WILLIAMS AND
ALEXANDER ARE AMONG FIVE SUSPENDED FOR MIDWEST CITY
High school standouts Shelden Williams and De'Angelo Alexander have been dismissed from the Midwest City (OK) High basketball team and have been suspended from school for 10 days.
Three players, Matthew Kemp, Williams and Alexander, had been accused of rape by a 19-year-old woman, who filed a complaint Jan. 20 in Columbus, Ohio. Two other players are named as witnesses. The teenager said that she would not press charges.
The 6-9 Williams is
ranked College Basketball News’ number six senior and Alexander is #39.
Williams signed with Duke in the early
signing period, while Alexander inked with Oklahoma. Midwest City claimed its second consecutive 6A
title with a 71-61 victory over Putnam City last season. The Bombers have won 43 straight games vs. Oklahoma
schools and were 26-2 last year. They finished sixth in the final USA Today
poll. Midwest City has been ranked No.
1 in 6A all season and has a 9-4 record, with all the losses coming in
out-of-state events against teams ranked in the top 11 nationally, losing to College
Basketball News’ number one team Oak Hill Academy, #2 Dallas Lincoln, #6 New York Rice and #10 Columbus Brookhaven.
Williams was expected to be a McDonald’s All-American, but that has changed since the incident. Duke and Oklahoma have made no comment about the two player’s futures.
Each week, I’ll look at the top ten JC teams in the NJCAA poll with recaps of last week’s games and previews of their upcoming games. We will look at teams 6-10 today. The junior college information will soon be available to subscribers only, so remember to sign-up soon.
A very special thanks to Michael L. Johnson and his Juco Classic News Service, which provides in-depth coverage of NJCAA Division men’s basketball with twice-weekly email updates of what’s happening around the country. For further information, check out his web site at www.jucoclassic.com. It is a must-read for any JC coaches, writers or fans.
#6 San Jacinto (TX) CC
(18-1, 10-1) kept pace in second
place in the conference game, one behind Lon Morris as they defeated Trinity
Valley (7-11, 2-8) 81-77 and Navarro (8-11, 5-6) 120-84.
The Ravens trailed Trinity Valley by six with just over four minutes to go, but
5-10 sophomore Danny Allen and 6-6
sophomore Derick Payne hit
consecutive three-pointers to tie the game. 6-5 freshman Marcus West scored and made his free throw to put them
ahead for good. San Jacinto made four free throws down the
stretch to seal the win. Payne finished with 36 points and eight rebounds and
Allen made all four three-pointers to finish with 16 points. 6-9
sophomore Roberto Morentin had twelve points and West added ten.
Mortentin lead all players with 18
points and nine boards in the win over Navarro. Payne had 17 points and Allen
added 16 points and seven assists. 6-7 freshman Jeff Mailhot had 16 and
West added 15. 6-9 sophomore Pedro Brito and 6-0 freshman Scott Gernander
had ten points each. Gernander is
the son of head coach Ken
Gernander.
Payne is averaging
18.4 points per game. West is scoring 15.4 points and Mortentin is adding 12.5
points and 9.2 rebounds per contest
#7 Dixie State College of Utah (19-2, 8-1) stayed at the
seventh spot after two conference wins. They have won eleven of their last 12
games. They defeated host Ricks
(12-7, 3-5) 69-55 as 6-9 All-American
candidate Jaime Lloreda scored 31 points. They bested North Idaho (14-7, 5-4)
on the road 71-57, holding the Cardinals to 30.4% from the field
(17/56). Lloreda
made eleven of 16 shots from the field and ten of 14 from the charity stripe as
he finished with 32 points. 6-1 sophomore Rod Prater had 15 points and eight rebounds.
Lloreda, who signed with LSU, is averaging 20.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game and Prater is averaging 16.6 points. Prater averaged 21 points per game at Grayson (TX) CC last season, but left for personal reasons. 6-0 sophomore Kevin Woodberry is contributing 10.6 points per game and 6-4 sophomore Al Williams is averaging 11.2 points per game
They face Snow at home on Saturday.
