[Stardust]

LIBERTY — Darry Burkett really has no idea what his first Casey County boys team is going to look like.
“I’m going to be just as surprised what to expect as the paying customers,”¿said Burkett, the former Southwestern coach who was hired at Casey earlier this year. “We’re learning every day, and we have great kids that are working hard.
“Everything is completely new. It’s a new system, and every day we have a learning curve we have to meet. I think we’re going to get better every day. I just wish I had six months before the season to get started.”
The Rebels lost 75 percent of their scoring off a 6-22 team, with senior post players Luke Carman and James Burton providing the vast a majority of the returning points.
“So we don’t have any guards with a great deal of varsity experience. Luke and James have a lot of experience, but they haven’t been counted on to produce on offense,”¿Burkett said. “But they’ll have to have a much bigger role this year. We’re going to be post-oriented.”
Burton averaged 9.2 points and 7.1 boards per game, and Burkett said once he gets caught up from football season, he should be a solid defender and rebounder and should up his scoring average.
“He’s a great athlete, and we have to harness some of that potential,” Burkett said.
But aside from those two, there is not much back for Casey.
Senior guard Clay Cannon “has played really well and had a good summer and has played well this fall,”¿Burkett said.
Burkett is also expecting contributions from juniors Skyler Wright, Taylor Leigh and Micah Smith, who also had good summers according to Burkett. Sophomores Zach Scott and Baylen Hill could also push for varsity minutes, the coach said.
Even with all the unknows, Burkett is excited about that lies ahead for the Rebels.
“But for us to be good, we’re going to have to be much improved defensively and be dominant on the backboards to make up for our other weaknesses,” he said. “I just like our attitude and we’re developing a family atmosphere. The kids are giving good effort and they come to practice with a smile on their face. But it’s a learning process.
“You’re not going to build a team instantly, but I think we can get turned around quicker than people expect.”

Keys to the Season
Casey has to find some good guard play. The returners in the backcourt scored just 23 points all year last season.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in them. I think we may surprise some people at guard,”¿Burkett said. “They played well this summer. Of course, we’re going to have to be patient and keep our turnovers down,”

Player to Watch
Carman averaged 8.4 points and a team-high 8.8 rebonds last year, and Burkett needs the senior to up those numbers this year.
“He’s going to have to be a leader for us, and kind of out bell cow,”¿he said.

Top Newcomer
Taylor Leigh scored more points (12) than any other returning Casey guard. He could step in and provide some much-needed scoring and ball handling.

Biggest Concern
Outside of Carman and Burton, there is just 27 games of experience coming back.
So getting his young players up to speed to take the pressure off Burton and Carman is a major concern for Burkett.

Top Returning Players
Luke Carman, 6-7 C, 8.4 ppg, 8.8 rpg.
James Burton, 6-4 Sr. C-F, 9.2 ppg, 7.1 rpg.

[Stardust]

[Image: http://media.trb.com/media/photo/2011-11...071443.jpg]

Casey County senior Luke Carman averaged 8.4 points and 8.8 rebounds for the Rebels last season

[GetChili]

Best of luck to Coach Burkett in his first season at Casey County. He will do a great job there.