Two years ago, Chris Potash led the Peddie School (Hightstown, N.J.) to a 16-7 record virtually out of nowhere. Last season injuries decimated the team and Peddie finished with just a handful of wins.
Potash is hoping that his squad will look more like the 2002 version than the one that stumbled a year ago.
``I love this group,” Potash said. “We’re deeper than we were two years ago. We have three juniors and a sophomore in our top seven players and that’ll help a lot.”
``We’re going to try and ignore our lack of size,” he added. “We don’t have a traditional center.”
Dmitry Razin, a 6-foot-7, 205-pound wing forward who played at Lawrence Woodmere Academy a year ago, and E.J. Kusyner, a 6-4, 205-pound shooting guard who came from North Allegheny High (Pa.), are the two allotted post-grads on the roster.
Razin is from Russia and been living in the United States for the past decade while Kusyner is a big-time shooter who missed his junior season because of a broken back.
Josh Wearing, a 6-4 ½ junior wing from Trenton, N.J., may be the most talented and athletic player on the team. He missed all of last season due to a knee injury, but will return and assume the starting spot he held as a freshman.
The final two starting spots will likely go to 5-10 ½, junior point guard Nasheed Linton and 6-4 ½ junior guard Colin Aldridge. Linton started every game as a sophomore and is one of the quickest guards in the league while Aldridge brings athleticism to the table.
Potash will likely bring 6-6, 230-pound senior power forward Andy Simon and 5-10 sophomore Theo Jensen off the bench. Simon will likely play lacrosse in college and Jensen is a shooter who came via Archbishop Wood in Pennsylvania.
``We have the strongest schedule in school history,” Potash said. “And this year, the league is the most balanced it’s been from top to bottom.”