#8 Arizona Western (18-2, 14-1) moved up two spots as
they defeated Central Arizona 71-68 and Yavapai 66-53 and have
won nine straight. Arizona Western led 59-39 with 13 minutes to go, but Central
Arizona cut the lead to two and a last-second three-point fell short. 6-11 center Rafael Araujo, who signed
with BYU in the early signing period, had 34 points and made three of four
three-pointers. 6-6 sophomore Kellan Eckle and 6-1 sophomore Shaun Davis
added twelve points each.
They held Yavapai to
just 32% shooting. Eckle had 19 points and Davis made seven of ten field goals
to finish with 17. 6-6 freshman Danilo Olivino added ten points and five assists.
Araujo is averaging 19.4 points and 11.3 rebounds
per game. Davis is averaging 13.7 points.
#9 South Plains (TX) CC (18-2, 3-1) helped create a four-way tie for first in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference after blowing out league leader Midland (10-9, 3-1) 76-43, ending the Chaparrals’ seven-game win streak. They moved up three spots from #12. The Texans led 35-17 at halftime and held Midland to 29.1% shooting from the field (16/55) They outrebounded Midland 50-30. 6-1 freshman Ridas Globys and 6-7 freshman Guilherme Teichmann each scored twelve points for the Texans. 6-8 freshman Marcus Jackson added ten rebounds and 6-6 sophomore Renaldo Major had ten points.
Major is averaging 14.6 points per game and Jonathan Woods is adding 14.3 points per contest.
They play Howard College at home tonight and at Frank Phillips Monday.
#10 Indian Hills (IA) CC (21-3, 2-0) moved up three
spots as they took over sole possession of first place in Region 11 with a
76-68 road win over Marshalltown (13-9, 0-2).
The Warriors hit seven of eleven three-pointers, including five in a row
by 6-0 freshman Matt Jenkins to build a 31-13 lead with five
minutes left in the opening period. The Warriors led by 17 at halftime and they
did not get within ten until three minutes left in the game. Jenkins
finished with 15 points. 6-6 sophomore Brett Lilly made all seven free
throws as he had 14 points. 7-1 center Chris Alexander had 13 points
and 14 rebounds and 6-5 sophomore Jerome
Harper added twelve points.
6-6 sophomore Marcus Cooke, who missed a week of action due to his late
return from Christmas break, entered the game at the 5:23 mark of the first
half and finished the contest with five points, two rebounds and a pair of
steals.
They also defeated Division II Clinton 95-70
on Monday and William Penn JV 109-66 on Tuesday.
The Warriors starts the season as the number one JC squad after finishing 32-5 last season and fourth in the NJCAA Tournament. They may have had the top freshman class last season and the Warriors are counting on their experience to help them win their fourth title in six years. 6-0 point guard Brandon Brooks averaged 14.5 points per contest last season for the Warriors. However, they got some bad news as Brooks will redshirt after playing in six games this season. He was not fully recovered from offseason knee surgery and will sit out the season and have three years of eligibility remaining. He committed to USC but did not sign with the Trojans in the early signing period. He later announced that he was going to Iowa State and yet another change in plans, left school and enrolled in a junior college in Portland. Brooks later announced that he was going to USC.
6-8 power forward/center J.K. Edwards was not a highly-touted player coming out of Clemmons, North Carolina, but he has been perhaps the most consistent freshman of the group. He chips in 12.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Edwards signed with UNLV. 6-5 swingman Jerome Harper played in the McDonald's All-American game and the Sonny Vaccaro Roundball Classic after his senior season. He signed with Cincinnati before off-the-court problems scared off the Bearcats. He toyed with the idea of turning pro, but decided to go the JC route. Harper chipped in 10.2 points and 4.9 per contest last year. He is averaging 15.2 points per game this season. 7-0 center Chris Alexander was expected to go to prep school, but decided to play for the Warriors. He was slowed by a broken jaw suffered in practice, which hurt his effectiveness the rest of the season. Alexander averaged 7.1 points per game last year and signed with Iowa State. 6-8 forward John Banks and 6-6 swingman Marcus Cooke came off the bench for the Warriors last season, but have the talent to start for most programs. Indian Hills also returns 6-6 sophomore Brett Lilly, a good outside shooter, who started his career at San Jose State. He was expected to enroll at Liberty as a walk-on, but decided to return to Indian Hills. He has emerged with the loss of Brooks and temporary loss of Cooke. The juco powerhouse added 7-0 center Reo Logan. He started his career at Miami of Florida and had planned on transferring to Loyola (IL) before putting his name into the NBA Draft. However, he pulled his name out of the draft and decided to go the juco route.
