McKay looking to fill spots on roster, coaching staff

Guards Ryan Hiepler and Brody Hicks joined forwards Isaiah Williams and Ezra Talbert in announcing they were transferring with the intent of playing college basketball elsewhere.

Hiepler and Hicks were both walk-ons, and Hiepler is on track to graduate in May and will have two seasons of eligibility remaining after redshirting this past season. Hicks saw limited playing time this past season after taking a medical redshirt for the 2016-17 season.

“They’re all looking for opportunities to expand their playing experience, and I’m an advocate of that,” McKay said of the four transfers. “They served well in their time here.”

The first step of McKay’s contingency plan was bringing in a graduate transfer for the third time since he returned to coach the Flames.

Keenan Gumbs, a 6-foot-5 guard from Division III Schreiner University, joined the roster last week. Gumbs, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) player of the year, was recently named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ Division III All-American third team after averaging 21.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

“Grad transfers on a whole are a little bit of a risk, especially when you have a healthy team like I think we do,” McKay said, “but Keenan Gumbs, if I’m looking what we need — athleticism, toughness, passion, humility, scoring ability and a defensive presence — we’re checking all the boxes. Elated that we were able to attract him to our family and now it’s just about how quickly he can transition and knit into our fabric.”

Point guards Anthony Fields and Ray Chen each played for one season as graduate transfers during McKay’s first two seasons back with the Flames.

Fields played during the first season and McKay said he “started to layer the foundation of where we could build.” Chen was a steady influence during the second season despite not playing much.

Gumbs’ addition leaves one scholarship available for the upcoming season, and McKay is keeping his options open with what he wants to do with the scholarship.

“We’re going to look for the best fit. If we don’t find it, we’re going to carry that scholarship,” McKay said. “If there’s another grad transfer that fits and has the DNA that we think is necessary for our family, then you could see that happen. But we’re in a pretty good spot.”

One option for the scholarship is 6-foot-4 combo guard David Ware from Caroline High School in Milford.

The Free Lance-Star, which named Ware its all-area boys basketball player of the year, reported Ware holds scholarship offers from Liberty and Division II Virginia Union. He is also receiving interest from VCU, which can’t offer him a scholarship because it has reached its limit.

Ware averaged 25.6 points and 13.4 rebounds per game as a senior.

Ware’s ability to play both wing positions — off-guard and small forward — fits into what McKay said he wanted to complete the roster for the upcoming season.

Another vacancy to fill

McKay announced Marcus Conrad, the team’s director of player development, left his post to take the same position on Ron Sanchez’s staff at UNC Charlotte.

Conrad, a 2011 Brookville High graduate, joins Vic Sfera on Sanchez’s staff in Charlotte. Sfera served as an assistant on McKay’s staff at Liberty for two seasons, while Conrad recently completed his first season as director of player development following two seasons as a graduate assistant.

“We lost two really valuable staffers,” McKay said. “ … The interest in filling those spots has been humbling and expansive.”

Sfera replaced Matt Olinger on McKay’s staff prior to the 2016-17 season after spending the previous two seasons at UVa. McKay wanted an assistant with experience in the pack-line defense to help move that system forward, and Sfera filled that role.

With three seasons of running the defense, McKay isn’t necessarily looking for an assistant specific to the Flames’ defense.

“I’m open to all. I think we’re at a place in our program like we were at UVa after our third year [of Tony Bennett’s tenure], our guys know what to expect in the defensive system and Brad Soucie kind of coordinates the defense for us and is on top of that,” McKay said.

“We’re also going to structure it a little differently next year moving forward. We’re not going to be as ‘end specific.’ We’re going to have a more collaborative effort in the defense, the offense, and what I call ‘special teams’ — out of bounds, underneath, late-game stuff.”