The North Callaway boys will have plenty of opportunities this season.

The Thunderbirds have quite a bit of players that will have expanded roles, including the four seniors that will be returning with some varsity experience.

Head coach Matt Miller said he estimates those four seniors, three juniors and four or five sophomores will compile the varsity team out of the 25 on the roster this season. Many of those boys rise up the depth chart for more playing time.

“Every year is a brand new challenge,” Miller said. “As a coach, you look forward to those new challenges. We had three really good seniors – two first team all-conference and all-district talents that we lost last year. You don’t replace those guys. We’ve probably got more depth one through 10 or one through 12 maybe than we’ve had on our program.”

Sam Pezold and Isiah Craighead are the first team all-Eastern Missouri Conference seniors who graduated, so North Callaway lost their program’s all-time leading scorer Pezold and a consistent double-double machine Craighead. Still, Miller likes the players returning this season.

Post player Clayton Moore and guard Levi Drake are seniors that “started quite a bit” and will be expected to have big senior seasons. Miller said CJ Cunningham and Caleb Sheets are the other seniors that were mostly role players last season but will have more playing time, juniors Austin Brown, Dalton Brewer and Zac Craghead will have “expanded minutes,” and sophomores Jamarion Glover, Jake Blevins and Brodee Biggers had good summers and will get a look on varsity.

“Balance and depth will be key for us,” Miller said. “We can play four games in a row and have four different leading scorers on any given night, which is a good thing and sometimes a bad thing. But I think we’re going to be balanced and I don’t think opponents are going to be able to key on one or two guys to stop us.”

Miller said that the roster doesn’t have a first team all-conference player but added that is only “right now.” Some can step up to have really good seasons since they are “trending in that direction.”

The balance of the roster should allow North Callaway to beat teams in various ways with size, quickness, shooting and ball handling. Primarily, though, Miller said the Thunderbirds’ speed stands out.

“We’ve got some speed across the board,” Miller said. “We’ve got some big athletic post guys that can get up and down the floor and get some stuff done inside, like Clayton, Jamarion Glover, Jake Blevins and Zac Craghead. They are big athletic guys that are 6-3 plus that all run the floor really well.”

Miller hopes playing faster will lead to more points rather than turnovers, but that might take time to iron out. It would also be good to at least match, if not surpass, the 10 wins from a season ago, but that depends on the boys.

“If they come to practice to dominate the day or win the day, the outcome will take care of itself,” Miller said. “Can we dominate this drill? Can we dominate this scrimmage? You do all the things you’re supposed to do daily, all of that other stuff will take care of itself.”