Indian Hills (IA) CC started the season as the preseason number one JC team as they returned the top sophomore talent in the country. However, the Warriors have lost three games (at Three Rivers (MO) CC, at home versus Division II Spoon River and in a tournament against Daytona Beach (FL) CC) and have slipped to #13 in the nation. J.K. Edwards (who signed with UNLV), Chris Alexander (Iowa State) and sophomore swingman Jerome Harper have been held out of the games for violating team policies regarding practices. Sophomore forward Marcus Cooke finally returned to Ottumwa from his Christmas break trip to his hometown of Concord, North Carolina.
Their main losses are Chauncey Leslie (now with Iowa), Jake Wessel (Cal-Riverside) and Willie McCloud.
The Warriors have excellent balance with four double figure scorers. Cooke is averaging 16.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.1 steals per game. Harper is averaging 15.2 points and 4.0 rebounds. Edwards is contributing 12.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game and Alexander leads the team with 6.9 caroms per contest.
Saturday’s Super SlamFest features some of the top Virginia teams and players. The contests can be heard on broadcastmonsters.com.
The first game matches the Blue Ridge Barons (14-3) versus the Varina Blue Devils at 1:00. Blue Ridge is the two time defending Division 1 VIS champions. They lost three-division one players from last year’s team in Jermaine Harper (Virginia), Kahleaf Watson (Miami of Florida) and David Popoola (Radford). They are 14-3 and are ranked in the top five.
The Barons are led by 6-10 Minnesota signee Aliou Kane. They are also led by 6-5 junior Jelani Lawrence, 6-3 junior Jermone Day, 6-0 sophomore Brandon Freeman, 6-1 senior Jacob Street and 6-2 junior Theo Jefferson. Blue Ridge is fourth in the Virginia Independent Schools Division I poll.
Varina is led by Virginia Tech signee Markus Sailes and guards Tee Rogers and Brian Henderson. The Blue Devils are ranked No.6 in The Times-Dispatch Prep Poll.
The second game matches the Salem Sun Devils against the Cave Springs Knights at 3:00. This contests was expected to features two of the top guards in the country in future ACC rivals, John Gilchrist (Maryland) and J.J. Redick (Duke). Unfortunately, Redick has missed the past two games, both losses, with an injured right foot and his status is up in the air. Cave Springs is 7-7 this year. 6-0 junior Adam Trumbower is expected back from an ankle injury. 6-1 junior Andrew Davison and 6-3 Tom Hagan are among the team’s top players.
Salem is 13-4 and 5-0 in the conference. They expanded their Beach District to 60 straight games last night as Gilchrist scored 29 points in their overtime win over Floyd E. Kellam. Salem is the AAA defending state champions. 6-6 Paul Johnson is another standout for the Sun Devils.
Those two contests will be held at the Robins Center. The final three games will take place at Douglas Freeman High School.
The 5:15 contest will feature the Roanoke Catholic Celtics versus Patrick Henry Patriots. Roanoke Catholic is paced by junior J.R. Reynolds, who has committed to Virginia.
The Nansemond-River Warriors face the Highland Spring Springers at 7:00. Nansemond-River is led by sophomore guard Marquie Cooke, who is considered among the top 30 sophomores in the country. Backcourt mate Keith Artis was an All-City selection choice last season. They are off to a 14-0 start.
Floyd E. Kellam Knights will meet the host Douglas S. Freeman Rebels at 8:45. Kellam is 12-3 and are led by 5-11 senior Rexson Kenley, 5-11 Marques Fitch and 6-2 junior Randy Bell.
Yesterday, there were reports that Anthony Roberson of Saginaw (MI) High had broken his ankle and was out for the season. However, the reports were false. Roberson made my list of likely McDonald’s All-Americans to play in the annual contest in April. Roberson was having an outstanding senior campaign. He broke his own school scoring record, knocking down 46 points in Saginaw High's 98-71 Saginaw Valley League win on the 18th over Flint Northwestern. Roberson scored 20 points in their 76-70 win over Flint Central on Friday and 21 in their 86-62 win over Warren DeLaSalle. Roberson signed with Florida in the early signing period and he is ranked as College Basketball News’#8 player in the country. He was also expected to play in the SonnyVaccaro EA Sports Roundball Classic held March 26th at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Saginaw is off to a 10-1 start and plays Midland Dow on Friday.
