Mountain West Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2023-24 season
. Falcons . 10. team. 501. .
Joe Scott hasn’t had a winning record as head coach of the Air Force Falcons in 20 years. Granted, he’s had many other jobs since then, but his second stint in charge of the Falcons doesn’t suggest a winning season is on the horizon.
Last year was actually Scott’s best season in Round 2 with Air Force, which doesn’t say a whole lot. The team went 14-18 overall while finishing in 10th place in the Mountain West for the third consecutive season. They achieved that mark with a roster made up almost exclusively of sophomores.
More than a full hand’s worth of players departed in the offseason, including a couple that went to major programs elsewhere: guard Jake Heidbreder (Clemson) and guard Carter Murphy (Georgia Tech).
Forward Rytis Petraitis is back, however, and is coming off a sensational freshman season. He averaged 10.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game last year, finishing second and first on the team, respectively. His scoring total was also the second-best for a freshman in the academy’s history.
Guard Ethan Taylor should be another key contributor. He started all but one game he played in last season, pacing the team in assists for the second straight year. Taylor averaged 7.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game while knocking down 38 percent of his threes.
It’ll help that all of the underclassmen who stuck around after last year will be older and more experienced, providing decent depth. But this is a military school and therefore, one that will always struggle bringing in high-level recruits – this year’s incoming class is no different.
Air Force is endlessly loyal to Scott, and there is a chance the team will finish higher than its solidified 10th place in the Mountain West standings. It’s hard to build a great program at Air Force, however, and that may always be true.
Air Force has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2006. Don’t expect that to change this year.