Well, those Crusaders did not get to coast last year as they found out they were in for a dog fight from all of places Annapolis though in the end they did end up surviving the naval attack!  Army was to have another difficult year even in the Patriot struggling for respectability as there two stud post players went six foot six and six five and though they were good had a hard time hanging with the elite centers on the East Coast.  Navy, on the other hand, pulled one of the greatest rabbits out of their hat ever in the history of college basketball. Last year rode on the shoulders of one giant David to a glory season no one would have ever dreamed up even in Hollywood!   This David, Robinson for all of you keeping score, a Navy brat that didn’t even play basketball until his senior year in high school and was not recruited by anyone but he didn’t care as he wanted to go to Annapolis anyway.  He was only six foot six when he got here but soon grew to six eight but did not slay any giants his first year as a plebe.  But he kept growing and last year he got to be a true seven footer with the game to match and the agility of a much smaller man. He got the nickname of the Admiral for obvious reasons and this kid led the Midshipmen back into glory.  Now if Coach Ben Carnavale, a brilliant tactician, can find a few supporting players who knows how far this team can go.  After all they have their Aircraft Carrier, now they just need some cruisers and destroyers to fill out their fleet. 

The Navy Midshipmen are a team that have the luxury of having one bona fide big man and a solid supporting crew to make sure they get the boat in the right place.  The 7’1 235 pound stud is of course super sophomore David Robinson who earned 1st team League honors and was rightfully named MVP of the Patriot League tournament over one of the legends of basketball.  If you would have bet before the season that some gangly late growing kid from the Naval Academy would beat out the legendary Bob Cosuy for MVP of the Patriot League tourney in its first year you would have been called a wacko in most places and probably beat up in Worcester.  But this kid earned it as this team would have been nothing without their Admiral.  Robinson did not dominated every game he was in though by the end of the year he was pretty dang close to achieving this goal.  Robinson did this in manner that was becoming of a naval gentleman and some say too much of a gentleman.  He has already garnished a reputation as one of the nicest people on and off the court but that he needs a bit more of a fire to be elite.  Haters going to hate as he showed in the league tourney averaged 28 a game with 14 plus board and 7 blocks per contest.  He wants to win badly but knows he is only one piece of a bigger puzzle.  Still, no single player in the entire land carried his team as much as this kid did as in all honesty there is not one other player on this roster that is more than a good role player. 

Mr. Robinson can play some hoop.  He has grown an amazing seven inches since enrolling at Annapolis.  The Naval Academy has a regulation that no one over 77 inches may enroll at the fine University.  When Robinson came here he was a skinny gawky kid who was very shy and much smaller.  He has turned into a man amongst men who loves to dunk and can tun the court like a small forward.  He can also post up on anyone and is developing a mid range game.  He is great on the boards with his size and desire.  He lead the team in scoring and rebounding by large margins.  His best attribute however is his amazing shot blocking skills. The entire Middy defense is predicated upon funneling everything in to the ‘Admiral’ as he is now earned his moniker.  He is even better as a weakside rejector flying from across the key to defend his territory.  Annapolis loves him and America is starting to as well as he is getting lots of recognition for what he is doing for the Naval Academy.  Sure, he grew to new heights this year but he has also put the time in on the court and on the weights to get bigger and stronger and better.  You can now say he has grown both literally and figuratively and you would be correct. 

