Weatherly didn't have to look far to find its new head basketball coach.

Corey Gerhart, who played for the Wreckers in the mid-1980s, will roam the sideline this season, taking over for longtime varsity head coach Ron Cann.It didn't take much convincing to get Gerhart back on the bench."What brought me back (is) knowing there is a lot of talent here," said Gerhart, who was previously a junior high coach at Weatherly, but took time off after an auto accident. "I got 22 kids coming out this year for the team. We have 22 out of 87 boys on the basketball team here, which is incredible."That was one of the interesting things about coming back. I could see there was a lot of talent. I know all of these kids are good kids. They kind of remind me of my 2002 (undefeated junior high) team - they gel nice, they hang out together. I don't think I've raised my voice one time since we've started practice."Though the program is coming off a 4-18 campaign a year ago, the cupboard certainly isn't bare for Gerhart's first season at the helm, as the Wreckers' roster features several players with varsity experience.Zach Moon returns after leading the team in scoring (9.27 ppg) and three-point field goals (40) last season. He will likely be joined in the backcourt by sophomore Jeremy Moser (2.47 ppg). Another sophomore, Jared Zaremba, who scored 5.5 points per game and hit 19 three-pointers a year ago, also figures to be in the mix in the backcourt rotation.Weatherly will look to 6-1 junior Gary Buck (6.6 ppg, 28 3-pointers), 6-2 senior Zach Peiser (5.5 ppg in 11 games) and 6-3 junior Steph Yurchak to fill out the frontcourt. The trio will need to replace forwards Jake Stover (6.19 ppg) and Dillon Bizarre (2.82 ppg).While returning much of the team's production from a year ago is nice, Gerhart is hoping hustle and a relentless effort will also go a long way toward making the Wreckers contenders."I keep telling these guys to make sure you keep looking in the rear view mirror, because if you don't hustle, there's someone right behind you looking to take your spot," Gerhart commented.And a deeper rotation will give Gerhart options when devising his lineups. Senior Chris Martens (6-6) and junior Austin Koslop (6-2) are likely to play key roles coming off the bench."We are truly comfortable going 10 or 11 deep if we have to," the coach said. "That's huge here at Weatherly."The Wreckers will look to use their size and depth to their advantage when on offense, which Gerhart hopes will open things up on the outside."We've always been a run-and-gun kind of program," Gerhart said. "This year, I think we're going to be able to mix it up with a lot of inside power game."I think we're going to be able to mix it up inside and out, which helps the dynamics of your team."But Gerhart knows that his squad will need stellar defense to move up in the always tough Schuylkill League Division 3."I want to lead the league in fewest points allowed," said Gerhart. "We've tried to set that as one of the goals for these guys to play intense defense."With the start of the season on the horizon, Gerhart is eager to kickoff what he hopes will be a new era in Weatherly basketball."We want to be a lot better than we were last year," noted Gerhart. "We want to be competitive in every game we're in. With the kids we have, I don't think we should struggle reaching a lot of our goals."