VIDEO: New Coach Joe Urmann Previews Highlanders Boys Hoops

is getting comfortable in purple and white, and he's spending the preseason this year getting his players comfortable with him.

Urmann, formerly an assistant varsity coach and head junior varsity coach with Mt. Lebanon High School boys basketball, begins his first season as a head varsity coach when his squad plays in a tournament at on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9 and 10.

The Baldwin-Whitehall School Board hired Urmann in September, this year, to take over Baldwin High's boys program from , who was removed as the head coach in June after nine seasons.

Baldwin's boys went 9-13 overall during the 2010-11 season, including a 4-10 record in Section 4 of the WPIAL's AAAA, or highest, classification.

Section 4 is considered to be one of the WPIAL's premier sections and includes perennial powers , Mt. Lebanon and high schools, all of which advanced to the PIAA playoffs in 2011. (Urmann helped Mt. Lebanon to a runner-up finish in that state tournament.)

Other Section 4 teams include , , Bethel Park and high schools.

Baldwin did not qualify for the postseason in 2011 but returns leading scorer Charlie Wallander as one of its seniors this go-around. Wallander, a 6-foot-3 guard/forward, averaged around 14 points per game this past season.

Also back are another standout guard/forward in Jordan Hartman, a 6-foot-4 senior; and Eric Michalski, a 6-foot-2 senior guard who did not play basketball as a junior but was with the Highlanders hoops team in 2009-10. Michalski was an all-WPIAL soccer honoree this past fall.

Urmann expects leadership this season from Wallander, Hartman, Michalski and the team's other upperclassmen. He also sees lots of promise in 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Arnes Bajgora, who was on the team as a freshman, as well.

Urmann and Wallander conducted interviews with the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch on Wednesday during a team practice session, and each spoke about what lies ahead of them this coming season, including adjusting to a new head coach.

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