With tip-off tournaments set to kick-off the 2022-23 basketball season this weekend, coaches and players gathered at the KCAC yesterday for the annual Heritage Conference Media Day, presented by First Commonwealth Bank.
Ceremonies started with remarks from Cullen Stokes, basketball chair for the Heritage Conference, and Greg Sipos of First Commonwealth Bank. IUP basketball coaches Craig Carey and Joe Lombardi were guest speakers at the event, and both shared sentiments of “play hard and enjoy the season.”
In attendance was Nick Moore, head coach of the Homer-Center girls basketball team. Moore returns for his second season at the helm of Homer-Center after clinching a Heritage Conference championship in his inaugural season. He said that repeating as conference champions will be difficult due to the amount of talent all schools possess.
Moore adds that defense will be key to his team’s success this season.
Jason Miloser, head coach of the Penns Manor girls’ basketball team, who faced Homer-Center in last year’s championship game, said he expects players, like Deja Gillo, to help lead the pack this year.
Miloser adds that he has a quality group of players this season.
River Valley is expected to make an impact in the girls’ standings, but head coach Ricc Brown says you can’t sleep on anyone in the conference.
On the boys basketball side, United comes off a Heritage Conference championship season last year. Head coach Matt Rodkey said he would like to get back to the KCAC, but his team needs to play hard against a very tough Heritage Conference schedule.
Rodkey also faces a depth challenge after losing Jon Henry and Ben Tomb to graduation, but he said he has a lot of young depth, including Isaac Worthington.
One of the top stories this year comes out of Marion Center, where Paul Hafera prepares for his first season at the helm of the Stingers. Hafera had to adjust to the head coaching role quickly after Ralph McGinnis resigned over the summer. He said the team has helped make the transition an easy one.
The basketball season tips off this weekend as multiple teams will be participating in tip-off tournaments. We have videos from Media Day available on our Renda Digital TV YouTube channel and on our Facebook pages.
