Once the dominant team in the 5th District, the Livingston Central Cardinals have never regained that status since the heyday of the program in the 1970s and 80s.
Matt Hargrove, a Livingston Central alum and new Cardinal skipper, is hoping to change that.
The Cardinals return two starters from last year’s 4-24 team but have a couple of guys looking to return from injury to make a difference along with a talented middle schooler or two.
With Livingston Central losing 27-point scorer Max Downey from a team that put up 58 points a game, Hargrove knows points will be at a premium early in the season and is hoping his defense can keep them in some ballgames.
“I am hoping that this team will become a hard-nosed defensive team, and learn to trust each other on the offensive end,” Hargrove said. “If we can do that, we should be a pretty balanced scoring team.”
Sophomore Drew Hosick, who scored three points a game, and sophomore Mason Hargrove (2 ppg.) will be the main options early in the season. Freshman Logan Wring played 24 games as a 7th grader and averaged seven points a game last year before an injury ended his season after just 10 games. Hargrove said Wring will be asked to shoulder a big load this year.
Sophomore Jack Thomason (6.4 ppg.) is another Cardinal working his way back from an injury.
Hargrove has a senior class that resembles Forest Gump’s box of chocolates – he just doesn’t know what he’s going to get from them from game to game.
Casen Rendor saw action in 27 games last year and averaged two points a game. Eli Walton, Josh Turney, Jude Ferrell, and Will Orr all return to the program and will give the Cardinals differing amounts of minutes.
Freshman Avery Zaim and sophomore Reese Davidson should both see increased minutes this year.
Livingston Central won seven of its 18 district titles in the decades of the 70s and 80s. They’ve won two in the last 28 years and none since 2012. Hargrove knows he has an uphill climb to restore the program’s stature in the district, but he embraces that and knows he has to build a program and not just a team to compete.
“We know we have to change the culture and get back to having pride in what we do. Livingston Central has a very rich tradition but has been on hard times lately, and we are wanting to get back to the things that have made us successful in the past,” Hargrove said. “They must learn to work for and earn what they want instead of expecting things, and they have to trust each team member.”
Hargrove said help appears to be coming soon to the program.
“Our numbers in the program are up. We are going to call up two or three middle school kids to fill out our JV roster, but we will end up having 19 kids which is a huge plus,” he said.
Hargrove isn’t naïve as to how quickly the Cardinal program can be rebuilt. But he also knows changing the culture starts now if they are to see a payoff.
“I just want our players to work their tails off and figure out what it takes to become good varsity basketball players,” he said. “We had to throw several kids into the fire last year because of injuries that just weren’t ready. I want them to have a good attitude and to give maximum effort. If we can continue to do these things, I believe we will continue to improve as the season progresses and hopefully surprise some people.”
Livingston Central opens the 2022-23 season Monday with a home game against Fort Campbell.
