When the Liberty men’s basketball team takes the court on Nov. 25 against Purdue as part of the Space Coast Challenge, Ritchie McKay’s squad will have a much different look. Caleb Homesley, Scottie James, Myo Baxter-Bell, and Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz are all gone. That group combined for 103 wins over the past four seasons, but the Flames say they are focused on proving they have a great program in the first season after those seniors have moved on.
“Maintain the standard,” those were the first words out of senior Elijah Cuffee’s mouth when asked about moving forward in life after those four seniors. “We set ourselves up greatly, especially in the ASUN, coming in first two years and getting it done. Now that we’ve put ourselves up there, we want to be able to maintain that standard and let people know that we weren’t just good because we had four good players, we’re good because we’re a good program and a good team.”
Cuffee’s a good person McKay has to turn to as the Flames begin a new era. The 6’4″ native of Poca, West Virginia has played in 107 games in his Liberty career, making 84 career starts. He’s played in a conference championship game every season of his Liberty career. Chosen as the ASUN’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Cuffee will be counted on more frequently on the offensive side of the ball this season.
“Cuff, being a senior and his fourth year, he understands (our system) better than anyone else,” McKay said. “He also has the ability to impact the game at both ends more so than anyone, maybe, in the league. He is that proficient. I say he’s our version of Marcus Smart. I think there will be games when he has 20 (points) and games when he has six.”
Alongside Cuffee, the Flames feature fellow preseason first-team all-ASUN selection Darius McGhee who has 70 career games under his belt. Even despite the four seniors, it was McGhee who led the team in minutes played last season. He has the ability to explode on any given night and score 20 or more points on any give night, and McGhee’s opportunities should increase substantially this season.
“I think those two kids have a great sense of team and an understanding of the game,” McKay said of Cuffee and McGhee. “When you have guys that are fully invested and care about the team’s success more than they do individually, they will do whatever it takes to win the game. On a given night, we’ve seen (Darius) is capable of a 20-30 point night. Cuff, he ended the season last year in a championship game against Lipscomb where he was playing at a very high level. I think they’ve both improved. I think they are aware that we are really going to rely on some of their experience.”
Rising sophomores Kyle Rode and Shiloh Robinson return after providing key roles off the bench for the Flames last season, but they will be expected to provide much more this season. Rode, who had a foot injury that hindered him in the second half of the season, will take on a leadership role for this young team. He averaged 4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds a season ago, but take the over on those numbers this season. Robinson was a surprise last season when he was expected to redshirt during his freshman campaign, but he proved too valuable to keep off the floor. He played in all 34 games and averaged 2.6 points and 1.7 rebounds as a freshman.
After announcing his intentions to transfer on the eve of the 2019-20 season beginning, Keegan McDowell reversed course during the offseason and has returned to the Flames. He used last year as a redshirt season, but he played in 68 games during his first two seasons at Liberty. The three-point specialist will be counted on this season to provide another veteran voice in the locker room.
Redshirt-sophomore Blake Preston has been buried on the bench behind Scottie James and Myo Baxter-Bell during his first two seasons in the program, but he will get his opportunities this season. The 6’9″ forward from Charlotte might be the only true post player on the team.
“I think we have a couple of guys who have waited to play,” said McKay. “I think of Blake, mostly, in this case and Keegan a little bit as well, hopefully they capitalize on that. Blake Preston, once he returns to form, he had a little bit of an ankle injury and has been limited to just half court play, but once he returns to play, I think he’s going to fall into a role that is really important to us.”
One of the bigger question marks for the 2020-21 Liberty basketball team is at point guard. The Flames are having to replace the program’s all-time leader in wins in Pacheco-Ortiz who is now playing professionally. McKay turned once again to the grad transfer market by bringing in Chris Parker as well as true freshman Drake Dobbs who will begin the season as the Flames’ point guards.
“Our two point guards, Drake Dobbs and Chris Parker, they’re off to a pretty good start,” said McKay. “Obviously, I’m still getting to know them and haven’t seen them tested in a game yet.”
Parker comes to Liberty from Division II Henderson State where the 6’1″, 170 pound guard averaged 15.3 points, 3.4 assists, and 2.3 rebounds per game while shooting 42.7% from three last season. The 6’3″ Dobbs is from Eden Prairie High School in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
“Chris is a phenomenal guard,” Darius McGhee said of Parker. “We compliment each other so well. It’s so easy to play with him. Drake is is the same way.”
6’7″ true freshman Micaiah Abii is another name to watch for this season, as he’s turned heads since arriving on campus this summer. With his size, he can add additional depth to the rotation in the paint.
“Abii is a beast, like literally a beast,” Liberty forward Kyle Rode said.
The other two true freshman, Jonathan Jackson and Isiah Warfield could also make an impact this season, especially with the NCAA not counting this season against student-athlete’s eligibility. So, they can play this year, and McKay could still treat it as a redshirt season, if he wanted to.
“Jonathan is a sniper,” McGhee said of the 6’4″ guard from Overland Park, Kansas. “I love him to death. I knew him before he actually got here, it was great to have him. Isiah Warfield I think has the potential to be a great player.”
There are plenty of weapons at his disposal, but many of them are new. So, it will likely take some time for McKay to learn all of his new pieces this season.
“We have five of our top 11 who have never played a game for Liberty,” he said. “When you have 10 or 11 guys, this is as deep as we’ve been, my biggest problem is going to be managing those minutes.”
This group may be largely unproven, but they are confident they can continue to raise the level of expectations around the program and not let their predecessors down.
“I know that we’re a good program,” Cuffee said. “We’re going to bring in good players, that’s what we’ve done. I’m not seeing (the losses of the four seniors) as a negative thing, I’m seeing it as more of a positive thing seeing as we’re getting better. I believe we bring in better players every year, I only see it up from here.”
