EXPECTATIONS HIGH FOR FRESHMEN

Liberty brought in three talented freshmen that are added to the roster for the 2022-23 season. Zach Cleveland, Colin Porter, and Ben Southerland all bring their own unique talents to the team.

Cleveland is a 6’7″ forward from Illinois that has probably grown an inch or two since he was measured when first arriving on campus this summer. He is a bruiser and likes to do the dirty work inside the paint.

Porter is a 5’9″ point guard from Ashland, Kentucky who will not only push for playing time this season, but he could end up starting in the backcourt alongside Darius McGhee. He is a pass-first guard that could help alleviate the stress off McGhee and Kyle Rode in ball-handling duties this season.

Southerland is a 6’7″ forward from Cincinnati, Ohio which is the most likely of the three to redshirt despite being one of the team’s best shooters. He can stretch the court while playing the four-position and should make an impact on the team in the future.

“Stay tuned into Liberty basketball games for the next four years with those freshmen,” McGhee said. “They are all super talented like every freshmen class we have. Super talented and very diverse and each brings something different to the table, but there’s something different about this freshmen class.”

GROWTH BY 2ND YEAR PLAYERS

Joseph Venzant and Brody Peebles both made great contributions as true freshmen last season. Venzant started nearly every game while Peebles provided some scoring off the bench. Isiah Warfield was in his second year with the team last season but it was still effectively his freshman campaign as the 2020-21 year did not count against his eligibility. McKay is expecting all three of them to see tremendous growth in their games this coming year.

“Isiah and Joseph are really, really good individual defenders, but they’ve also expanded their prowess as team defenders which is an important piece to our equation,” McKay said.

“Brody has just gotten stronger and better,” he continued. “He hasn’t cut his hair since last season, so maybe he’s got some (Samson) to him. I think his improvement is two-fold: defensively, he is significantly better and then, offensively, he’s gotten a little bit more aggressive. For Brody ,that is saying something because he is such a nice kid and doesn’t want to let any of his teammates down. I hope that continues to evolve.”

McGHEE DRAWING NATIONAL ATTENTION

It’s no secret that Darius McGhee will draw plenty of national attention this season as he is the top returning scorer in the country from last season. He decided to come back for his extra year of eligibility, bypassing opportunities to play professionally or perhaps even put his name in the transfer portal and be able to play for basically any school in the country.

“Anytime you get one of the best players in the country to come back, that’s always great for your team, I think it’s even better for your culture,” said Liberty senior forward Kyle Rode. “He had tons of opportunities probably, especially with the transfer portal being so prominent now. It just shows his character and the love he has for all of us off the court and on the court. I think it says more about him, the program where it’s at, super grateful that he is back and he is ready to get to work too.”

The Flames have seen plenty of success during McGhee’s tenure, winning the ASUN regular season and tournament title each of his first three seasons. That time included the program’s only win in the NCAA Tournament, coming in the 2019 NCAA Tournament over Mississippi State. McGhee and the Flames are hoping to have another year with tremendous success and send their star guard off on a high note.

“His desire to want to win and advance is really authentic because he wants his teammates to experience what he has experienced over the course of his time here,” said McKay. “I think he’s pretty intentional about that pursuit, and he’s got a gift to maybe see if that can’t manifest itself during the coming season.”