AKRON - In a hall of fame career that has produced 670 wins, Bill Patrick has coached thousands of high school basketball players.
Very few of them, however, have played on the varsity team as freshmen.This year's Tippecanoe Valley High School varsity boys basketball roster features three freshmen and two sophomores, as Patrick will direct a very young squad in his 42nd season overall and 13th with the Vikings.
"We're very young," said Patrick, who owns a career record of 670-255 and a mark of 192-75 at Tippecanoe Valley. "We've got three freshmen on the varsity team, and two sophomores. They're not just there, they're gonna have to play."
The Vikings were 8-13 overall last season and 4-3 in the Three Rivers Conference.
While those win totals are far from what Valley has been accustomed to, it was an improvement from the 2008-2009 season when the Vikings were 4-17 overall and 2-5 in the TRC.
Graduation took its toll on Valley, and gone from last year's team are Anthony Tolson, Zach Owens, Taylor Burkhart and Jordan Littlejohn.
Tolson (284), Owens (255) and Burkhart (201) combined to score 740 of the Vikings' 1,142 points last season.
"Those three kids scored a lot of our points," said Patrick. "They did a majority of the scoring. We've got some kids that can shoot, but we're very young. We don't have a lot of varsity experience."
Valley leading returners are junior Bret Cooper and sophomore Nick Kindig.
Cooper scored 134 points last season, while Kindig scored 88 points.
No other player on this year's roster scored more than eight points at the varsity level all of last season.
"I think we'll improve every game," said Patrick. "I think with a little time and some experience we could be very good. It's just gonna take some time."
Valley's roster includes seniors Dereck Ferrell, Dan Kitch, Taylor Breeden and Jeffrey Tillman; juniors Shelton Carpenter and Cooper; sophomores Jacob Ritchey and Kindig; and freshmen Tanner Shepherd, Robbie Groom and Tanner Andrews.
Carpenter's name appears on the roster, but he is expected to miss the season after having knee surgery.
Patrick said there were two other players that may have been on the team but are not because of injuries suffered during the football season.
Not only is Patrick's team young and inexperienced, the Vikings open the season Wednesday at Kosciusko County rival Warsaw.
The Tigers enter the season ranked third in Class 4A and return three starters from last year's state runner-up team, including Mr. Basketball candidate Nic Moore.
"Our schedule is tough," said Patrick. "Warsaw is a very good team, and obviously Nic Moore is very good. We also have to play, Plymouth, Peru, Whitko, Glenn, Triton and Wawasee. We play a pretty tough schedule. There aren't any easy games on our schedule. We're going to have to grow up quick."
