What's "Next"?

The Seneca Valley boys' basketball team had T-shirts printed up with the word "Next" on the back.

"We want to take the next step this season," Raiders coach Victor Giannotta explained.

The Raiders have taken a step up during each of their previous recent seasons.

During Giannotta's first four seasons as coach, Seneca Valley has seen its win total increase from three to six to 13 to 17, its regular-season record gradually improving from 3-21 to 17-7.

During that time, the Raiders have gone from a program that had only qualified for the WPIAL playoffs once during the previous 23 years to one that has made the postseason two seasons in a row.

"Ever since 'Coach G' and his staff came here, they've really turned this thing around," forward/guard C.J. Brown said. "All the credit goes to those guys. We're just here to play basketball, and they tell us what to do.

"As seniors, we want to keep this new tradition going and pass it on to the next guys. We're building a foundation that hasn't always been here. It's important that the program keep going, stay at a high level and get to an even higher level."

Although three key contributors from a team that was runner-up in Section 3-AAAA last season have departed, several players who got significant playing time are back for a season that tips off Friday.

Chief among them is Brown, a 6-foot-4 University of Maryland football recruit who averaged a team-high 12.5 points per game last season.

"He's a returning all-section player, so obviously [the offense] goes through him," Giannotta said. "He's good enough to where I think other guys get a chance to step up. Other teams gear their defenses to stopping C.J. He'll do whatever it takes to win; if that's 10 assists or 10 points or 10 rebounds, he doesn't care. Having him on the floor is going to open things up a little more for everyone else."

Senior guard Dan Rohm and junior guard Nate Herman also started last season, and senior forward/center Matt Vogt, sophomore guard Evan Mitro, senior guard Dustin Anewalt and junior guard Joe Belechak will also be part of the rotation again, with sophomore guard Christian Durbin joining that group in about a month. Durbin was injured a few weeks ago and Giannotta is hopeful he will be back in time for section play.

"That's eight solid players there," Giannotta said.

A tall group, too. Vogt is 6-5, Brown and Mitro 6-4, Herman, Belechak and Anewalt 6-2 and Rohm stands 6 feet. Many can handle the ball and shoot the 3-pointer effectively. Giannotta said there is no true point guard and that he trusts virtually any of his players to play on the perimeter.

"We have so many guys on the team who can play any position on the floor," Brown said. "They can handle the ball, be a '5,' be a '1,' match up with anyone. Our versatility this year will make us a difficult team to match up against and play."

In addition to Brown, Anewalt is also going to play college football, and Giannotta said Herman is getting looked at by Division I schools for basketball. The coach also said that Rohm could play at the Division III level and that the two sophomores also have opportunities to develop into college-level players.

It's clear the talent level at Seneca Valley is on the rise.

"My philosophy was to change the attitude of the program, which I think we have," Giannotta said. "If you look at our schedule, I don't know anybody in the WPIAL wants to trade their schedule with ours. Central Catholic, NA, Butler -- our section is tough. Then non-conference there's Oliver, Perry, Moon, Aliquippa, Penn Hills ...

"We're at a point now where we want to get into the playoffs and go a little deeper than usual. The last couple years, we've been bounced in the first round -- we won a 'play-in' game once. We're going to play the best schedule we can, which will benefit us if we get into the playoffs."