Seth Eilberg may not have an abundance of size, but he has plenty of versatility on this year’s Hill School (Pa.) team.
Eilberg’s squad will likely be led by its guard tandem of Shane Mahoney and David Singleton.
``Shane is the toughest kid I’ve ever coached,” Eilberg said. “He plays hard and practices hard all the time and that’s should set a tone for the talented young guys. They’ll learn from him.”
The biggest beneficiary may be Singleton, a 6-foot sophomore floor leader who is already getting some ACC looks.
``For being so young, he’s pretty mature,” said the 6-foot, 170-pound Mahoney, a California native who is getting looks from UNH, Brown, Army, Loyola (Md.) and most recently, Stanford. “He makes good decisions and he’s very intense. We really feed off each other.”
``Both of those point guards have been playing together,” Eilberg said. “Shane will run the team this year and David will take over for two years after Shane leaves.”
Another key returnee to the team is 6-foot senior guard Keegan Ash, a hard-nosed, scrappy kid who takes timely shots, takes charges and finds a way to get rebounds despite giving up size.
Look for 6-foot-7 senior Kyle Auffrey, a catch and shoot guy who can also pass the ball and defend in the post, to make a significant impact this year.
Other players who will battle for playing time include heady 6-foot sophomore guard Max Huc, 6-4 sophomore forward Dave Wolter, a coach’s son with good size who brings versatility to the table, 6-7 freshman Glenn Richards and Amauris Quezada, a 5-11 sophomore guard who is the younger brother of Manny Quezada. A pair of juniors – 6-4 Brian Kendrick and 6-4 Dane Luttman – will help off the bench as well.
``We don’t have a lot of size or depth so we have to find a way to gang rebound and defend in the post,” Eilberg said. “But we have a lot of hard-nosed guys who will play hard all the time.”
``We’re a little smaller than we were last year,” added Mahoney “But I’m excited because of our young guys. We’re hungry. We’re small, but that’s a strength and a weakness. We’re scrappy and we make up for our lack of height by putting pressure on the ball.”