Billy Hallman will finally get his chance.

Following a seven-year stint as an assistant coach on the Northwestern girls team behind Chris Deutsch, Hallman is days away from making his long-awaited debut on the boys' front.

With the amount of upperclassmen returning for Northwestern, Hallman and the Tigers will rely on eight returning seniors, 10 in all, to lead this pack in the upcoming months following last season's 2-14 mark in the Colonial League.

Of those 10 seniors, Hallman is looking at a number of them in particular to not only produce on the court, but also be a steady presence in the locker room.

"I've been relying on them all offseason," Hallman said. "Even the last couple of weeks right before tryouts and the last week-and-a-half after we got started. Josh [Williamson] has been really key for us. Another senior, Matt Archer, who was there when the football guys weren't, has stepped up and took a big leadership role for us."

Football players Williamson, Cam Richardson and Taylor Breininger are all seniors returning after solid basketball seasons in 2014. Senior Jordan Storm, a football lineman, was injured for nearly all of last season and will return to the Tigers' frontcourt this season.

"We've get a lot of guys back," Hallman said. "Of the 10 seniors, five of them we are relying on heavily to do some stuff for us this year. There are some underclassmen that are definitely stepping up.

"He [Storm] had a wrist injury that kept him out most of the season. I believe he only played in one game last year."

The only two graduates from last season were forwards Collin Breidinger and Kevin Markovitch, resulting in a roster this year that has plenty of varsity experience.

"Those were two inside guys," Hallman said. "With Jordan coming back healthy, and Taylor ready to step in, I think those guys are ready to fill in for those two guys that left."

Besides a heavy senior-laden class, Hallman has a number of underclassmen ready to step into key roles. Juniors Brady Mengel and Parker Jones are back to provide solid depth in the backcourt.

There is no question the Tigers' roster is full of athletes. Richardson is a speedster on the Northwestern football team and a District 11 track champion. He is one of many two- or three-sport athletes on the team.

The Tigers will use athleticism in the open court rather than settling down the offense in a half-court game.

"That is our biggest advantage-getting up and down the floor," Hallman said. "We do not want to get in a half-court game at all. We need to use our athleticism to our advantage and keep the tempo up, both offensively and defensively."

The Tigers have not qualified for the District 11 tournament since 2008 to be exact. In Hallman's first year, Northwestern has goals of reaching postseason play once again.

"We set one goal this year, and that is to play more than 22 games," Hallman said. "They felt like they were really close last year.

"I watched all of the games from last year. I agree with them. They were close. Their record didn't show it, but I've seen enough of the Colonial League games that we can definitely compete with everybody. It's just going to be little things that hopefully we can clean up this year to take the next step."

The Tigers travel to Wilson High School on Friday to take on the Warriors in their annual Tip-Off Tournament.