Senior Alec Craig should lead a very talented Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball roster this winter. (File photo by Nick Goralczyk)

AKRON – Bill Patrick admits that there are some uncertainties about his Tippecanoe Valley boys basketball team this season.

But the Hall of Famer is certain about a couple of things that fans will see from his squad.

“These guys are going to compete and they are going to play hard,” said coach Patrick as he prepares to begin his 19th season at Valley.

Patrick believes his team, much like last year, will improve as the season moves along. The Vikings lost four seniors from last year’s team that finished strong to close at 11-14 after a 5-13 start and lost to NorthWood 60-50 in the sectional finale. Among the key departures were Neil Clampitt, who ranked second in scoring, and Gavin Bussard, who was fourth in scoring.

“We don’t have a lot of size or experience,” noted Patrick, who is entering his 48th season overall on the bench. “And we have a lot of work to do on the little things.

“I think that if we shoot the ball well that we will be pretty competitive. I think that we are going to get better as the season progresses and that we could be a pretty good team by the end of the year.”

The Vikings will lean heavily on its senior class, especially the duo of Alec Craig and Jarod Duzenbery this winter. Guard Craig, a three-sport athlete, was the team’s top scorer last season at 13 points-per-game, while the 6-3 Duzenbery was third on the team offensively at about eight points-per-outing.

“We need those two to score,” said Patrick without hesitation when asked about Craig and Duzenbery.

“I’m not sure how we are going to score. Our defense is going to be a big key for us, obviously. We need to try and use it to get some easy baskets. And rebounding is going to be a major area with our lack of size.”

Patrick said that the remainder of the starting lineup is likely to include the senior tandem of Keith Wright and DeSean Heckman and sophomore Alex Morrison. Wright was a reserve on the varsity last season, while both Heckman and Morrison played mainly on the junior varsity team a year ago.

The Valley roster also includes senior Ivan Santiago, junior Dakota Parker, sophomores Cameron Parker and Wes Melanson and freshmen Tanner Trippiedi and Jaydin Conley.

“All of our guys play multi sports and it just takes us a longer to get going to start the season,” noted Patrick, who was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. “It’s a good group. They work hard and are coachable.”

The Vikings finished 4-5 in the Three Rivers Conference last season and their coach expects the league to be very tough this time around.

“The TRC is going to be really tough this year,” Patrick said. “There are really no weak teams. Southwood has four starters back, Whitko is going to be tough and Northfield and Manchester will be strong too. Our schedule is tough.”

Patrick, who is 277-125 in his 18 seasons atValley, currently sits atop the career wins mark in state history for active coaches with his 755 wins. He is third all-time in state history, trailing only Pat Rady (761) and Jack Butcher (806).

“I still enjoy coaching and I don’t do it for the wins or the records,” said Patrick when asked about winning seven games this season to move into the No. 2 spot in state history. “I can tell you that I still hate to lose. That has not changed.”

Tippecanoe Valley opens its season at Warsaw Wednesday night. The Vikings entertain Argos on Nov. 29 in their home opener and begin conference play at Peru on Dec. 13.