WNCC men's basketball opens practice

After just one day of practice for the Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team, first-year coach Brian Joyce loves that enthusiasm and work ethic that he sees with his 17 players.

“No question it [the play of the guys] will be intense. That is what our teams have been known for in the past, and I don’t think that will be no different here,” Joyce said. “There will be natural adjustments that guys will have and everybody has to adjust to the new situation. In terms of the intensity, the effort and the energy, I am very confident that will be seen.”

The Cougar men and women officially started practice Monday in preparation of the coming season. And, for the first day, Joyce was pleasantly pleased with the performance his team put forth.

“I thought practice was great for the first day,” he said. “Obviously, there was a lot of teaching going on because there are not a lot of guys returning or what I am wanting of guys. So, the first day there is a lot of starting and stopping. I don’t like that, but that is the reality of the situation.”

The Cougar men are building for their season- and home-opener on Nov. 2 and 3 when they host the Cougar Tournament. “They are excited for the season,” Joyce said. “I think they are tired, even now, of playing against each other and that is a challenge. When you always go against each other, you start to get frustrated with each other.”

What this year’s team will bring to the court is a passion for the game. Practices have been intense with an up-beat atmosphere. In fact, that is Joyce’s style of game and that style brought Joyce success when he was the assistant and head coach at Northeastern Junior College for seven years helping them to 171 wins, including two regional titles.

Joyce said the components are there to bring WNCC back to the top.

"I know this region from playing in it and I think our pieces are at a level that we need to be at right now to be competitive in the region,” he said. “How we put it together will be the difference in how good we will be.”

Joyce is also instilling plenty of positive goals among his team, such as building off the success of this year’s volleyball team.

“Obviously with volleyball and the fall sports like soccer and fall baseball and softball, I think people get rived up to what is going on here,” he said. “When your program in the fall is No. 1 in the country, how can you not get excited. I know it excites me and I have been talking to our team about that and how proudly we are of what they have accomplished and hopefully we can piggy-back off that in terms of the excitement enthusiasm and make it a team effort for everyone.”

WNCC returns just three players from last year’s team in Doradji Wilson, DaRon Kirkendoll and David Busman, while the rest of the players are all newcomers to the program.

The freshmen include 6-foot-1 Kelvin Franklin of Aurora, Colo.; 6-3 Oscar Cartwright and 6-5 Ivan Johnson of Dallas, Texas; 6-5 Lloyd Hickinson of Chandler, Ariz.; 5-11 Jamie Eisinger and 6-4 Drew Eisinger of Mill Creek, Wash.; 6-1 Bernie Agnew of Columbus, Ohio; 6-3 Terrell Eaddy of Bronx, NY; 6-9 Tearon Hill of Carrollton, Texas; 6-8 Terrell Price of Cedar Hill, Texas; 6-5 Chris Hamblin of St. Paul, Minn.; 6-0 Daniel Smith of Baltimore, Md.; 6-2 Scott Barnforth of Albuquerque, NM; 6-2 Devin West of Phoenix, Ariz.; and 5-10 Greg Hinkle of Scottsbluff.

Joyce said so far the community has embraced him and his players. He fields questions about how good the team will be and he tells them other teams will know who Western Nebraska is.

“A significantly number of people has asked me about the men’s team and that is exciting,” he said. “Obviously, everyone is excited but there are a lot of things that need to work out and that is a long way off to where we are right now. I don’t mind the lofty goals, but the reality is this is a new group, with very few returning, and it takes time to build each piece of the puzzle. I think we will move in the right direction.

“All we can worry about is us and not worry about those rankings, they take care of themselves as time goes on. Once we get going, people will know we are here and now Western Nebraska will be a tough game for them.”

Joyce, who was hired in May as the men’s basketball coach, after spending one year as an assistant at Colorado State University, believes the future is bright for Cougar basketball.

“I am excited to be here and hopefully we will put something out there that will be quality enough that people will want to take ownership in it,” he said. “It may take a little time, but we are putting things in place to try to get us there.”