Each week, I’ll look at the top ten JC teams in the NJCAA poll with recaps of last week’s games and previews of their upcoming games. We will look at the top five picks today and teams 6-10 tomorrow. The junior college information will soon be available to subscribers only, so remember to sign-up soon.
A very special thanks to Michael L. Johnson and his Juco Classic News Service, which provides in-depth coverage of NJCAA Division men’s basketball with twice-weekly email updates of what’s happening around the country. For further information, check out his web site at www.jucoclassic.com. It is a must-read for any JC coaches, writers or fans.
The top four teams remained the same, but previous number one San Jacinto (TX) CC dropped from number five to six as Coffeyville (KS) CC moved up to #5.
#1 Wabash Valley College (18-1, 5-0 in conference play) won their tenth and
eleventh straight games as they defeated visiting Olney Central (13-6, 2-2)
70-65 and Kaskaskia (9-9, 0-5) 97-76 on the road. Wabash trailed Olney Central
33-23 at halftime, but 6-4 sophomore made a three-pointer and dunk to put the
Warriors up 59-56, a lead that they would never lose. 6-6 sophomore Herman Davis had 17 points and twelve rebounds. 6-7 sophomore Larry Brown
scored 13 of his 15 in the second half and 6-1 sophomore Jon Hollingsworth made all
six free throws to finish with ten points.
6-3 sophomore C.J. Hill, 6-3 scored 20 points in the win over
Kaskaskia. Davis had 18 points and 6-5 freshman Quinnel Brown had eleven.
They are scoring 90.8 points per game and allowing just 72.1 points per contests. Wabash Valley finished 36-1 last season and won their first NJCAA Championship. Head coach Jay Spoonhour left to become an assistant under his dad, Charlie, at UNLV. Mark Nelson left Cowley County (KS) CC to take over the program, giving the Warriors their third head coach in as many years. They are led by NJCAA Tournament MVP Antwain Barbour. The Kentucky signee scored 92 points in the four tournament games, third best. Barbour was the only JC player invited to the U.S. Trials in Colorado Springs in June and he made the U.S. national team. Barbour recently committed to Kentucky, but there has been some talk of him exploring the NBA Draft. He will take a bigger scoring and leadership load with the loss of All-American Darren Tarver (who signed with George Mason), Hiram Fuller (Fresno State), Omari Westley (transferred to Barton County (KS) CC) and Chaz Briggs (West Virginia).
Wabash Valley play at Lincoln Trail Thursday and at John A.
Logan on Saturday
#2 Lon Morris (19-0, 11-0) retained the
second-longest undefeated streak in the NJCAA with an 89-62 win over Paris (13-5, 5-5) at home and an 85-72 road
victory over Blinn (6-10, 3-8). Baylor signee 6-7
Terrance Thomas had 14 points and 14 rebounds against Blinn. Thomas finished
with 21 points and twelve rebounds against Paris. 6-5 freshman Aaron Curtis
had 19 points and 6-10 freshman Diego
Romero, originally of
Argentina added 15. 6-3
freshman Edgar Moreno from Columbia
and 6-4 sophomore Luke MacKay contributed ten points each.
Thomas is averaging 21.6 points and 10.5 rebounds per game Curtis is averaging 17.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and Moreno is contributing 13.3 points per contest. Romero is scoring 12.6 points per contest.
#3 Schoolcraft College extended the season’s longest win streak to 20 games without a defeat as they defeated Division II St. Clair County 96-74 and Division II Alpena 110-52 on the road. 6-7 sophomore Mike Williams scored 26 and 25 points in the two wins. 6-8 sophomore Yaku Morton-Spruill added 22 and 14 points for Ocelots. 6-7 sophomore Delvar Barrett and 6-0 sophomore Javon Clark, 6-0 added 14 points each in the win over Alpena
6-7 sophomore Mike Williams is averaging 23.0 points and 10.7 rebounds per game, second in both categories among Michigan players. 6-0 sophomore Javon Clark is adding 14.1 points per contest and Yaku Morton-Spruill is averaging 14.5 points per game. Schoolcraft leads the country in scoring margin, winning by an average of 36.4 points per game. They are holding their opposition to just 64.4 points per game, lowest mark in the nation and are scoring 96.3 points, seventh best. They play at Delta Wednesday and face Kirtland at home Saturday.
