The 2023-24 season was an unusual adventure for the Liberty boys basketball team.
Unforeseen circumstances left the Raiders short on experienced players, leading to a tough year on the hardwood.
With that journey now in the past, head coach Chad Williams is looking forward to the 2024-25 campaign with high hopes.
“We have the three seniors coming back. The two freshman that should start have played a ton of travel ball. Their basketball IQ is better than a typical freshman,” Williams said. “We may struggle to score early on until we get everyone gelling together, but the defense will not be a problem. Depth will not be a problem.”
Kris Bowman, Riley Marty and Jadon Acord comprise the senior trio that will be lead Liberty this year.
Williams is convinced all three will be much more comfortable in their roles this year which should lead to strong play from all three.
“Kris has always had to be the ball-handler and run the offense which has taken away from his ability to score,” Williams said. “This year with the other guys maturing, he can focus more on scoring. He will still be the main ball handler, but Kris is tried and true and doesn’t get rattled.”
Marty is coming off of a solid year on the gridiron and is described as the most athletic of the bunch.
“For the first time I can say he has excepted the role of being the leader,” Williams said about Marty. “He has matured and I look for him to do some big things. He is willing to do the things that he does well.”
Acord also had an impressive fall campaign earning his second straight trip to the state cross-country meet at Cabell Midland High School a month back.
“Jadon is probably the best shooter on the team and was our leading scorer last year. Maybe he tried to do a little too much last year because of the situation we were in with so many young kids,” Williams said. “He doesn’t have to carry that load this year with the other guys performing their roles. I look for him to shoot a really high percentage and be smart.”
As expected, Acord is also that player just cruises through the running drills.
“He is on cruise control and he is not even breaking a sweat,” Williams said, laughing.
Jaxson Workman and Liam Daniels are the two freshman additions this year and are projected to be in the starting line-up.
“I would say both of them are in the top-five freshman in the county,” Williams said. “They played travel with the kids that are at Shady Spring and one that is at East.”
Freshman Parker Hodges is also expected to see minutes off of the bench and help ease the ball-handling duties.
“I will also have two sophomores that will contribute,” Williams said. “Landon Lusk is a football kid that is super strong and deceivingly quick, plus we have Aiden Tabor who will see minutes as well.”
The depth on 2024-25 team has Williams excited and gives him a situation that is out of the norm.
“I think we can go eight or nine guys and not see a huge drop off from the starting five,” Williams said. “We have never been able to get past six or seven guys without a huge drop off.”
Liberty opens the regular season at Sherman, Dec. 14, and will play the bulk of its road games early in the season.
“I want to be road tested early, then have some games at home to get your momentum going to roll into the postseason,” Williams said. “It has worked for us in the past and I think we will be back with an opportunity to make it to Charleston this year.”
