By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Mark Schweitzer is entering Year 10 as the head coach at Ozark after taking over for the legendary Steve Hunter, starting his own impressive run with the Tigers.
Ozark has been above .500 in all nine seasons, with three 20-win seasons and seven seasons of 18 or more wins, including a district championship run in 2020.
But this year will have a bit of a different feel as Ozark returns just one starter in what will be Schweitzer’s least experienced group on paper. However, the cupboard is hardly empty for the Tigers.
Junior Jace Whatley returns as the lone starter after averaging 11.2 points and 6.5 rebounds as a sophomore. He’s the younger brother of former Ozark great and Drury freshman Ethan Whatley.
“We played one of the toughest schedules and Jace was our inside presence on offense and defense last year as a sophomore,” said Schweitzer. “We graduated nine seniors from last year’s team. Jace will be one of our main pieces this year and will be looked to as one of our main producers for the next two seasons.”
Seniors Ethan Sutherland and Garrett Ballard also return after playing some varsity minutes last year. They’ll likely step into backcourt roles this winter.
“Ethan Sutherland didn’t receive much playing time last year on the varsity level because we had nine seniors, most of which were guards,” said Schweitzer. “He plays as hard as any kid you’ll find and he wants to make the most of his senior season. He hit several game winners on the sub varsity levels and is a “gamer”. We look for him to bring that to the table for us this year as a senior leader and point guard.
“Garrett was also blocked out from varsity experience by last year’s senior class. Garrett can score at all three levels and has gotten NAIA interest from his play on the AAU circuit. We need him to score for our team and be a consistent producer.”
Juniors Ryan Engel and Jake Garner both saw limited varsity minutes last year. Along with classmate Phin Scott, they’ll see rotational minutes this winter.
“Ryan is an absolute dog! He is tough as nails and does all the little things that coaches love. He will be a mainstay in our lineup this year as long as we can keep him out of foul trouble. Jake is very versatile and can play inside or out. He allows us to match up with people or cause mismatches with his 6’3/6’4 body. He’s an excellent teammate and leader and will be in our top 7 rotation as a starter or 6th man.
“Phin will push Sutherland for the PG minutes. He has excellent vision and playmaking ability, setting up his teammates in our motion offense.”
Ozark also has an extremely talented sophomore class, two of whom saw varsity minutes last year in 6-foot-10 big Cohen George and guard Hudson Roberts. Along with Manny Stover, they’ll see significantly larger roles this season.
Roberts is an Arkansas baseball commit.
“Hudson will make an impact immediately on the varsity level after playing his freshman season on our JV last year,” said Schweitzer. “He is an excellent shooter and scorer with a long and athletic frame. Our opponents will learn about him and he will need to adjust to the varsity game quickly for us to have the best season we can have. He’s a great athlete.
“Cohen has come a long way so far and will make an impact for us as either a starter or first big off the bench. If he adjusts to the physicality of the varsity level at Class 6, we will have one of the better front courts in the area when we pair him with Jace Whatley. Manny can score. He transferred in last year as a freshman and played on our freshman team all season. We started the summer with him on the JV level and he quickly showed us he has improved enough to be considered as help on the varsity level as a sophomore. He will provide us depth and will push for playing time.”
As always, the expectations at Ozark remain high.
The Tigers have been to seven Final Fours in program history and the goal is to always hang another banner. For that to happen, Ozark will have to manage yet another brutal non-conference schedule that will prepare them for a brutal COC slate.
“Our kids will need to adjust to the varsity level quickly and learn fast,” said Schweitzer. “That schedule will get this young team with no varsity experience a jump start on learning quickly. I expect our kids to take on the challenge of this year with confidence and aggression and by the end of the year we expect to continue competing at the highest level in one of the toughest districts in the state. This team will need to play together and young guys will need to prove they can play at this level. We do have size this year. I think shot selection, learning to win at this level, and blending three grades into a team will be key factors for our season.”
Ozark will host Hillcrest and Mansfield in a jamboree on Nov. 15 before opening the 2022-23 regular season on Dec. 1 in the Republic Invitational.
