<p>Nate Cangany is used to starting over. His new team seems to be doing just fine with it, too.</p>
<p>After one season at Hauser, where he helped a very young team reach the sectional final, the 30-year-old comes into a similar situation at Whiteland.</p>
<p>The Warriors lost more than three-quarters of their scoring from last year’s team, so Cangany will again be building from the ground up with a very inexperienced roster. It’s nothing new to him — and in a way, he almost prefers that sort of situation at the outset.</p>
<p>A team dominated by underclassmen, he says, allows him to take the time to introduce his system the right way.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
<p>"Having a young team makes it nice from a coaching standpoint when you’re trying to lay your foundation, when you’re trying to put in what you do," Cangany said. "These kids aren’t going to learn it and then graduate in five months. These kids are going to learn it and you’re going to have them for two, three, four years."</p>
<p>Just one Whiteland player with meaningful varsity experience (Chase Ferguson) is in his final season. The rest of the team will be around for a while — and so far, they seem optimistic about what that could mean.</p>
<p>"I feel like me and coach Cangany see eye to eye," junior Logan Willoughby said. "We still have some stuff to clean up, just getting used to everything and getting more together and playing together, but I feel like we’ve bought in pretty well so far."</p>
<p>Willoughby and sophomore Max Sullivan figure to carry much of the load for the Warriors early on while some of their younger teammates get acclimated to varsity ball and Ferguson, a two-year starter who offers valuable rebounding and defense down low, recovers from injury.</p>
<p>Sullivan, the top returning scorer (5.9 ppg) and rebounder (4.3), is eager to take on a bigger role.</p>
<p>"I’ve been looking forward to being a leader," he said. "Me and Logan have been trying to lead our teammates, and they’ve really bought into what we’ve been saying."</p>
<p>They’ve also bought into what Cangany has been saying, which the coach said has made for an easier transition — of greater importance given that he wasn’t hired until late July and didn’t have a chance to work with his new team over the summer.</p>
<p>The learning curve will be steep and likely extend into the regular season a bit, but nobody’s pressing the panic button. Sectionals are still a long way down the road.</p>
<p>"We’re going to find out a lot about ourselves in the first couple of months," Cangany said. "It’s cliché, but I think this team will be playing its best ball by March. Just seeing how hungry they are, just seeing how they continued to develop through the fall."</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="Scouting the Warriors" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>Coach: Nate Cangany (first season)</p>
<p>Last season: 9-14, lost to Franklin in Class 4A sectional semifinal</p>
<p>Key returnees: Chase Ferguson, senior; Logan Willoughby, junior; Max Sullivan, sophomore</p>
<p>Top newcomers: Reid Wilburn, senior; Quinten Gillespie, Jacob Griffith, Ty Johnson and Jacob Preilis, juniors; Kyson Jones, sophomore</p>
<p>What to expect: The Warriors have plenty of questions to answer, with most of last year’s regulars gone and a first-year coach in Cangany, who comes north after one season at Hauser. Sullivan and Willoughby will be asked to carry a heavy workload early on while Ferguson works his way back from injury and some of the less experienced players get acclimated. Cangany believes he could eventually get some big contributions from a few underclassmen, but the Warriors will likely be a work in progress over the next few weeks.</p>[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title="3 points with Ty Johnson" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p><strong>1. Besides your own, what’s your favorite gym to play in?</strong></p>
<p>I like playing at Martinsville, because I was from there. We played there last year and it was a close game. … I just like that gym.</p>
<p><strong>2. Which nonconference opponent are you most looking forward to playing?</strong></p>
<p>I guess (Shelbyville), the very first game, just to see how good we can be and see how the season’s going to start.</p>
<p><strong>3. If you could steal one skill from one of your teammates, what would it be?</strong></p>
<p>Max. His height, if that’s a skill. But he’s a good shooter and just has really good moves.</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]
