MCI Preppers will have size, shooters, smarts

A little less than 48 hours from his team’s season-opening game, Maine Central Institute prep basketball coach Dave Campbell is a bit harried.

The second-year coach of the Pittsfield-based postgraduate team is trying to do at least four things – one of which is a media interview via phone – moments after Wednesday afternoon’s practice.

“Well, I hope I know my starting lineup since we play New Hampton Friday,” Campbell said with a laugh.

Then again, Campbell’s starting five depends on what kind of New Hampton (N.H.) School lineup he sees.

“We have two guys we can use at forward and two guys we can switch at guard, depending on the type of team we’re playing,” Campbell explained. “There’s no question we have a lot more depth and versatility than we did last year.”

At least for the time being, Campbell’s starting lineup includes 6-foot-9 center Svetoslav Chetinov, 6-11 forward Kamil Gawrzydek, 6-5 guard-forward Van Dellenbeck, 6-4 guard Danny Evans, and 5-11 point guard Joseph Orukotan.

Campbell expects to be able to go fairly deep into his bench.

“We’re going to try to play as many as possible, but I think we can play eight or nine kids comfortably night in and night out,” said Campbell, a Pittsburgh, Pa., native with 40 years of coaching experience.

Indianapolis native Lucas Reiff and Marcus Matthews, both 6-3 guards, expect to see a lot of playing time. Reiff has already committed to play for the University of South Carolina Upstate (Spartanburg, S.C.)

“He’s our only early signee, so that makes things a little less hectic for us and lets us concentrate more on becoming a cohesive team,” Campbell said.

Specifically a cohesive defensive team.

With so many new faces on a 14-player roster representing seven states and six countries, communication and cohesiveness are key factors in determining MCI’s New England Tournament fate.

“I think we could be a very good team if we get all the pieces of the puzzle put together,” Campbell said. “The biggest piece is teamwork and executing the game plan, and that’s why we have to be cohesive to be successful.”

Something that should make that goal easier to attain is the team’s overall intelligence.

“All our players are enrolled in the honors program and they told me this is the first time that’s happened,” said Campbell. “These are smart kids who are very coachable and very eager to learn. We already have four or five kids ticketed for Division I teams.”

The lone Maine native on the squad is Dylan Palmer, a 6-2 swingman from Newport.

Other areas the MCI Postgrads appear solid are size and shooting.

“I wish we had more team speed than we have, but you can never have too much of that,” Campbell said. “We’ll be a half-court team primarily who likes to play fast, but under control. Defensively, we’ll be man-to-man most of the time.”

That’s fine with Campbell, who doesn’t see the wisdom of being a pressing team in a game with a 35-second shot clock. He prefers to wear teams down defensively with solid, smart man defense.

“That’s why our defensive improvement is so important,” he said. “I think this will be a second semester team.”

In the meantime, the first semester starts at 5 p.m. Friday and then with a 1 p.m. home game Sunday against Winchendon School (Mass.) at Wright Gymnasium.