At a military installation, changes in leadership are a common occurrence. For the Fort Campbell Falcon basketball team, it is getting to be that way as well. For the fourth straight season, there will be a new face at the front of the bench as Orlando King takes over leadership of the Falcon basketball program.
King follows Kevin Lehde (2023-2024), Jeffery Cherry (2022-2023), and Robbie Townsend (2018-2022) in the top spot for the Falcon program.
King takes over a team that lost four players to graduation last season. The biggest of those losses was multi-sport standout Maurice Moore. Moore averaged 10.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Plus, the loss of Moore’s leadership and experience is hard to calculate.
Coach King says he really likes the bond that his players have developed as he took over the program and he is hoping to be able to build a great foundation for the program using the strength of that bond.
As for players he needs to step up and lead the way, King had a pretty simple answer, all of them. The coach says all of his players have the potential to have a big impact on the Falcons’ season.
King says he thinks the key to the Fort Campbell season being mentally strong and executing the game plan for a full 32 minutes a game. He adds that the Falcons will need to play team ball on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court.
A concern for the coach is rebounding as Coach King points out that the Falcons have no true “bigs”, so everyone will need to be a part of the Fort Campbell rebounding effort.
Player Under the Radar – Keep an eye on Tyreek Anthony. Anthony averaged 7.8 points and 3.9 rebounds a game last season. He was also second on the team in made 3-pointers. Coach King says Anthony “can simply flat out play with the best offensively and defensively.”
Big Games – As is always the case, the 8th District run is a huge cluster of games for the Falcons. Fort Campbell has not won a game against an 8th District opponent since February 24, 2009 when they upended UHA in the 8th District tournament. That is a stretch of 96 games.
Outlook – The Falcons won 6 games last season and will look to increase that number this season. They will also look to get that first win over an 8th District team in nearly 16 years. A new coach and new faces on the roster make this team had to get a feel for, but they have some talented athletes who can make things difficult for an opponent on any given night when the shots start to fall. Some winnable early season games give this team a chance to build some confidence and that alone could be a big boost for the Falcons as the season goes on.
