First all the Flames have a solid back court coming back.  Junior Karl Hess is the leader of the team and a proven clutch player.  Hess will be the starting point guard like he has been since he came here from from Shickshinney Pennsylvania.  He has the only player who has started every game of the Flamers two year existence.  He is a gifted ballhandler but he also led the team in scoring last year with his patented long-range bombs and stellar drives to the bucket.   Hess looks more for his shot than to dish but is still a capable playmaker.  Meyer relied on him to lead the team but also knows that he is not quite of the talent level of Division One and guts will only get you so far. Still, Hess this 5’11 kid is a terrific player.  Arguably, the most important piece of the Flames success last year (that could be a misnomer) was the addition guard Bailey Alston into the starting lineup about ten games in.  Alston gives the Flames a second offensive weapon on the perimeter opposite Hess.  He plays much like Hess and is also a great scoring threat.  He is also clutch and can get to the hole with his quickness very easily.  Alston is bigger at six three but is also way more athletic and does mind throwing one down when he gets to the hoop.  His size and unbelievable quickness was a huge advantage as he could match up with just about anyone.  They are both fan favorites in Lynchburg and they have lit up this southern city.  Juniors Mark Chafin and Ed Gomes give more than ample support on the perimeter.  Chafin started many games last year and might again as a solid shooting guard who lives up to his position’s defining skill.  Meyer plays three guard sets often and the 6’2 bomber got more than his fair share of minutes.  Gomes was caught behind Hess but averaged almost 18 mpg.  This 5’10 kid might be the quickest player in the league and his propensity for stealing the ball is becoming infamous around these parts.  He led the team and was 3rd in the league in steals in those limited minutes and also averaged over 4 assists a game.  His weakness is his ability to put the ball in the bucket as he almost didn’t beat his assist total with his scoring total.  That is hard to do.  If his scoring gets just a little better he could be running the team this year moving Hess to the two.  JV players Greg McCauley, Mike Minett, Kenny Gunn, Eric Gordon and Mark Swift are all in the mix but none of these guys should beat out the incumbents.  All of these kids are sophomores and have a few years to shine and you never know one of these guys could break out?  Junior Ezra Hill is supposedly returning as a point guard after a year away in the military.  He has some speed but was not really playing much before he left and a full year is hard to bounce back at for these young kids. 

The Flames have some depth up front as well with Juniors Ed Vickers, George Sweet, Willard DeShazor and Mike Goad and sophomores Steve Isaacs and Cliff Webber battling for minutes.  Vickers, Goad and DeShazor are smaller and came into the season thinking they would be competing with each other for playing time.  They did but some of those were minutes off the bench as the year progressed.  After all six four (all three go exactly six four) is just not big enough for the paint in Division One.  Sweet at least goes six eight but is not exactly athletic and after the first few games this quartet did not get as many minutes with the onset of the two sophomores.  Isaacs was part of this takeover as he and Webber showed great improvement throughout the course of the year.   Isaacs is a gamer and has some size (six eight) who barely played the first few games of the year.  He came on strong down the stretch and even started a few.  He is a good score and board guy and is a favorite to start unless the Nigerians are all of that.  Webber has good size (he is six ten) and made a huge jump from his first ten games (where he rode the pine most of the time) to being the Flames best inside player the last ten games.  He had some huge games for the Flames and does have a bright future.  Juniors Craig Sanders and Dave Denny are also in the mix after a second year on the JV.  Neither are going to break any scoring records but they will bang and do have some size to rotate in.   

The Liberty Flames under Coach Jeff Meyer are not expecting much out of this season.  They have a young team and several untested players.  Meyer has recruited some talent through the Liberty pipeline which due to it’s ministry spreads throughout the world.  Meyer knows this is going to be a huge transition season with some of his carryovers from the lower Division days (last year) carrying the torch (don’t pardon the pun) until some of the young kids are ready.  Meyer’s plan is to develop these kids on the JV and let the veterans try and compete with the Big Boys out of conference and hopefully they would be ready for the Big South regular season.  With some talented young players in the back court (especially offensive) and some burgeoning talent (and size) up front the Flames are expecting to make a huge jump up the totem pole in this conference this year.  Of course that is only half the battle as Liberty University though it is one of the largest online campuses in the country is based in Virginia and to keep up with the Joneses in Virginia you have to play (and hopefully someday beat) the teams from the Colonial.  Winning the Big South would be grand but beating a team from Virginia in a proven conference would give this program the bragging rights it do dearly wants.