Think 2012 Will Be Good? Wait Until You See Lehigh in 2013!
Lehigh and Coach Brett Reed have plenty of reasons to be excited about the 2011-2012 campaign, but any success they have this season will add fuel to the fire for what should be a memorable 2012-2013 campaign.
During that season C.J. McCollum and Gabe Knutson will be seniors and the young players around them will have grown up as well. It can easily be argued that the 2010-2011 season was a rebuilding year as Lehigh finished 16-15 overall. This year could be considered a rebuilding year as well with Jordan Hamilton being the only major contributor who will run out of eligibility. John Adams and Justin Maneri, who both will likely be role players this season, are the other two seniors on the roster. What that leaves is one NBA prospect, another Patriot League superstar and a lot of experienced role-players. Mackey McKnight may still not garner the national headlines like McCollum and Knutson will, but he will be a junior during the 2012-2013 and probably one of the better point guards in the Patriot League.
Those three will form the core of the team, but who fills in the holes? Much of that question will be answered during this season. The backcourt needs to find a shooter and it could come from this year’s class of freshmen. Stefan Cyraklj and Corey Schaefer could both be major contributors after a year in the system. They might even be major contributors before that. Holden Greiner is often the forgotten player…for now at least. The 6-7 forward is developing into a decent interior scorer and is already a good defender. By his senior season he may be a great power forward in the Mountain Hawks system. He can shoot and stretch out the defense and if his outside shooting continues to improve, the opposition will have an extremely difficult time guarding all of Lehigh’s offensive weapons.
Lehigh missed the postseason in 2011, finishing in the middle of the table in the Patriot League. There should be a call from the postseason in 2012. Bucknell may be the favorite by most to go to the NCAA Tournament, but Lehigh should not be too far behind. All it takes is a few good days in March to make the big dance and Lehigh is a team that has the ability to get hot at the right time. Yet, even if they fail to make the NCAA Tournament, they should be good enough to get into the NIT, CBI or CIT. Whatever tournament they end up in after the 2012 season, the fans will quickly look ahead to what they can do the next year. And Lehigh can do great things in March of 2013.
Read an in-depth men's basketball preview for this team
