When the North Putnam boy's basketball team hits the hardwood this season, they will do so with a team that features quite a bit of experience under head coach Vincent Brooks. 

"We return all but one player from last year's 16-10 team, so we believe this team has great potential," Brooks told The Putnam County Post. 

A season ago, the Cougars played well on the defensive end, as North Putnam allowed the fewest points per game in school history. 
However, they struggled, at times, on the other end of the floor. 

"Our greatest weakness last year was our three point shooting. We did a great job improving that this summer and look forward to continued work for more improvement," Brooks said. 

Leading the way for the Cougars this season will be senior Nolan Hackleman, who averaged 11.3 points per game last season. Joining him will be: senior Brady Barber, who averaged 6.8 points; senior Jaylen Windmiller, who averaged 5.2 points; senior Matt Farrington, who averaged 3.8 points; and junior Kaden Helderman, who averaged 8.9 points.

Brooks believes his team has the ability of making some serious noise this season, which opens on the road Nov. 21 at Southmont. The Cougars open the season with road dates to Southmont, South Putnam, Edgewood and Sullivan before hosting Parke Heritage on Dec. 9.

"Adding improved three point shooting to a similar defensive effort from last year will put us in a position to win a lot of games," Brooks said.