Argos boys basketball preview: With Richard graduating, new coach Kindig to rely on Stults, sophomores

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

ARGOS — First-year Argos boys basketball coach Nick Kindig is walking out of Phil Weybright Gymnasium so he can be someplace quiet to answer a few questions about his team while his players are working on their shooting before practice.

He asks one of his players for a ball and promptly cans a 28-footer from the corner that was so far away from the basket that if a player did it during a game, the basket would be disallowed because it would have been out of bounds.

It might be Kindig’s biggest issue in a nutshell: He will not get to coach a guard with the track record that he himself had as a player. Kindig scored more than 1,250 career points at Tippecanoe Valley, where he played for Indiana Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Patrick and graduated in 2013. He also played collegiately for NAIA Hall of Famer Mike Lightfoot at Bethel University.

Kindig was hired June 17 to replace Jason Breden, now the coach at Knox. He immediately began with open gyms. Two weeks later, the team had to take a week off per IHSAA Moratorium Week rules. They continued with open gyms after Moratorium Week ended, and Kindig said he is “excited” with how much progress the team has made given the short timetable.

“We talked about how we kind of got a late start to summer,” Kindig said. “But as soon as I got the job, guys were in here, and we were ready to roll. Throughout June and up until Moratorium Week and then July, we had open gyms two days a week, we had pretty much every kid here throughout that time. Took a little break when soccer started in the fall. Once we were able to have open gyms again two days a week, we had great attendance, not only from the non-soccer athletes but even the soccer athletes. I’m really impressed where we’re at.”

Kindig said he has emphasized two fundamentals – defense and passing. Passing could be especially important due to the graduation of RTC Player of the Year Sean Richard, who averaged 23.9 points, 7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game last year.

“A lot of young guys making passes on time and on target and not turning the ball over,” Kindig said. “Some of those guys are going to have the ball in their hands more than what they had last year. So just passing, pivots, just basic stuff with guys handling the ball a lot more than what they’re used to.”

There are four seniors on the roster – 6-5 forward-center Luke Stults and three varsity newcomers in Preston Mollette, Obe Salary and Hunter Xaver.

Stults averaged 14.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game last year. Kindig said he can move the versatile Stults all over the floor.

“Luke physically dominates everybody in practice,” Kindig said. “He’s very physical. He’s tall, but I would say he’s more on the skinnier side. He plays physical. He’s aggressive. He rebounds really well. Throw it to him in the post, and he can make a move and score. We can even put him outside, and he can drive or hit a 15-foot jump shot. He does a lot of things really well for us. The thing I want to see from Luke more is just the leadership side. I think vocally especially, he knows what to do. He’s been through it the last two years, even three years a little bit.”

Kindig coached against Mollette, Salary and Xaver last year when he was the Triton JV coach. He said Mollette will have a “big role on this team.” Salary, who is listed at 5-6, is a “little bit smaller but he’s quick and does a lot of things really well.” Xaver can do “some athletic things to help us.”

Juniors include Mack Calhoun, Kyle Penn and Corbin Rex. The 6-3 Calhoun could be paired up front with Stults.

“Mack’s going to have a huge role,” Kindig said. “He’s probably going to start for us. He rebounds really well. He plays defense and likes to block shots. I’ve really been impressed with him. He played a little bit of JV against (Triton), and I think he’s come a long way since we played him in JV. He’s become a little more coordinated and more athletic. … So we’re really looking forward to having him and Luke out there together.”

With Richard gone, sophomore Kenyan Beldon is the most experienced point guard on the roster.

“Definitely he’s going to have to handle the ball a lot more than he did last year,” Kindig said. “He did here and there, but having Richard out there helped a lot. So Kenyan is going to have to take that leadership role. He knows what to do. It’s kind of like Luke. I’ve been on them a bunch. They know what’s going on as good as anybody. Just being vocal and helping others out. I like to have a point guard that’s very vocal.”

Mekhi Austin got extensive varsity experience as well as a freshman. He made 28 3-pointers last year, most on the team.

“Probably one of our most athletic players,” Kindig said. “He can score, and I’m looking forward to him being one of our best defenders. He’s going to have to do a little bit of everything. … He’s going to guard the other team’s best player most games, and he’s going to score here and there. I really look forward to him scoring off his defense.”

The third key sophomore is Zhayne Hellums, who made 21 3-pointers last year and who has grown to 6-1.

“Zhayne’s a good shooter,” Kindig said. “I’d say he’s probably the best shooter we have. We’re going to run plays for him. Especially for the guard side of our offense, plays are going to be for him. He’s going to need to score. He’s going to need to be aggressive. … We’re going to do a lot of things for him to put him in spots to score.”

Joel Trump is another sophomore who will split time between the JV and the varsity.

“At the beginning of the year, Joel’s going to start on JV and a little bit of varsity, but by the end of the year, I could see him working his way up,” Kindig said.

Kindig acknowledges that the style of play will have to change without the ball-dominant Richard. That could mean a faster tempo.

“I tell them we’re really trying to just get easy baskets,” Kindig said. “Whether it’s a make or miss, get out and run. We got some athletes. Like I said, Mekhi’s athletic. Luke’s obviously athletic. Mack is getting there. Zhayne’s long and can shoot. Kenyan… handles the ball a little bit and knows what’s going on; he’s quick. So I’d like to get easy baskets, make or misses. But we’ve got to get better defensively. If we get stops on defense, I think it’s going to make our lives a lot easier on offense.”

Chris Kindig, who is Nick’s father and who coached the Tippecanoe Valley girls from 2011-24, will be the varsity assistant coach. Derek Smith, a 2013 Argos grad, will be the JV coach.

Argos is new to the Hoosier North, but they already played all eight of their new conference rivals in nonconference games. Argos also added Plymouth and kept former Hoosier Plains rivals Trinity Greenlawn, Bethany Christian, Lakeland Christian and Elkhart Christian as nonconference games.

Argos boys basketball schedule

Nov. 27 – vs. Bremen, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 6 – vs. West Central, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 10 – at LaVille, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 13 – at Winamac, 8 p.m.

Dec. 20 – at Pioneer, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 21 – at Kouts, 8 p.m.

Jan. 7 – vs. Trinity Greenlawn, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 10 – vs. Bethany Christian, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 11 – at Plymouth, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 14 – vs. North Miami, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 17 – at Oregon-Davis, 7:30 p.m.