His team is young - four sophomores on the 13-man roster - and inexperienced. Varsity minutes are scarce.
Gone is 6-8 Russ Permenter, last year’s District 13-5A MVP. His shot blocking and scoring has moved on to the collegiate ranks at Texas-San Antonio.
The Wildcats’ depth has been further reduced for a variety of reasons.
“We’ve lost some kids to discipline issues and injuries,” said Etheridge, referring to second-team all-district guard Jeff Hodges, Damion Stance and Quintell Rutledge (torn ACL).
“If we can win 18 to 20 games with this group, it will be a great accomplishment,” he added. “There are not a lot of expectations for us. We’re picked next-to-last in most (13-5A) polls. I think the other district coaches understand the position we are in. There’s not a lot of varsity game experience with either our young players or our older guys. But we do have good young talent.”
Etheridge will go with a starting lineup of senior point guard Isaiah Caldera (5-9), junior guard D.J. Wright (5-10), sophomore guard Bron Etheridge (6-2), sophomore forward Eric Valdez (6-3) and senior post James Gude (6-5).
Caldera and Wright began last season on the varsity before going to the junior varsity, while Etheridge got considerable varsity playing time.
Senior Abraham Mack will back up Caldera at the point. Senior Jay Broussard (6-0) is on the depth chart behind Wright and Etheridge, and senior Jeremi Adams (6-4) will spell Gude. Also available are 5-10 senior Juan Ortiz and 6-5 junior Reagan Williams.
The Wildcats, who were 2-10 in district last season, will get some help when Temple’s football season ends. Standout sophomores Derrick Davis (6-0) and Lache Seastrunk (5-10) along with senior guard Robert Black (5-7) will join the team.
Seastrunk and Davis logged varsity playing time last year.
“We’re going to strap it on and play hard,” Etheridge said. “We made a tremendous amount of improvement between our first scrimmage with Manor last Tuesday and Saturday’s scrimmage with Waco University, Abilene and Austin Crockett. We beat Abilene and Crockett and tied University.”
After leaning on Permenter last year for offense, the Wildcats will need to establish a top scoring threat.
“We’re still trying to get a reading on this team,” Etheridge said. “We haven’t found that individual yet who is going to supply the points every night.
“And defensively, you can do some things with quickness that you can’t do with height. We’ll miss Russ, but Gude is a very good defensive post.”
The Wildcats will get tested early on the road. Tonight’s opening tilt is against a Dragons team picked to battle for a playoff spot out of 14-5A, and Friday’s adversary, Bastrop, is a playoff contender in 25-5A.
Veteran Round Rock coach Curtis Knight returns an experienced group headed by 6-5 senior Jamie Johnson, highly rated 6-9 junior John Henson, 6-7 junior Dax Hill and 6-2 junior Eric Richter. Henson averaged 12 points, 6.6 rebounds and three blocks per game as a sophomore.
Before opening district competition on Dec. 18, Temple will play in three tournaments - the Spring Creek Classic in Arlington (Nov. 23-24), the CFB Tournament in Dallas (Nov. 29-Dec. 1) and the Hill Country Classic at Lake Travis (Dec. 7-8).
The Wildcats’ only two home games prior to their district opener will be Nov. 27 against Austin Reagan and Dec. 10 against Waco University.
