We turn our attention to the forwards as we continue our men’s basketball preview. The season starts in just 2 days!
Forward
When we asked Coach McKay to single out one player that has surprised him the most during the offseason, he mentioned several, but the first one to come to his mind was Evan Maxwell. At 6’10” and 245-pounds, Maxwell is the only “big” on Liberty’s roster this season. As a true freshman, he averaged 6.0 minutes, 2.1 points, and 1.1 rebounds in 29 games played. The Flames don’t have much size, so anything Evan is able to provide this year is better than nothing. If he’s able to develop into a reliable big who is able to play solid defense and grab some rebounds, we will all be ecstatic.
Ezra Talbert came in as the highest rated true freshmen to suit up for the Flames a year ago. Due to a bad back, he only saw 19 minutes of playing time. At 6’8”, and his ability to stretch the court with the 3-pointer, Talbert is the prototypical stretch 4 to fit McKay’s system. He does like to shoot the 3, as 4 of his 5 field goal attempts last season were from long range.
Outlook
Maxwell and Talbert have the most question marks surrounding them of any of the returnees. With zero depth at the position, the Flames will be counting on both of them to provide quality minutes on both ends of the court.
