15.4 points and rebounding 7.7 last year.

"Yuseff is a strong, strong player," Miller said. "He hasn't had a real smooth pre-season. He had a broken ankle and has been out with that. Now he's been sick. He is getting back and he will be a force for us."

A year ago, Carr ranked 12th in the conference in scoring and ninth in rebounding, and that was good enough to earn him a spot on the preseason All-Conference team.

While Carr is a big-time player, he isn't alone in leading the Mountaineers, as they also have a number of other talented players on the roster.

One of them is a player those in District 4 likely remember very well: former Milton High School star Tony Fannick, who averaged 10 points and 5.1 rebounds a game while leading the conference in free throw shooting and dishing out 61 assists as a freshman last year.

"Tony is a very versatile guy. He can really shoot the three," Miller said. "He is a really offensive player. He understands the game very well. He is a coach's son and he has a mentality of a point guard playing the forward spot.

"He sees the floor well, he passes well. He knows when to take the shot and makes very good decisions out there. Defensively, he is improving. He's improving a lot as a rebounder and I think he has the ability to be one of the better rebounders in the league."

While Fannick and Carr give the Mountaineers plenty of talent up front, their backcourt is also well stocked this year.

"We are happy to have Ryan Callahan and Chris Bender back," Miller said. "I thought those two gave us some continuity in the backcourt. Ryan is one of the better scorers in the league. He can shoot the ball. He can get to the basket. He can do a lot of things on the perimeter, some good, and some bad. Chris Pender is a very good shooter for us."

Last year Callahan was 15th in the conference in scoring at 14.9 points a game, and the senior ranked among the conference leaders in three-pointers. Pender, also a senior, averaged 12.1 points a contest and was second in the league with 68 threes.

While Callahan and Pender give Mansfield plenty of backcourt scoring, they know that the point guard spot will be a key for them.

"At the point guard spot right now, we are looking at three guys," Miller said. "LaVail Owens, Justin Simmons - and he will also play on the wing - and Breland Roach, who is a freshman from Harrisburg. Breland is very quick and is a guy that has been a pleasant surprise for us in the preseason."

While the starting lineup will be strong for the Mountaineers, they also expect some contributions from the bench this year.

"Brandon Smith is a senior forward," Miller said. "A 6-foot, 8-inch kid who is very athletic. He will give us some really good minutes off the bench. Derrison Anthony is a junior college transfer. 6-foot, 3-inches, really strong, he will just do a variety of things around the basket and will also play on the wing as well, too."

While the expectations are high for this team - they were picked to finish third in the PSAC East in the preseason poll - Miller believes the veterans on the team will make sure they don't rest on their laurels.

"In our league, that's one of the positives of having a veteran group of guys," Miller said. "They know what it's like to play in our league. They know you can't ever take a night off. One of the positives of having a veteran group of players is they know you can't take a play off, a possession off, and you certainly can't take a game off.

"Everyone is going to be very strong. Kutztown is picked to win our league and they should be - they are a top 25 team in the country. Every team in the East is capable of beating each team on every given night. You are going to have to come to play every night, and with a veteran group of guys, I hope they can pass that along to this team."

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