Grandview’s fall-sports stars return to court a bit rusty
As his team ran drills during a practice last week, veteran Grandview Heights coach Ray Corbett resisted the urge to chew out his players for fumbled passes, poor footwork and general lack of execution. He just shook his head, grateful that the basketball season is a four-month journey.
“In reality, this is just practice two for us with everybody,” Corbett said. “Right now, we’re a hodgepodge. In our situation, we just have to embrace the idea of getting a little better every day.”
Grandview’s situation is this: With the season-opener looming Thursday at Patriot Prep and a high-profile game two days later against defending Division III runnerup Africentric in the All-Ohio Classic at Pickerington North, its top nine players are slowly rounding into form after advancing deep into the postseason in their various fall sports.
This isn’t uncommon at Grandview or any other smaller school that relies heavily on multi-sport athletes. But Corbett, who is 435-259 entering his 32nd season with the Bobcats, has reason to believe this team has the potential to become special. Three starters and several role players return from a 19-5 campaign.
“I’m not complaining about guys playing other sports because you hope that experience helps add competitiveness and athleticism to the mix, and our fall teams — especially in football, soccer and cross country — had a lot of success,” he Grandview Heights coach Ray Corbett instructs 6-7 junior forward Luke Lachey during practice Tuesday. Lachey has Division I scholarship offers in football as well as basketball, and because the Bobcats reached the football playoffs, he had not played basketball since AAU competition in July.
said. “Getting those guys in basketball shape tends to be a little bit of a challenge, though, especially when so many of them are coming off great seasons.”
Six-foot-seven junior forward Luke Lachey, an all-district receiver for the playoff football
team, said he hadn’t played basketball since AAU competition in July. Lachey, who averaged 14.3 points and 8.3 rebounds while shooting 66 percent from the field last season, is fielding Division I scholarship offers in football and basketball. His father, Jim, was an Ohio State standout who played 10 seasons in the NFL.
“I got one weekend off after football before I got back into basketball,” he said. “Running up and down the court is different than the kind of conditioning we do in football. Fine-tuning your skills and getting your jump shot down is a bit of a challenge, too, but this isn’t the first time I’ve done this. It will come around.”
Senior Manny Day nearly single-handedly powered Grandview’s soccer team into the state semifinals. The first-team All-Ohio choice scored 50 goals.
“The last time I touched a basketball was in June,” said Day, a 6-2 guard. “I spent July to mid-November completely focused on soccer. Going from one sport to another is much more difficult than people think. I still can’t shoot. Fortunately, we’ve got a lot of time to get it all together.”
Senior 5-10 guard Brian Collier, who averaged 13.5 points and 3.1 assists last season, is another key returner.
“For a school our size, we’re really long,” Corbett said. “Luke’s ability to run the floor and step out on the court makes him special. And we’ve got several 6-2 and 6-3 guys who can get to the hole and shoot it.
“We’re really optimistic we can have a great season. But the (Mid-State League) Ohio Division is much stronger, and our district — with Harvest Prep and Africentric — is a bear. We just hope we can get everyone on the same page to make a run at some things in February and March.”