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Navy Men's Basketball

Coach: Billy Lange (19-37, 3 Years)
Conference: Patriot League
2005-06 Record: 10-18, 3-11 Patriot League   

Patience is a virtue in Annapolis, where Navy coach Billy Lange has had to get through two seasons with players recruited by former coach Don DeVoe. There is no quick fix for Lange; he has to rely on a young team and hope it matures.

Corey Johnson (Photo Courtesy of Navy Athletics)

Fortunately, Lange does have four returning starters and the strengths are in the backcourt. Junior Greg Sprink is the leading returning scorer with 14.9 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. He shot 85.6 percent from the foul line. 

The key for Lange and the Midshipmen is the development of point guard Corey Johnson, a junior who averaged 9.5 points and 2.9 assists. "Corey Johnson has emerged as a floor general in the last two weeks of practice," Lange said. "He's leading and giving our team great confidence."

Another returning starter, sophomore Kaleo Kina, is coming off a freshman season where he averaged 10.4 points and led the team with a 3.3 assists average.

Experience on the court will be hard to come by as the Midshipmen team has 10 sophomores and freshman, including freshman guard Derek Young, a graduate of Archbishop Spalding High School.

Sophomore Adam Teague (6-foot-8, 215 pounds) is the team's fourth returning starter and the starting power forward, despite his natural position as a wing. Teague started 17 games last season and will be counted on to contribute more than the average 4.7 points and 2.6 rebounds he produced last season. 

Another key will be the development of junior Ben Biles (6-foot-10, 242 pounds), the largest player on the team and Lange's first recruit. Biles has been slow to develop in his first two seasons and will be counted on to do much more this season.

"We're very young," Lange said. "When you're a junior and you have had two seasons where we're building and we lost, you have a tendency to be very impatient."

Navy was selected to finish seventh by Patriot League coaches and sports information directors. 

Navy opens its season Nov. 10 against Loyola in the regional round of the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer tournament in Queens, N.Y. The Midshipmen's first home game in Alumni Hall will be Nov. 21 against Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Navy  Women's Basketball

Kate Hobbs (Phil Hoffman/Navy)

Coach: Tom Marryott
Conference: Patriot League
2005-06 Record: 14-14, 7-7 Patriot League 

The 2006-07 Navy women's basketball team must perform well on the road, especially in the first half of the season, with more than half of Navy's regular season games scheduled away from Alumni Hall. Ten of the Mids' first 14 games are away from home.

The team looks to improve from last season's 14-14 record, a 7-7 conference record and a fourth-place ranking in Patriot League standings.

Tom Marryott, in his fourth year coaching, has 11 players returning from last year's squad, including three starters and nine letter winners. Senior forward Carly Meyer, the team's top returning scorer, averaged 12.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 0.9 blocks last season. Betsy Burnett, a 6-foot-1 senior forward, added 9.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, while shooting 48.9 percent from the field.

Senior captain Kate Hobbs, splitting her time between the center and forward positions, contributed 8.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game with 22 blocks for the Midshipmen last season.

Navy's home opener pits the Mids against Marshall Nov. 12, followed by a trip to Seton Hall for a four-team tournament, including Howard University, University of Massachusetts and Seton Hall. They face local opponent Mount St. Mary's Nov. 25, Georgetown Dec. 4 and they will go to UMBC Dec. 6.

The Mids' Patriot League schedule begins Jan. 6 at Bucknell, and runs until late February with the home finale against American University Feb. 21. Navy will host the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the Patriot League Tournament this year at Alumni Hall the weekend of March 3.

Issue 1.29: November 9, 2006