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Saturday, December 1, 2007
Bigger is Better
Central Oklahoma, OK
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By: Michael Swisher
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Photo(s) By: Wes Sharp
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With nearly 14 feet of front court, the Chargers should be one tall order this season
Cole Hooper is big by most standards.
At 6-foot-6, the Heritage Hall junior will dwarf most of his competition on the Oklahoma hardwood.
But if you attend a Chargers game this season, you might not even notice Hooper.
That’s because there’s nearly 14 feet of Heritage Hall frontcourt that will be drawing your attention elsewhere.
In a day when most college programs only dream of having a 7-footer on their roster, Heritage Hall boasts not one, but two.
Well, almost.
Senior P.J. Roberson towers at an even 7-feet tall.
Fellow senior Cort Hoge is a mere 6-feet-11, but still growing.
“It’s a nice luxury to have,” Charger coach Brian Lester said, in a bit of an understatement. “Cole is a big kid, but these guys make him look small.”
Roberson and Hoge give the Chargers an advantage unmatched, not only in Class 3A, but statewide.
“We can put a frontcourt out there that teams would have a tough time matching up with,” Lester said, understating yet again.
A year ago, Roberson and Hoge were still learning how to come into their own.
They were tall, but a bit unorthodox, maybe even clumsy. Still, Roberson averaged team-highs in points (13.6), rebounds (11.0) and blocks (5.0).
“He was a good post player last year because he was bigger than everyone else,” Lester said. “But he’s really improved his footwork and post moves. Now, he’s still bigger than everyone else, but he’s got the game to go with it.”
Hoge has completely had to transform his game since he was a 6-foot-2 shooting guard as a freshman.
“When I watched him his seventh through ninth grade years, I thought he was someone who wouldn’t play on varsity until his senior year, and then only be a role player,” Lester said.
Then something happened. By his sophomore year, Hoge was 6-foot-7. As a junior, he’d sprouted to 6-foot-9.
“We saw him last year and said, ‘This guy can really help us out.’”
Roberson and Cooper got most of the offensive touches, but Hoge did the “dirty” work and still managed to average six points and five boards a game.
He admits he’s been a work in progress.
“My sophomore year was tough because I was pretty uncoordinated,” Hoge said. “Last year I was better, but still a little uncoordinated. But I think I’m finally catching up with my body.”
Hoge was one of eight high school seniors to attend last summer’s Pete Newell Big Man Camp in Las Vegas. Its alumni include Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Jermaine O’Neal, among others.
“I learned a bunch of new post moves,” he said. “And I got to play against big guys everyday. Not that I don’t do that in practice with P.J., but it was a different group. It helped me out a lot.”
Lester has had to alter his usual game plan to accommodate his wealth of size.
“I normally like to push the ball and play a lot more man-to-man,” he said. “But with these guys, that doesn’t always play to our strength. We still push it, but we try to do some things to take advantage of them. Defensively, we run a lot more zone. With them, teams don’t do a lot of scoring in the paint.”
The pair has spent the last few summers playing together, honing their own one-two punch.
“If teams try to double one of us, we can dish it down to the other,” Roberson said. “And both of us can hit the mid-range jumper so we can spread a defense out more too.”
With Hoge and Roberson still growing into their bodies, the Chargers finished 17-8 and were one win shy of the state tournament.
This season, they’re back, they’re big, they’re better and they’re hungry.
“We’ve got a lot of expectations,” Roberson said. “I really think we can make a run at winning it all.”
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