<body><div>Zak Wolf (@ZakWolf22)(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2026-27 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 1. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season, click here.)~~Head coach vacancies in the Philadelphia Catholic don’t come around often, so when Bill Coleman saw there was an opening at Lansdale Catholic, he jumped at the opportunity. Having coached at Pennsbury for 12 years and Hatboro Horsham for another two, Coleman has plenty of experience in the high school ranks and he “isn’t walking into this blindly.” Colema knows LC has notoriously struggled in the PCL, but he’s hoping to bring stability to the program.“I'm getting older, and you're looking at, ‘Well, how much longer am I going to be doing this for?’” Coleman said. “And you have that opportunity to take advantage of it. So LC opened up and they trust us with the program, and we're looking forward to building that from there.”It would be an understatement to say that making Lansdale Catholic into a winning program is a challenge. The Crusaders have won just 10 league games since 2016, including a winless three-year stretch from 2022-25. A turnaround isn’t going to happen overnight, but doesn’t want LC to be at the foot of the Catholic League standings each season. The Crusaders started showing signs under former head coach Torre Harrison over the past two seasons. LC won its first PCL game in three seasons last year, but Harrison was let go in March. Now it’s Coleman’s job to continue the momentum. The first step for the head coach trying to turn the program around is proving that LC can develop talent for the next level. Although Coleman hasn’t coached Brayden Martin in an official game, the head coach was still crucial in helping the senior wing find a home at Millersville. “We are big on just bringing belief to the kids and having them believe in themselves,” Coleman said. “So we believe in building them up both skill wise and physically, and then going from there. We know that if we take care of the kids, the student athletes that we have, good things can happen.”Martin is Lansdale Catholic’s best returner this season and will be their go-to option on offense. Coleman described him as a three-level scorer that’s also very athletic, adding that at 6-foot-5, Martin will have to be big on the boards for the Crusaders. “He's been a varsity starter all his career, so that experience plays a lot and it should help us navigate some things as we grow,” Coleman said. “Because there's a few seniors, but we're relatively young and inexperienced. So there's going to be a lot of growing pains and he should help with that.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1v5Mdc_1H1BuDTZ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1v5Mdc_1H1BuDTZ00" width="550" height="321" ></figure>Outside of Martin, LC will be relying on multiple players to step into more prominent roles after mostly coming off the bench last season. Six-foot senior guard Danny Hauck is one of them, along with fellow senior Carey Romero, who Coleman praised for his high energy. Cortez Benefield is LC’s marquee underclassman. The sophomore is a talented shooter who can create for himself off the dribble and showed flashes of what he can do as a freshman. The Crusaders have some size in their frontcourt with 6-foot-5 senior Colton McKeogh, whose brother, Grayson is an offensive lineman at Notre Dame. McKeogh will get some rebounding help from 6-foot-7 forward Robert Viola, while 6-foot-4 freshman Blake Hill is another promising underclassman. Depth-wise, LC also added transfer guard Bryson Faust from North Penn.“He's a very good guard that obviously will have to step up his play in PCL,” Coleman said. “But this is what he wanted. When you come to a PCL program, you have to step up your game.”At LC, Coleman wants to make sure he’s taking care of his players while using a system that showcases their talent. It’s about building trust and belief for the players that good things will happen if they stick to the plan. That can be tough at a program like LC since they don’t attract nearly as much talent as their league counterparts. The disparity every year puts the Crusaders at a disadvantage, but for his senior season, hopes to move them in a positive direction.“I mean it takes just confidence honestly,” Martin said. “We’ve been at the bottom of the PCL, but it's just confidence the way everyone carries themselves and you know energy for sure. If we have that intense energy, then I think we'll be really good.”Martin has enjoyed his time with Coleman so far and is especially grateful for helping his recruitment. The senior described Coleman’s style as a “little old school,” but has enjoyed the hard coaching, saying he’s pushed him to the limit and has given him extra confidence through their interactions. The Crusaders will need more than just Martin’s scoring to be competitive in most PCL games. Although in Coleman’s first year in the program, the results might aren’t necessarily the be-all end-all.“A lot of the guys can have egos and be selfish, but they're not,” Coleman added. “They're playing together, and hopefully that continues. So it's been very good. It's been a big positive for us as we've seen since we've taken over May."</div></body>

Block Source: cityofbasketballlove.com

Misinformation

Clickbait

Old or repetitive news

Explicit content

Location not relevant

(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2026-27 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 1. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season, click here.) ~~. Head coach vacancies in...

Prepping for Preps '26-27: Lansdale Catholic (Boys)

NewsBreak

(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2026-27 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 1. 

Prepping for Preps '26-27: Lansdale Catholic (Boys)

Comments