Falcons officially begin 2002-03 season on Saturday
10/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 11, 2002
The Air Force men's basketball team begins preparations for the 2002-03 campaign this Saturday, Oct. 12, with the first official practice of the season. Head coach Joe Scott enters his third season at Air Force and there is more promise and excitement about the upcoming season than there has been in a long time at the Academy.
The Falcons return nine letterwinners and four starters from last season's 9-19 club, including seniors Tom Bellairs and Vernard Jenkins, this year's co-captains.
Bellairs, a 6-7 forward, averaged a career-best 10.3 points per game last season and became the 12th player in school history with 500 points and 500 rebounds. He enters his final season ranked seventh on the school's career rebounding list with 576, and is tied for 33rd with 752 career points. The Denver, Colo., native added two double-doubles to his resume during the season, and now has 12 in his career, tying him for second among MWC returners.
Jenkins returns as the starting point guard after a solid junior campaign. Jenkins, who came off the bench in the first four games of the season, busted into the starting lineup against Montana State and started every game the rest of the way. Jenkins played excellent defense the entire season, finishing fourth in the conference with 46 steals. He is No. 5 on AFA's career steals list with 120, and sixth on the school's all-time assist list with 268.
Junior forward Joel Gerlach was second on the team in scoring and rebounding last year, averaging 11.4 points and 3.4 boards per contest. He found himself in foul trouble throughout the season, and averaged only 30.3 minutes per game, but led the team in field-goal percentage at 53%, good for third in the MWC statistics.
The other returning junior is swingman A.J. Kuhle, who set a school and MWC record by playing 59 minutes before fouling out with less than one minute remaining in the four-overtime thriller against Wyoming. Kuhle was the ironman on the team last season, as he led the squad by averaging 35.1 minutes per game, and played 40.1 minutes per MWC contest. He played every minute in the final eight games of the season, and averaged 8.8 points per contest during the season.
Four sophomores are on the roster this season, led by guard Tim Keller, who started the first four games last year at point guard. Keller, one of the best pure shooters on the squad, averaged 5.6 points per game and was second on the team in 3-point percentage at 40.5% (32-79) as the team's sixth man.
Fellow second-year players David Peterson and Marc Holum gained valuable experience coming off the bench during their freshman campaign. Peterson saw action in 19 games and averaged ust under two points and one rebound per game as Bellairs' back-up in the post. Holum, meanwhile, played in eight games late in the season and scored a career-high five points in his first game as Air Force defeated MWC tournament champion San Diego State at home.
Sophomore Caleb Buchanan joins the team this year after spending his freshman campaign on the junior varsity squad.
For the second consecutive year, Scott is excited about the incoming recruiting class, as several newcomers have a chance to see large amounts of playing time. Four players at the top of the list are Nick Welch from Hurst, Texas, J.J. Brull out of San Diego, Calif., Antoine Hood from Oklahoma City, Okla., and Deane Lake from Stephens City, Va.
Welch, a 6-7 forward, was the most valuable player and leading rebounder for the AFA Prep School last season, while Hood, a 6-3 guard, paced the team in scoring by averaging 12.8 points per game.
Brull and Lake, meanwhile, are true freshmen who bring solid credentials to the Falcon team. Brull, a 6-6 forward, was the player of the year for the Palomar league and led Torrey Pines High School to the California Interscholastic League championship. Lake, a 6-10 center, was a McDonald's high school All-America nominee and holds the single-season and career records for blocked shots at Sherando High School.
"I will be surprised if we these four players don't contribute immediately," said Scott. "Hood is a tall, quick guard who plays great defense, while Welch and Brull are good basketball players from solid high school programs, and Lake will give us good depth at the center position for years to come."
Other newcomers with a chance to contribute and help the program are Marcus King (Del City, Okla.), Jason Boerboom (Richfield, Minn.), Kevin Calloway (Honolulu, Hawaii) and Ryan Mort (Ozark, Ark.). King and Boerboom are true freshmen while Calloway and Mort played at the USAFA Prep School.
