College teams just started a stretch of eight weeks of organized workouts, and Sargent is back doing what he loves.
As he put it, “I’m starting to feel like a basketball coach again.”
The players are getting accustomed to the new regime, and they’re already seeing a significant change.
“We typically spend most of our summers on offense. But I’d like to shift that and work more on our defensive identity and (implement) some of our coverages,” Sargent said.
“I want to instill and work on who we’re going to be defensively.”
Though he doesn’t want to tip his hand, Sargent sounds as if he’ll give opponents an array of looks when they have the ball.
That’s a departure from previous coach Scott Nagy, who was a staunch believer in man-to-man defense and never trusted zones.
He once derisively called them “liquor store holdups,” meaning five guys standing stationary with their arms in the air while being robbed.
But while the Raiders finished the season fourth in the country in scoring with an 86.5 average, they were 346th out of 351 teams in points allowed at 81.2.
They went 18-14 and 18-15 the last two seasons, losing each year in the Horizon League quarterfinals. And one painfully obvious issue was that they were consistently running into teams with more athletic players.
Western Kentucky, a supposed mid-major peer, drove at will into the lane and scored at the rim repeatedly in a 91-84 win at the Nutter Center.
They were one of 14 foes to score at least 85 points last year.
Sargent agreed that the Raiders were athletically challenged, and that was a point of emphasis in recruiting.
He lauded all four of his spring signees — each 6-foot-6 or taller — for their athleticism.
“I want to be more versatile, more athletic. If you’re able to throw different looks and cover things in a variety of ways, you can impose your will on teams,” he said.
But Sargent believes the 36-29 record since winning the league tourney in 2022 actually could have a positive effect.
The frustration over being shredded defensively would seemingly create more buy-in from players.
“One of the things I’m grateful for is that our staff and a big core of our locker room has some of those battle wounds. I think that’s a dangerous thing (for opponents),” Sargent said. “Because things didn’t go well, you can say, ‘Do you guys remember that?’
“A lot of teams will be trying to find that motivation, but i’s already here because we have a number of guys who went through last year, and it’s not what we want to be about.”
MAKING NOISE: Two returnees already making an impression are guards Keaton Norris and Solomon Callaghan.
The 6-foot Norris took the unusual step of redshirting as a junior last season — despite starting 13 games as a sophomore and eight as a freshman.
He likely wasn’t going to play much last season with Trey Calvin in his final year and freshman Kaden Brown having passed him on the depth chart.
The 6-2 Callaghan redshirted as a freshman last season but averaged 21.7 points at Wadsworth High School and once scored 45 in a game.
“Those two are extremely hard workers — what I call every-day guys. When you have that type of consistency, you can really get better in a year’s time,” Sargent said.
“Keaton has made a huge jump in a lot of different ways. And I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised when they see Solomon. He’s a difference-maker. He’s got an extremely bright future.”
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