It was definitely a “get to know you” week at Carmel. Five days and two practices into their new coach, Scott Heady, Carmel was on the floor competing for the first time for their new coach.

The wake of the public off court issues that dogged the program late last season continues on in the court system. All players suspended and/or expelled were seniors, so on the court, the program has moved on. The big name player is AJ Hammons, and while most defenses focused on collapsing on him this past weekend, Hammons played the role of a distributor.

He still needs to play with a more consistent motor, but when he does, he’s a high major talent. His body has changed a great deal since coming to Carmel, and as he puts on muscle weight and starts to carve out space, he could be a man child even on Carmel’s schedule.

Carmel rotated 14 players all weekend, even in bracket play, subbing four to five guys at a time at almost every rotation. It’s hard to tell who will get a bulk of the minutes this winter aside from Hammons, but Ben Gardner and Josh Baldridge will likely anchor the back court as they did down the stretch for Carmel last year.

The two biggest benefactors of the coaching change will be Alec Peterson and Matt Howard. Both senior front court players, both were mostly bypassed squeezed between a senior class that had struggled to win big games and sophomores that were mostly football players than basketball players. Peterson is a 6’10″ center, who has developed a strong low post game, but is skilled enough to play from the mid and high post alongside Hammons. Howard is a 6’5″ perimeter forward, who is probably the best shooter in the program. Wing Ruben Warshawsky and forward Shawn Heffern, both juniors, looked good during the weekend too.

Carmel is actually blessed with a number of strong shooters to surround its size inside, including junior Sam Curts, who gained a lot of extra varsity time late last year, and senior guard Mark Fennerty. Still to be determined is if Coach Heady’s step son, Clayton Sanders, will be making the move over from Mount Vernon. Along with his younger brother, both played for Mt. Vernon this past weekend in this USSFA summer shootout.