Red Deer Polytechnic Kings Basketball team is looking for redemption in the upcoming ACAC
After coming up just short of a bronze medal at the conference championships, the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings Basketball team is looking for some redemption in this upcoming Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference (ACAC) season.
The Kings played the sixth-seeded Briercrest Clippers and beat them in double overtime to advance to the quarterfinals where they faced off against the Lethbridge College Kodiaks. The Kodiaks were the second seed in the ACAC South Division.
This win against the Kodiaks gave the Kings basketball team a trip to the final four.
Head Coach Darren Graham says they had two strong games but ended up finishing fourth in the league. He believes it was a strong finish for the student-athletes as they finished higher in the playoffs then the Kings placed in the regular season.
This year, Graham was able to return 11 players, which includes ACAC Rookie of the Year Eduardo Crespo, and recruited eight new student-athletes for the upcoming season.
With quite a few new athletes to the team, Graham explains they are looking for players to step up and fill roles throughout the team.
"We are figuring out the pecking order of who is earning those jerseys and the playing time, and who will be playing certain roles for the team. These roles include rebounders, defensive stoppers, scorers, and distributors. The coaching staff is looking for players to fill these roles whether it's players that are returning and are earning new roles or new players to the program and are looking to contribute."
In addition to Crespo returning, who will be the Kings leader on the court, the fourth-year coach was also able to return guards Kirklan Hall, Cole Wicker and Pierce Shybunka who are all having a great pre-season and contributing on all sides of the court, says Graham.
Kings Basketball will welcome back forward Kevin Szymanek who grew up in Stauffer. He will be entering his fifth year with Red Deer Polytechnic and currently is enrolled in the Business Administration – General Management program.
But the head coach really put emphasis on a returning local guard from Rocky Mountain House, AB and the presence he brings to the Kings Basketball squad.
"A big returner in terms of our success will be Payton Baltzer. He is showing glimpses of being a consistent leader on the team offensively and is already a leader defensively. Beyond that, we are looking for other guys to step up."
As for recruits, Graham will be looking at first-year post Jose Mauro Barrozo Junior and first-year guard Bernardo Moller to contribute to the team. These two student-athletes are both coming to Alberta from Brazil and are key additions to this years Kings Basketball squad.
"Jose has been our leading scorer in the pre-season. He is six-foot-seven and 220 pounds. He has really good footwork and hands inside the paint. He is a big guy and shown to be strong down low under the net. As for Moller, he is battling injuries this pre-season, but will be a big part of our shooting game when he becomes healthy."
When asked about expectations for the upcoming year, Graham believes his team is a competitive squad on paper but, they are still going through the process of working hard and playing to the best of their ability. They have lots of work to do on the defensive side of the ball in terms of learning different rotations with different personnel. On offence, they are patient and moving the ball but "still are looking for the student-athletes to take the bull by the horns and finish", explains Graham.
The Kings squad will kick start their 2022/2023 ACAC campaign with their home-opener on October 21 at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre. The Kings will take on the St. Mary's University Lightning at 8 pm.