news-record.com

GREENSBORO — For the second time in three seasons, preseason polls have the Guilford College Quakers ranked among the top five teams in NCAA Division III men’s basketball. This season, a talented trio of seniors hopes to justify that ranking better than the 2007-08 team did.

Two seasons ago, the Quakers compiled a 24-5 record, but lost in the first round of the D-III tournament. Last year, when expectations were not as high, Guilford reached the Final Four.

Coach Tom Palombo believes in starting his offense from the inside out, meaning that 6-foot-11 senior Tyler Sanborn is the focal point of this year’s squad.

Sanborn came to Guilford as a rebuilding project and is now a Player of the Year candidate.

"When Tyler was a freshman, he’ll tell you he wasn’t a very good player and wasn’t in very good physical condition and wasn’t very strong,” Palombo said.

"He’s made himself into a really good player. His skill has improved, his athleticism has improved. But it all started with his body and mind and knowing that he could do it.”

After playing two years with fellow big man Ben Strong, Sanborn was the primary post player last season, averaging 15.4 points and 12.9 rebounds per game.

“When I came in, I was really overweight and out of shape,” Sanborn said. “Ben did a really good job taking me under his wing.

“I was working hard every day to get better. It wasn’t like one day I got good. For the past three years I’ve won the (team) award for being most improved.

That’s something I’m really proud of. I feel fortunate that I had people that helped me to get better.”

When Sanborn gets the ball inside, teams have no choice but to double- and sometimes triple-team him, as most Division III pivots are at least 3-4 inches shorter. But the Quakers have outside shooting to complement the posts: a talented senior backcourt of Rhett Bonner (16.5 ppg) and Clay Henson (18.8).

“Those guys can make you look good when offensively things aren’t going your way on a particular night,” Palombo said of his guards. “Those guys can still score and create shots, not only for themselves but for their teammates, which makes them even more dangerous.”

The Quakers also have quality depth on the bench. Eric High, Gabriel Lowder and Brad Monroe each played in at least 30 games last season.

Plus, Guilford has a pair of freshman guards who should contribute right away: Travis Tracy and Trinity’s Josh Pittman.

Sanborn also has help up front, with a pair of 6-9 players, Justin Stafford and Josh Best, as reserves.

Guilford has everything it needs to make a return to the Final Four, as evidenced by its third-place ranking by D3Hoops.com. But Palombo is not worried about any pressure from rankings or outside sources.

“I think internally we have high expectations as a coaching staff and as a team on how we want to play the game of basketball,” Palombo said. “We do want to play it a particular way, and that’s what we want to focus on. Anybody who puts outside expectations on us, it’s great for the program, it’s great for recruiting, but we have our own expectations that are more important.”