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Pat Bethel can look sideways on the Greenback boys basketball team's bench and see plenty of experience. Unfortunately, that will only happen if he looks in the direction of his co-head coach, veteran Ed McCollum.

Looking toward his players, he'll see virtually no varsity experience returning from last year's team, which went 16-12 overall and 8-4 in District 3-A.

In his second year at Greenback and first year as co-head coach, Bethel will have only one returner, senior Mykal Titlow, who earned significant varsity playing time last year on the way to the Region 2-A tournament.

The rest of this year's roster consists of just two other seniors, two juniors and the remainder all sophomores and freshmen.

Bethel and McCollum will start the year as co-head coaches, with Bethel handling the reins of the boys squad while McCollum, who coached both teams last season, focuses on the Lady Cherokees.

Titlow, a 6-foot-4 forward with good leaping ability, is the closest thing to a big man inside and the only name that Bethel is ready to ink in as a starter.

Other seniors are Hunter Burchfield, a 5-foot-10 guard, and Jordan Collis, a 6-foot forward. Collis' brother, Jered Collis, and Michael Kron are the two juniors.

His team's lack of size and experience jive with Bethel's own preference to play an uptempo, fast-paced game whenever possible.

Greenback starts the season with two TSSAA Hall of Champions fundraiser games, which only count in season records if teams win. The Cherokees host Washburn on Nov. 19 to open the 2009-10 campaign, and then travel to Sale Creek on Nov. 20. The regular season begins with a trip to incounty rival Sequoyah on Nov. 23.