The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team has plenty of enthusiasm for the upcoming season and it is justified after how they performed in two pre-season jamborees the Cougars participated in during October.
“The jamborees were an exciting thing for our team,” WNCC third-year head coach Russ Beck said. “It has been nice to see the camaraderie that we have. We have a very close group and they play very hard for each other on the floor and they cheer hard for each other when they are on the bench. That is nice to see that kind of family and the focus that our team has. We had a lot of success in the jamborees, going 9-2. The two games we lost was to CSI by three points and we had a double-digit lead on them and CSI is number one ranked in the country. The other game we lost was to Laramie County. Different guys have stepped up in different games.”
WNCC competed at jamborees in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Casper, Wyo., At the Casper scrimmages, the Cougars defeated all four teams, including defending Region IX champions Western Wyoming Community College.
What beck likes about this team is exciting to be around with their athleticism.
“It is a fun team and I enjoy coaching them,” Beck said. “We do have a lot of depth and our depth will continue to get better.”
Depth is definitely a plus for a team that went 18-14 a year ago. The Cougars return four players that started at various time a year ago in Raul Delgado (6-2 of Chihuahua, Mexico), Mike Peltz (6-2 from Alliance), Brady Mason (6-1 from American Fork, Utah), and Marko Kovacevic (6-11 of Serbia). The Cougars also return red-shirt freshman Allen Beck, a 6-5 wing player from Alpine, Utah.
The Cougars’ depth was solidified by two transfers. Terrance Motley, a 6-7 forward from Phoenxi, Ariz., joined the team last spring after playing a semester at Williston State; while DuVaughn Maxwell is a 6-7 forward from Petersburg, Virg. Maxwell played at High Point University.
Beck said these sophomores know what it takes to win.
“We have a solid foundation and great expectations in terms of the way we play, and the focus we need to have when we step on the floor,” he said. “We have talked about that every time we step onto the Cougar Palace floor. There has been plenty of great players that have played here before us and we always want to give our best effort when we step on the floor in showing the proper respect to those that played and coached before us.”
Added to the talented returning and transfer list is a group of freshmen that have stepped forward. The newcomers include Tahir Little (5-10 from Richmond, Virg.), Cal McCoy (5-9 from Omaha), Mason Smith (6-5 from Alpine, Utah), Sebastian Suarez (6-4 from Chile), Cody Johnson (6-10 from Salt Lake City), Raaquim Brown (6-9 from Omaha), and Marcus Johnson (6-10 from Grantsville, Utah).
WNCC will open its season Nov. 4-5 at Williston State College before returning home for the home opener Nov. 11-12 with the WNCC Classic. Beck said he hopes the team is ready to go.
“Time will tell if the team is ready to go,” he said. “We have been putting in the work to be prepared and it was nice to get a little preview of them at the Casper Jamboree. Williston has 13 freshmen and two sophomores so they are very similar to what we were last year with a freshmen-dominated roster. They are smaller then us, but they definitely play hard. They have a few guys that can really shot it. It will be a tough game because anytime you travel nine hours to Williston, we can’t let it be a close game coming down the stretch. We have to handle our business from the jump and really use our size to our advantage and execute our offense. We put on a lot of ball pressure and we are very aggressive defensively and we have to make sure we don’t foul as much.
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