By Matt Barnthouse
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In light of last January’s alleged hazing and bullying incident, challenges for this year’s men’s basketball team include equal measures of on-the-court and off-the-court adjustments.

The first of those changes is the team’s new head coach, Scott Heady, who said he looks forward to the job.

“The opportunity to coach for Carmel, I think it’s the top place to coach in Indiana,” he said. “When you think just about the community, all the student athletes you’ve got here, the administrative support and the facilities, and it’s got to be one of the best basketball jobs in Indiana. It was an opportunity that I could not pass up.”

Heady said he runs a fast-paced offense and man-to-man defense. His experience includes coaching roles at Warren Central for 13 years and Connersville High School for two years. These past two years he served as an assistant coach at Anderson University.

Another change the team must face is adjusting to a lack of veterans. Only two varsity players from last year who had significant playing time are returning, senior Joshua “Josh” Baldridge and junior Benjamin “Ben” Gardner.

Baldridge said of the team’s attempt to find chemistry, “We’re just going out and having a lot of fun, just getting to know everybody.”

Gardner said he thinks the ideal team chemistry is almost there. “It’s getting there,” he said. “We’ve all been practicing and working pretty hard and we’re getting to know each other a little better.”

Other changes include the loss of Rivals.com top 100 player AJ Hammons, who transferred to the well-known prep school basketball powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. The 6-foot, 11-inch center provided size that Carmel needed in the post.

According to Heady, the loss of Hammons will create a hole in the post that this school will have to fill.

“I think anytime you lose a player that size, you have to adjust,” he said.

Despite the changes, Heady said he thinks CHS will be able to overcome the losses and be able to have a good season. He said the team will focus on player development over the development of plays.

Heady said, “We don’t run a lot of plays, we try to develop better players.” Defensively, he said, the team will try to play a lot of man-to-man and try to be tough and aggressive. Offensively, he added, the team will strive to play up-tempo, push the ball, run more of a motion offense and give teammates the freedom to make plays.

Heady said he is ready for the team to move on from the mistakes of the past. “I think we just move forward,” he said. “The administration has taken a lot of very positive steps to move forward, and not just the basketball program and athletic program, but the entire school as well. All we can do is take the administration’s lead and move forward, learn from what happened and that’s really all you can do. You try to turn that negative into a positive and just move forward.”