Coach Carnavale knew he had to find a warrior next to Robinson who could take some of the heat in the middle and handle guarding some big guys so the big guy could roam free.  Enter fellow sophomore Vernon Butler. The rough and tough Butler was the perfect complement to the artistic Robinson.  He loves doing the dirty work and can also help out on the offensive end.  Butler was second on the team in scoring and rebounding and his presence was felt not only with the ability of his sidekick to dominate around the rim with his incredible shot blocking but on the offensive end as well.   Ironically Butler was a much bigger recruit for the Midshipmen coming from legendary DeMatha High School in nearby Hyattsville.  As a matter of fact Butler had to choose between UConn and Navy and assistant coach Paul Evans (the man who recruited both of these studs) was so nervous the day he decided to come to Annapolis that he went gambling up at Atlantic City instead of waiting around his office.  It’s a good thing he came this way but there is no way he expected to become the second fiddle especially to a seven footer. Butler was the main option to begin the year down low and at six seven 235 pounds fit right in this tough league. Butler, like all service people, took his role in stride as the Admiral became the main man in Annapolis.  Butler still got his chances down low and like Robinson has an uncanny ability to run the court for a big man.  He at times plays more like a wing than a power forward at least on the offensive end.  But on the defensive end Butler is indeed the enforcer the big guy needed to cover his backside and do the dirty work down in the paint. The best part of his game is still using that big body to post up and then he knows what to do when the guards get him the ball with a variety of power moves to the basket.  As important as Robinson is to the team’s success there is no way the Midshipmen would have become the success they did last year without Butler standing next to Robinson. This duo should continue to dominate this league up front for the next three years as Robinson has already made it clear he is not shirking his responsibility and transferring.   

Senior Don Lange went into the season as the BMOC at Annapolis as expecting to start and be the go to guy at forward for Coach Carnavale.  The team found out that Lange had played a few games for a small college in the Midwest before he joined the Naval Academy. They ruled Lange ineligible for the first 10 games.  By the time he got back the David and Vernon show had taken over and Lange was relegated to a limited role off the bench.  To Lange’s credit he didn’t complain and became more of a midrange slasher that better suited the team and his size (six four).  Lange has a great hook shot and can really board but his defense is nowhere near his bigger compatriots.  Lange was quite important to the team’s success down the stretch when he was called upon.  Juniors Kevin Sinnett and Hank Kuzma were able backups up front who gave some solid minutes behind Robinson and Butler.  Both can score and board and Sinnett got some minutes playing the three as there not many minutes left up front with the two studs around.  Sinnett can score on the blocks though and this hometown kid was a major scoring option his first two years in Annapolis.  He eats up space though he is a bit undersized at only six five and really understands leverage.  Carnavale has him penciled in to start at the three as he did the last ten games last year but the kid has to get quicker and develop a little better jump shot to succeed.  This team does not need much more bangers inside with they new dynamic duo around so the players already here will have to adjust or go to the deep end of the ocean er bench.  Kuzma is the hardest working player on the team and that is saying something at a place where sleep is something players dream of when they are standing guard.  The Hershey Hammer as he was known in high school in Harrisburg PA, Kuzma is a coaches kid so he knows how to play the game and is as disciplined as they come.  Kuzma knows how to finish with a bang as you do not get a nickname like the Hammer unless you can finish with authority.  Carnavale uses these role players up front in small minutes for specific roles, mainly defense and rebounding, but as Navy men they have accepted their roles like the men they are.    Seniors Chris Reddington and Jay Metzler will not be getting many minutes at all in their last year after being starters not too long ago.  By the end of last year Reddington was getting limited minutes and Metzler barely played at all.  It’s not as if these guys were blacklisted but at 6’5 and 6’6 respectively these guys were going to have a hard time in this league anyway and no way they are beating out the Admiral and his beast of a sidekick.  

