HARROGATE, Tenn. –This is part one of a three-part series previewing the 2018-19 Lincoln Memorial men's basketball season. Part one takes a detailed look at the guards that will be roaming the backcourt for the Railsplitters this season. 
 
A quartet of returners headlines a talented but largely inexperienced group of guards for Lincoln Memorial. 
 
Leading that foursome is the lone returning starter from last season's No. 1 nationally ranked squad in redshirt-junior Cornelius Taylor, who was tabbed as a preseason All-South Atlantic Conference first team selection and a preseason All-American by both the DII Bulletin and Street & Smith. 
 
Last season, Taylor started 32 of his 33 appearances and ranked fourth on the team in scoring with 14.5 points per game. In addition to that, the Claxton, Ga., native handed out 128 assists and snagged 34 steals to earn All-SAC second team honors. 
 
A lot of external expectations have been placed on Taylor, who scored a game-high 25 points in the Railsplitters' exhibition loss at Auburn on Friday. But head coach Josh Schertz has put much more manageable expectations on the third-year player that will be working to adjust to a starring role.  
 
"I want him to do two things: I want him to compete and I want him to make the right plays," Schertz said. "If he just competes as hard as he can every single night and he makes the right plays, he's going to be fine. 
 
"It's a little different when you're the first guy on a scouting report. You draw the other team's best defender. He's going to have a lot of gravity in terms of people paying attention to him. He has got to be willing to do things at times that's not going to be validated in the box score." 


 
Along with the return of Taylor, the Railsplitters bring back three role players from last season's squad in swing redshirt-junior Kamaran Calhoun and sophomores Alex Dahling and TJ Harvin. 
 
As one of the most versatile players on the team, Calhoun played an unheralded role for the Railsplitters last season, averaging 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game across 27 appearances. He came up big in a number of spots, most notably in a 19-point performance against Queens in the SAC title game. 
 
Like Taylor, Calhoun will have to shoulder a much larger load for Lincoln Memorial to reach its potential this season. 
 
"We expect a lot from Kam," Schertz said. "He's a guy that is a really sound defender, knows how to play and understands the game at a high level. 
 
"He's going to have to do a lot for us. He's going to play anywhere from three to four positions. He will have a lot on his plate but he's more than capable of that." 
 
Second-year players Dahling and Harvin have made massive strides after a year of seasoning in LMU's system, and that duo will be looked upon to provide an uptick in production this season. 
 
Dahling made 32 appearances last season, including two starts. Over that span, the sharpshooter buried 36 three-pointers on a 42 percent clip and produced four double-digit scoring performances. This offseason, the Cincinnati, Ohio native has worked hard to make himself a more dynamic player. 
 
"He's changed his body. I think he's gotten quicker and more athletic," Schertz said. "He's a guy that compliments the other guys really well because of his ability to shoot. He has almost unlimited the range." 
 
Harvin, meanwhile, made 23 appearances as a freshman, shooting 43 percent from the floor. He will be a valuable commodity for the Railsplitters in his readiness to do whatever is asked of him on a nightly basis. 
 
"He's just a really good player – solid, competes, dependable," Schertz said. "We always talk about the best ability is dependability. TJ is rock solid whether he's playing 30 minutes or 30 seconds."
 
Aside from that quartet of returners, the Railsplitters' backcourt will rely heavily on an influx of players that have never played an official game at Lincoln Memorial. 
 
Redshirt-freshman Cameron Henry is expected to play a massive role for the Railsplitters after spending last season studying the system. At 6-5, Henry is another guard-forward combo that will give Lincoln Memorial options on the court. Henry started in the game at Auburn and played 31 minutes, contributing four points and seven rebounds. 
 
"He is really versatile and can do a lot of things on both ends of the floor," Schertz said of Henry. "He can play make, is a good passer, and has defensive versatility at 6-5. He kind of fits that swing bucket, but he can step out and shoot the ball and rebounds at a good level. Cam is a guy that we expect to have a significant impact."
 
Four first-year guys will also have a chance to play their way into the rotation, most notably Indian River State College transfer Anthony Brown, who scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting in Friday's exhibition at Auburn. A pass-first playmaker, Brown has experience on the big stage as he made 29 appearances at Wisconsin-Green Bay as a freshman.   
 
"He's a guy that will run show for us," Schertz said. "He will play with the ball in his hands a lot." 
 
True freshmen Julius Brown, Courvoisier McCauley and Xavier Bledson will also get opportunities this season. Those three each bring a different dynamic to the Railsplitters' roster. Brown is a speed demon that can play make both offensively and defensively, McCauley is a three-level scorer that can play up and down in the rotation, and Bledson is another swing forward at 6-5 with a unique skillset akin to former All-American Dorian Pinson. 
 
For the four newcomers – Anthony Brown, Julius Brown, McCauley and Bledson – it will be an on-going process to learn the ins and outs of the Railsplitters' system. Coach Schertz knows that steep learning curve will take some time to traverse over the course of the season.    
 
 "All the young guys have to figure out what we are doing systematically on both sides of the ball and get comfortable inside of our system," he said. "We are obviously going to be a work in progress, but those guys all have a lot of talent. I expect all of them to help us and impact us in a positive way this year." 
 
Lincoln Memorial has had four players named to the All-SAC squad in each of the past five seasons. Coach Schertz is hesitant to believe that trend will continue this season, but he does believe that the Railsplitters are as talented from top to bottom as they have ever been. 
 
A high volume of that talent exists in the backcourt, and that group will likely have to carry a heavy burden for the Railsplitters to win their seventh consecutive SAC regular-season title and notch their fifth consecutive 30-win season.  
 
"We don't have four all-league players on this team. We're not as top heavy as we've been, but I do think we have as many good players as we have ever had," Schertz said. "I think the strength of the group is the amount of good players we have. 
 
"The guards are going to have to be good for us, but like I tell them all the time, they just have to do what they do well. Soar with your strengths. Do what you do well and if you impact winning you are going to get opportunities."
 
Part two of the 2018-19 men's basketball season preview will take a look at the forwards.