The Greyhounds’ men’s basketball team may not be experiencing the strong start that they were anticipating after suffering losses to St. John’s (55-76) and Dartmouth (80-82), but there is still much to be hopeful for this season. The Greyhounds have named Tavaras Hardy their new head coach, who is now the 21st head coach in Loyola’s history. Going into the 2018-2019 season, Chuck Champion has stood out as an influential player. The Greyhound had a chance to sit down with Charles “Chuck” Champion ‘20 and get his take on the team and Coach Hardy.

Champion, a 6-foot-4-inch guard from Philadelphia, scored 12 points against St. Johns and 17 points against Dartmouth. Champion has been doing exceptionally well on both ends of the courts, currently leading the team in scoring and rebounding.

With three games under their belt, Champion was asked what he thought the team was doing well. “I think we have been successful in adjusting to our new style of play of pushing the tempo and trying to gain an advantage on teams for slowly setting up their defense, which we will continue to work on,” Champion said.

“In addition, I think our guys have adjusted very well to the new coaching styles and have bought into the new offense and new standards which will allow us to do well this season.”

While aspects of the game are going well, certain portions of the team can still be improved. When it came to what he thinks could be bettered, Champion said “I think we could improve on everything from rebounding, playing in a stance, winning the 50-50 balls, etc. The most important area we need to improve on now would be executing on offense and giving our best effort every position on defense. If we continue to improve on these two quickly I think we will be able to do well in games early this season.”

Last season was not what the Greyhounds were expecting. Loyola ended the season with a record of 9-22. But Champion isn’t letting last year’s record affect his outlook on this season’s team.

“We are a much deeper team and have a lot of guys that are capable of playing multiple positions,” Champion said. “Both the team’s strategies and gameplans have changed since last season.”

Champion had nothing but positive feedback on his new head coach, Tavaras Hardy.

“I like how Coach Hardy coaches in a much more personal way. He is open with everyone on the team and he tells it like it is,” Champion said.

“Thus far, he has been able to build a new identity for our team and push us to have high standards not only on the court but off it as well. He has gotten everyone to buy in to our new culture and we all believe that it will be beneficial for us now and in the future.”

The Greyhounds’ next matchup will be at Detroit Mercy on Monday Nov. 19.

Feature image courtesy of Craig Chase