The Livingston Academy Wildcats are preparing for the 2021-2022 with a mix of experience and youth.
The Wildcats return several pieces from the 2020-2021 season, but are looking to replace a superstar in Matthew Sells.
“We’re pretty pleased with where we are at,” said LA head coach Jimmy Miller. “We play a lot of young kids. We’ve had some young guys stepping up and being a little bit more ready than we thought they were. We’re pleased with where we are.”
The Wildcats will be anchored inside by Nick Choate. Choate is one of the top bigs in the Upper Cumberland and will provide a boost for LA in the paint.
Joining Choate will be returnees Hayden Ledbetter and Isaac Story. Story will handle the majority of the ball-handling for the Wildcats.
“His physical and mental strength is huge,” said Miller on Story. “Shooting the ball and taking care of it for us.”
In addition to the returning stars, Miller said two sophomores are stepping up in Daniel Bilbrey and Wyatt Hargis.
“They’ve been pretty good defenders and scoring the ball well,” said Miller. “We’re hoping to get some numbers from those guys that we didn’t realize we were going to get. Those guys have really come along well.”
Sells was the leading scorer in LA history. Miller said while it is impossible to replace his production, they will look to new guys to provide a boost.
“It’s impossible to replace a Matthew Sells. Our school’s only seen one player like him ever,” said Miller. “Our guards are doing well. We, as a whole, probably shoot the three better than we did last year. There’s two or three guys who could end up (with the ball in their hands) at the end of the game.”
While they would love to have Sells, Miller agreed having a more balanced attack could be a positive for the Wildcats.
“There were times last year where you could send a double team at Matthew Sells… that we had trouble winning games,” said Miller. “We’re hoping with what we’re seeing now that that won’t be the case this year. We’re hoping we have some other guys who could step up and score the ball.”
The Wildcats are now apart of District 7/3A featuring Upperman, Macon County, DeKalb County, Stone Memorial, Cumberland County and White County.
“I think we added three teams to this district and it just became three times harder,” said Miller. “I hope we can surprise some people. They picked us about middle of the road. I’d love to get some of these young guys seasoned enough so we can start sneaking away with some district wins we might not be picked to win.”
Miller said his expectations for his team are to be confident and play up to their potential.
“We’re wanting these guys to come out and play confident,” said Miller. “To play to the best of their potential, to be positive and be confident and enjoy themselves this year.”
The Wildcats will open the season Tuesday when they travel to take on Lipscomb Academy.