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“We have been able to recruit some talented players and certainly that had something to do with it,” he said. “I’ve got to give a lot of credit to my assistant coaches that I’ve had here. We don’t have a full-time assistant’s position. I’ve had a number of young guys that have done a nice job for me.”
In 2007-08, Defiance brings several players back from the runner-up team of a year ago. Point guard C.J. Johnson will command the offense and enter the ball down low to Anthony Pettaway. Both Johnson and Pettaway were double-figure scorers for Defiance during the breakout season. Pettaway averaged 16.3 points and 7.4 rebounds, while Johnson added 11.7 points per game.
“C.J.’s been around the block for us a number of times and has really played from the get-go,” said Miller. “We are hoping that C.J. will have a real fine season. For us to win and to be competitive against the best teams on our schedule, certainly, it really helps our chances when C.J. performs well.
“His talent level and his ability level have never really been questioned,” Miller said of Pettaway. “What he has worked hard to prove and what we’re really hoping to see from him is a level of consistency that maybe he hasn’t always had in the past. He can be a real force in the middle when he decides that’s something he wants to do. He’s had a fine off-season preparing himself for this year.”
In addition to Johnson and Pettaway, Miller’s stable of athletes is full of talented players looking to make their presence known. Sophomore Nick Sales was tied for fourth on the team in scoring (10.4 points per game), while leading Defiance in rebounding (8.0 rpg). Sales is a 6-3 forward who saw more than 23 minutes per game in 2006-07. When he gets the ball, Sales can finish around the basket, making 63.3 percent of his shots.
Junior guard Anthony Jackson will also be relied upon for production in the backcourt and to give the Yellow Jackets extra help on the glass.
“Nick was a real fine addition for us as a freshman, right at the top of our league in terms of rebounding the ball and really does a nice job for us on the glass and is a good athlete,” said Miller. “We’re going to need Anthony Jackson to continue to be an aggressive player, a guy that seeks out some offense for himself.
“I think down the stretch in the league that Jackson became more aggressive for us and that became a harder team for people to defend,” he added. “Those two guys and then our other senior, Bryan Post, who will play at the three and the four spot for us, brings a lot of experience. We’d like to see him bring a high level of energy and some defensive ability to the court for us.”
This year’s schedule for Defiance has many potential challenges. Difficult matchups at the beginning of the season could set the Yellow Jackets up for more meaningful games against the HCAC’s best competitors.
Defiance starts the season with games against Wilmington and at Thomas More. They return home to host an upstart in the Ohio Athletic Conference in Heidelberg and the number two team in the North Coast Athletic Conference preseason poll in Ohio Wesleyan before starting conference play. Prior to the Christmas break, the Yellow Jackets will travel to Orlando for the RDV Sportsplex Classic.
“We feel we’ve put together a pretty competitive non-conference schedule,” Miller said. “We hope that in our non-conference schedule we’re going to learn some things about our team. We’re going to be faced with some real challenges there.
“In the league, Franklin is the team that is picked to win it,” said Miller. “They’ve got everybody back. Transylvania has been the NCAA Tournament team the last couple of years. What makes our league pretty tough is just the balance. I don’t know that we necessarily had a team that was one of the top 15 teams in the country.”
While others may want to talk about last season or what lies ahead for Defiance, Miller knows his team is not guaranteed anything based on previous successes.
“Teams always talk about the goals and the things they would like to accomplish. Around here, we don’t spend a lot of time focused on that,” he said. “For us, we just take the mindset that if we come in and work hard, try to get better each day, learn from our mistakes, that maybe at the end, we’ll have a chance to do well.
“The great thing that this group of guys was able to get last year was a taste of success,” said Miller. “I think at some level, it’s given them some confidence to feel like they can be a competitive basketball team. Certainly, when you have a couple of lean years like we had, you can start to question your ability to be a competitive team at that level. I hope some of the success we had last year has carried over to a little bit of a different mindset for us this year.”
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