The wings for the Midshipmen were a bit inconsistent and Carnavale needs to upgrade the size and athleticism here. He has brought in a slew of freshman (Navy does not take many transfer or JC kids even with the new portal system) who are a bit bigger and more athletic due to a loosening of the requirements to get in not related to athletics.  Senior John Clune has got one starting wing spot tied up.  Clune is the best jump shooter on the team and is there to try and free things up down low.  He did well though he is more intelligent then athletic but he does have good size for a two guard at 6’3.  That does not work as well guarding bigger wings however. Clune did lose some minutes to some better defenders as the year progressed especially after a mid-season injury put him on the shelf for a few games.  He still will be counted on to get at least 25 minutes per game and hit clutch shots as he has done for three years in Annapolis.  Fellow Senior John Tolmie also lost some minutes as the year progressed.  He once was a star here but is also only 6’3 as his long time sidekick on the wing Clune is.  Problem is though Tomie can score he is nowhere near the long-range shooter that Clune is and with their low post dominance this team needs shooters.  Or bigger, more athletic wings.  Tolmie ended up playing less than 20 mpg at the end of the year but still had solid numbers.  He will play but has already lost his starting job to the bigger Sinnett and if Evans has found a few more hidden gems in his recruiting trips on the wings he could be in trouble for any playing time.  But seniority is a big thing at the Naval Academy so if he is going to be replaced, they better be damn good.  Sweet shooting sophomore Kylor Whitaker played well down the stretch and should push for much more PT next year.  This Cali kid has the size at six foot six to get his shot off and though he barely played early was a huge part of the team’s late season run. Whitaker is the best athlete on the wing coming back and could start but will get minutes for sure.  He is also a terrific passer and played real well with Robinson and Butler and Carnavale wants to build a full squad for the future who know each other well.  There is an entire crew of upperclassmen who saw their minutes dwindle last year and will be lucky to make the team again this year.  Seniors Kenny Shugart, Dave Smalley, Jim Bower, Hugh Kilmartin, Ron Terwilliger and Bill Radcliffe plus junior Jack Conrad are all in the same boat though at this point it is a lifeboat as far as their careers are concerned.  None of these guys are above 6’3 and Shugart, a huge star here before he served overseas, is all of 5’9.  A few will continue to get some minutes early on but if Carnavale has his way, as good as he is at pulling rabbits out of his hat, the Midshipmen will have some athletic studs on the wing he can maneuver the way he has done these hard-working but undertalented kids since he got to Annapolis.  

The point position is also open for competition as Carnavale wanted to find a quarterback and team leader not necessarily a scorer as he has enough offense at the other four positions.  He might have found it in one of his Sophomore recruits from last year but they will have to beat out the incumbent in junior Myron ‘Mickey’ Hampton.  Doug Wojcik and Rob Romaine both got minutes on the varsity after splitting time on the JV.  Hampton is the most talented by far as this Jersey kid can do it all on the court.  Hampton can score and pass equally well and is almost assured of starting again but had one big downside.  He has not developed the kind of rapports he needs to with the new superstar.  Wojcik, a lefty, does not shoot well but he can handle the ball and he can really pass.  Wojcik took awhile to get into the lineup but once he did it was obvious he was a feisty little fighter.  He and Robinson have developed a bond that is fun to watch.  The undersized point guard with the heart of a Lion and the elegant big man with talent to spare! There were many alley oops between these two. Apparently these two bonded on the scout team last summer and when Carnavale was hesitant about playing Wojcik, Robinson pushed for him.  Good decision.  Romaine is more of a scorer than a distributor and also goes 6’2.  He can defend on the ball and create shots but somehow has lost ground to Wojcik.  Carnavale tried several other with mixed results to back up Hampton before going to the sophomores. Tolmie was tried there but he is not a good enough ballhandler. Smalley and Shugart got a shot but neither is good enough defensively.  Hampton is the clear cut favorite here but being able to connect with your star player is vastly underrated and if David wants something on this campus, he will probably get it.  After all the future of this program is in his big hands and nobody wants to see him go anywhere else for the next three years unless it is on a national team representing his country. 

The Navy Midshipmen rode the coat tails of arguably the most talented player in the new Patriot League. They finished a strong second to powerhouse Holy Cross in this burgeoning conference.  Coach Ben Carnavale hopes to help his star big man with a great supporting cast that will work together well and more importantly understood their roles. That will hopefully to clear the way so the Admiral can do his thing.  This will include some more athletic wings, more long-range shooters and a decision at point guard as David has already found his Robin down low in fellow sophomore Vernon Butler.  Robinson carried the Middies all the way to the NIT (the only Military academy to play in the post season) and with the Aircraft Carrier and most of his buddies coming back things should only get better in Annapolis. If you think these kids don’t have fun playing this game then you don’t understand the band of brothers these kids have become!