AFA basketball: Promising Class of 2012 has had tough year

During Air Force’s disastrous 2008-09 men’s basketball season, a promising freshman class offered a glimmer of hope for the future.

Six players combined to play 125 games and make 30 starts. And the class seemed to include a future star (Trevor Noonan) and cornerstones at center (Sammy Schafer), small forward (Taylor Stewart) and point guard (Shawn Hempsey).

The group even drew comparisons to Air Force’s Class of 2007 (Jacob Burtschi, Matt McCraw, Danny Nwaelele and others) that keyed the program’s rise to dizzying heights.

“I love the freshmen,” an optimistic athletic director Hans Mueh said before the 2009 conference tournament.

Since the end of last season, however, the Class of 2012 has provided mostly heartbreak.

“We had high hopes too,” Hempsey said. “But it just fell apart, man.”

It started to fall apart late last March, when Noonan – who would have been the best player on the current roster – decided to leave the academy. Athletic 6-foot-3 guard Brandon Provost followed him during the summer. And guard Scott Stucky – who missed all of 2008-09 campaign with a torn ACL – reinjured his knee in the offseason and was lost for all of 2009-10. Then sharpshooting guard Jon Atkins decided with coaches he should sit out to concentrate on academics.

“After the season was over, it just seemed like a domino effect – just one-by-one,” Hempsey said. “That was real hard on me, too, because they were all my closest friends.”

Schafer then suffered a concussion in the third game of the season and hasn’t played since – he’s still suffering from headaches and other post-concussion symptoms. And Stewart missed 13 games with a broken wrist and has played just 6.5 minutes in the four games since returning to the lineup. Hempsey has played, but only sparingly, as he’s been passed by freshman Todd Fletcher and lost minutes to senior Avery Merriex.

Heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale against San Diego State, the Class of 2012 has combined to play 432 minutes, down from 1,162 a season ago. And it has scored just 93 points, grabbed 56 rebounds and handed out 32 assists – down from 248, 168 and 85, respectively, last season.

“We lost some talent when some of those guys left,” senior Mike McLain said. “And Sammy being hurt, and Taylor being hurt some of the season hurts us. And Jon being out. … There’s no way to say that we’re as good as we could have been with them.”

Class of 2012’s Sophomore Jinx
The group of freshmen that showed so much promise in 2008-09 has not contributed nearly as much a season later. Defections, injuries and other issues have devastated the production of what was supposed to be a stellar sophomore class.

2008-09 Season
Player; GP-GS; Min-Avg; Pts-Avg; Reb-Avg; A-T; B-S
G Jon Atkins; 12-0; 67-5.6; 14-1.2; 15-1.3; 5-5; 0-2
Flashed perimeter shooting ability, making 3-of-7 3-pointers (42.9 percent, second-best on team)

G Shawn Hempsey; 16-6; 155-9.7; 18-1.1; 15-0.9; 9-10; 2-4
With basketball savvy and heady play, showed potential to be Falcons’ point guard of the future

F Trevor Noonan; 25-0; 241-9.6; 58-2.3; 45-1.8; 23-18; 6-7
Massive talent emerged late in the season, scoring 19 points with 11 rebounds in last two regular-season games

G Brandon Provost; 18-3; 100-5.6; 2-0.1; 6-0.3; 0-4; 1-0
Struggled mightily with shooting, but with size (6-foot-3, 188 pounds) and strength was a capable defender

C Sammy Schafer; 23-11; 138-13.8; 65-2.8; 39-1.7; 24-19; 9-4
High-energy and popular with fans, Schafer appeared to be potential cornerstone at center

G/F Taylor Stewart; 31-10; 461-14.9; 91-2.9; 48-1.5; 24-35; 2-10
Showed promise as a defender and slashing scorer; played sixth-most minutes on team

G Scott Stucky; N/A
Tore his ACL during the first weekend of practice and missed the entire season

TOTALS: 125-30; 1,162; 248; 118; 85-91; 20-29


2009-10 Season
Player; GP-GS; Min-Avg; Pts-Avg; Reb-Avg; A-T; B-S
G Jon Atkins; N/A
Sitting out the season to concentrate on academics; expected to return next season

G Shawn Hempsey; 20-0; 153-7.7; 22-1.1; 16-0.8; 17-10; 0-5
Fell behind freshman Todd Fletcher and has played almost only garbage minutes in MWC games

F Trevor Noonan; N/A
The most talented player in the class transferred to DU and is sitting out this season

G Brandon Provost; N/A
Transferred to Texas-Pan American during the offseason

C Sammy Schafer; 3-3; 66-22.0; 22-7.3; 13-4.3; 3-3; 1-1
Has been out since the third game of the season with post-concussion symptoms

G/F Taylor Stewart; 15-7; 213-14.2; 49-3.3; 27-1.8; 12-17; 0-1
Missed 13 games with broken wrist; has averaged just 6.5 minutes in four games since return

G Scott Stucky; N/A
After having reconstructive knee surgery, he re-tore his ACL during a summer workout

TOTALS: 38-10; 432; 93; 56; 32-30; 1-7