By Chris Parker
Gainesville boys basketball returns four upperclassmen with varsity experience this year. The group will look to help the team bounce back from a 10-17 season, which snapped a streak of three straight winning seasons.
Senior Easton McGee earned all-conference and all-district honors last season after he averaged 13.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
“Easton is a three-level scorer for us and is often tasked with guarding the other team’s best player,” Gainesville head coach Chris Randolph said. “He had a nice breakout season last year and I look forward to him growing from that this season.”
Andrew Hambelton comes back for his senior year after averaging 7.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game as a junior.
“Andrew is a returning starter for us and is a strong and physical post player that can finish in many ways around the rim,” Randolph said.
Fellow senior Garrett Taber was just behind Hambelton with 7.1 points per game.
“Garrett is a big and athletic presence for us,” Randolph said. “He stepped into a bigger role last year due to injury and grew a lot as a player through the season.”
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Nathan Kiger missed his junior season with an ACL injury, but is back and healthy this season.
“Nathan missed out on his junior season due to an ACL injury, and we really missed his presence on the floor,” Randolph said. “He is a great athlete with the ability to finish above the rim and can guard anyone one through five.”
Junior Harmon Johns will look to grow his 4.8 point and 2.2 rebound per game averages this season.
“Harmon has matured a lot both physically and as a basketball player over the last year,” Randolph said. “I look forward to seeing him step into a bigger role this season.”
The sophomore quartet of Grant Leeker, Owen Donley, Dawson Hewett and Evan Jenkins along with junior Hunter Luna will look to carve out roles on varsity.
Randolph on Luna: “Hunter was a great JV player for us last year. He is a high energy guy that has a good ability to move in space.”
Randolph on Leeker: “Grant is a high IQ player that has the ability to do a lot of different things well.”
Randolph on Donley: “Owen is a long guard that has the ability to space the floor with his shooting.”
Randolph on Hewett: “Dawson is a high energy player that can score in multiple ways and guards his position really well.”
Randolph on Jenkins: “Evan was a great defender at the JV level last year and had a great summer of development on his offensive game.”
All of the returners mixed with the large group of newcomers give Randolph a wealth of options for lineups.
“I think that our depth will be a big strength for us this year,” Randolph said. “I truly believe that I have around 12 different guys that could step onto the varsity floor and make an impact this year. This will lead to competitive practices and a lot of options when it comes to game days.”
While there are many players who can contribute, their ability to play together will determine the success of the season.
“Chemistry will be something that we will need to work on early in this season,” Randolph said. “We have varsity type guys spread out over all four classes and it will be important that they learn how to play well and gel together.”
Gainesville opens the season Nov. 27 through Dec. 2 at the Forsyth Tournament.
“I hope that we are a team that constantly competes and puts together full games,” Randolph said. “We were able to have a lot of great halves of games and moments in games last year, but this year we are looking to extend that over all four quarters.”
