Herndon Varsity Basketball Preview
Coach: Gary Hall
2004-05 record (AAA)-16-8
2005-06- Prediction-Management will rank the team
Gary Hall has coached 16 years and won 259 games, 6 regular season district titles, and 4 district tournament championships. He considers this year’s team to be one of his best. One player, Scotty Reynolds, provides a bulk of the optimism, but his talented supporting cast must play an important role if Herndon is to succeed. Reynolds, who was out for the final six games of last season, will be the most-watched player in the district, and an Oklahoma Sooner the next year. Reynolds made the Washington Post first team All-Met and first team All-State last season. Another great strength of the team is the added depth, especially at the guard position with returning letterman Victor Robinson and junior Matt Seeger.
“Last year we didn’t have a lot of depth and flexibility…we had a situation where Scotty was injured and we really struggled after that. This year we have great depth, and I think we can overcome an injury in our backcourt. You don’t want that to happen, but we have quality players to fill in,” said Coach Hall.
Frontcourt
The exact starting lineup for the frontcourt has yet to be determined, and the amount of front court players used on any given night will vary, but center Larry Gbenyon (6’6”) and forward Danny Jones (6’5”) are sure to be starters. Of all returning players, senior Gbenyon is the team leader in rebounds (6.2), and is second in points (8.2). Gbenyon, Hall said, “is good at getting rebounds, and is our best post scorer.” Jones, a junior, is third on the team with 7.4 points per game.
Hall commented, “Jones and Gbenyon are two players we expect to be All-District caliber this season.”
Herndon also has some proven and talented players coming off of the bench. One of the new faces on varsity will be Junior Richard Gore, who at 6’3”, played impressively on junior varsity last year. Returning senior letterman Evan Vaughan (6’6”) and Junior Josh Headen (6’3”) will give Herndon more strength and experience.
Backcourt
The backcourt should be one of the best in Northern Virginia this season. The starters could change from game to game, but Hall notes that “this is not because of their performance, but based on match-ups and the teams we’re playing.”
There will definitely be one constant in the starting backcourt, and that is Reynolds, who is 2 points shy of Herndon’s all time scoring record. Among the aforementioned honors he’s received, he was the 2004 and 2005 Concorde District player of the year. He averaged 33.6 points per game last season, and also led the team in assists (4.2) and steals (4.1) per game.
Another asset Herndon has at the guard position is depth. Seeger and junior CJ Glenn, who are also wide receivers on the varsity football team, will also add athleticism and depth. Robinson has experience and a good work ethic. Senior Chase Miller transferred from Oakton during the off-season after starting for their varsity team the past two seasons. Reynolds and any two of the other guards could start, as Herndon will usually feature three to four guards in the starting lineup.
Hall said, “We feel we have five guards that could start for any team.”
Final Analysis:
After strong performances for most of last season, Herndon had a great deal of difficulty down the stretch after losing Reynolds, and was bounced out of the playoffs in the second round by Hayfield. With Reynolds’ return, and a rejuvenated bench, Herndon should be a talented, high-energy team this season.