Schoolcraft made its first ever NJCAA tournament last season as they finished 32-4. They lost Sam Hoskin, who is at DePaul and Derrick Bird, who is with Auburn.
#4
Okaloosa-Walton Community College (19-2, 4-1) took over sole possession of
first place in the Panhandle Conference after a 76-65 road win over Gulf Coast
(12-11, 1-4). 6-6 freshman Donell Taylor had 14 points and four steals for the
Raiders. 6-6 freshman Michael
Phillips, 6-9 sophomore Kei Madison and 6-5
freshman Ronell Taylor each had eleven points. The highly-touted Madison added
15 rebounds, five blocked shots and two steals.
The Raiders have seven double figure scorers, led by 6-9 sophomore Kei Madison who is averaging a team-high 14.4 points and 11.7
rebounds per game. They face Chipola (16-7) Wednesday and Pensacola
(16-6) Saturday, both at home.
#5 Coffeyville (KS) CC (19-1, 8-0) moved up three spots as they defeated Division II #6 Johnson County 93-71 and Neosho County 93-79 on the road. 6-5 sophomore Steve Smith had 24 points against Neosho and 6-7 sophomore Marvin Black added 17. 6-3 sophomore Griffin Walker had 16 and 6-6 freshman Devin Smith scored twelve.
The Red Ravens have won twelve straight and are 7-0 against team that were in the poll or received votes when they faced them. They are scoring 87.3 points per game and allowing just 66.9 points per contest.
Devin Smith is averaging 16.1 points per game, eleventh best in the Jayhawk Conference and 6.3 boards. Steve Smith is averaging 16.1 points per game and Marvin Black is contributing 14.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest.
The Red Ravens face Fort Scott (10-10) on Thursday and Cowley County (10-10) on Saturday. Both games are on the road.
The following is a look at the NJCAA Top 20.
|
Rank |
College |
Record |
Location |
Previous |
|
1 |
Wabash Valley College |
19-1 |
Mt. Carmel, IL |
1 |
|
2 |
Lon Morris College |
19-0 |
Jacksonville, TX |
2 |
|
3 |
Schoolcraft College |
20-0 |
Livonia, MI |
3 |
|
4 |
Okaloosa-Walton Community College |
19-2 |
Niceville, FL |
4 |
|
5 |
Coffeyville Community College |
19-1 |
Coffeyville, KS |
8 |
|
6 |
San Jacinto College-Central |
18-1 |
Pasadena, TX |
5 |
|
7 |
Dixie State College of Utah |
19-2 |
St. George, UT |
7 |
|
8 |
Arizona Western College |
18-2 |
Yuma, AZ |
10 |
|
9 |
South Plains College |
19-2 |
Levelland, TX |
12 |
|
10 |
Indian Hills Community College-Ottumwa |
20-3 |
Ottumwa, IA |
13 |
|
11 |
Southern Union State Community College |
20-1 |
Wadley, AL |
11 |
|
12 |
Allegany College of Maryland |
18-2 |
Cumberland, MD |
6 |
|
13 |
College of Southern Idaho |
18-3 |
Twin Falls, ID |
9 |
|
14 |
Jackson State Community College |
16-1 |
Jackson, TN |
19 |
|
15 |
North Dakota State College of Science |
22-1 |
Wahpeton, ND |
17 |
|
16 |
Georgia Perimeter College |
18-2 |
Dunwoody, GA |
20 |
|
17 |
Globe Institute of Technology |
16-3 |
New York, NY |
18 |
|
18 |
Moberly Area College |
18-4 |
Moberly, MO |
14 |
|
19 |
Eastern Wyoming College |
19-3 |
Torrington, WY |
NR |
|
20 |
Spartanburg Methodist College |
18-4 |
Spartanburg, SC |
NR |