Coyotes look forward to a winning season

Coach Ryan Mumm returns for a second year at the Potter-Dix helm as the Coyotes' head coach with Ryan Coffey as assistant.

The Coyotes finished their last season with an 8-13 record and as runner-up in the MAC Tournament. Though, they graduated three starters last year and lost key player Edward Barnes, who transferred.

"Last season we had fairly good team chemistry and I expect the same this year," Mumm said. "We don't have a lot of depth, so our primary focus is going to be conditioning the team and getting them into basketball shape. Our other focus is going to be to up the intensity on the defensive side of the ball."

Returning starters Tyrus Gawith, Dylan Nielsen and Connor Williams will be relied on heavily to continue the intense athleticism for which the Coyotes have become known.

Gawith, a 6'1" senior, averaged 2.6 points per game last year and pulled in 2.1 rebounds. Williams, a 5'8" junior, added 1.5 to the board and pulled in 1.2 rebounds on average.

JT Herboldsheimer is expected to make a big difference on the court, as is newcomer Terell Gray.

"Terell Gray is a big-bodied kid for being just a freshman. He's going to have to make the transition from junior high to varsity quickly, but he's a good athlete with a great work ethic," Mumm said. "One of the things we emphasize with our program is to lead by example. We have several guys who do a great job of that."

Though the Coyotes lack size and depth, the team works hard and play well together, according to Mumm. This is also the team's second year running their new system, the familiarity is expected to be an asset.

"We will be fairly balanced offensively, we have an unselfish group who understand the importance of spreading the ball around. This will be the second year in our new system so there should be more familiarity with what we are trying to do offensively," Mumm said. "Like on offense, being in the second year of our system, the team will be more familiar with what we're trying to do. Our lack of size will be something that we will have to overcome with our work ethic and hustle."

"We play a schedule with a lot of quality teams. Obviously our depth will be an issue, but our team is up to the task. I expect our team to compete every practice and every game," Mumm added. "We have a good group of guys who are fun to coach. We are going to have to have some guys step up into different roles they may be used to, but I fully expect them to be up to the task."