By BOB DAVIDSON
Salina Journal
Ask Tyrone Sheppard for his thoughts on the Brown Mackie Lions this season and a wide smile crosses his face.
"I feel like we got a chance at it and there's nothing like having a chance at it. It's all here," said Sheppard, Brown Mackie's starting point guard and one of three returning starters.
The Lions must have felt they had no chance a year ago when things unraveled as the season progressed. Beset by discord on and off the court, Brown Mackie limped home with an 11-19 record.
Veteran coach Francis Flax, who joined the NJCAA Hall of Fame last year and enters his 17th season at Brown Mackie, vowed there wouldn't be a repeat this winter. He dispatched several players, one of them freshman guard Kenon Lamb, the team's second leading scorer.
He quickly filled the gaps with a talented group of redshirts and newcomers. Enough to impress Sheppard, who averaged 8.5 points a year ago.
"I see us progressing and getting better, we're working hard every day in practice," he said. "The new faces are a bonus to the team. We've got some nice bigs, some nice guards and nice wings. We've matured over a year, so I feel way better this year."
Guard Bryson Flax and 6-foot-10 center Marquis Whitt also return to the starting lineup. Flax, the coach's son, averaged 8.9 points while Whitt averaged 5.0 points and 6.9 rebounds.
"I feel a lot better than I did last year about the team," Bryson Flax said. "We're better, we're deeper, we're working harder. All around it's a better situation here.
"We had most of our team for this year here at Christmas last year. They already know the system, they know what's going to happen and we're going to be real successful."
His father agrees.
"We have a good blend of big men, wings and guards," he said. "It's pretty definitive positions. We also have a good blend of returners and newcomers. And then you throw in the guys who redshirted and it looks a lot more positive than a year ago."
Coach Flax said he wasn't alone in wanting a new direction.
"(The returners) decided at the end of last season they didn't want any more of that stuff. Unfortunately you have to make some tough decisions on personnel and the guys we didn't ask back ... God bless them.
"But this group feels comfortable being together. We don't have issues on the bench, we don't have issues in practice, we don't have any of that stuff. That right there tells you leadership is being applied by somebody."
Two transfers round out the starting lineup -- 6-4 guard Thekoy Lol and 6-9 center Alexander Harrington.
Seven players will be in the rotation -- point guard Denarious Darby, who averaged 6.9 points a year ago; shooting guards Jordan Hurst and Khaleel Headley; swingmen Tori Patton, a 6-4 letterwinner, and 6-6 Kenyale Evans; and inside players Bernie Bahr, a 6-11 center from Montana, and 6-6 forward Josh Langford.
Langford is a younger brother of former Kansas Jayhawk standout Keith Langford.
"Fortunately our redshirts got to witness last year and came in here with a really good attitude about things," coach Flax said. "They don't want to be on the losing end more times than on the winning end.
"Leadership, togetherness and just confidence are three things I see are really improved. I can't see anything but a good outlook on the horizon for us."
The Lions open the season against Labette on Friday in Chanute in the Neosho County Classic. This year's schedule features a record 15 home games. Games will be played in Wiley Banes Gymnasium on the St. John's Military School campus.