The Cougar men, who finished 25-7 a year ago, will take on the College of Eastern Utah at 7 p.m. in each team’s season0-opener. Eastern Utah was 25-7 a year ago. Tuesday’s night is also Pack the Palace night with $1 admission.
Beck, who is beginning his first season as the head coach at WNCC, said the team is ready to go.
“I believe we are ready to go. We had a great week of practice last week. We are starting to focus on some things in terms of team rebounding that will help us. As long as we do the things that we have been practicing and being who we are, we have an excellent chance of winning this ball game. “
The players, themselves, couldn’t be more excited to get on the court.
“They are excited. They gained a little bit of confidence out there at the Jamboree [in October],” Beck said. “They realized a bunch of things they need to work on out there. I think everyone is excited. More and more guys are getting into the gym to get in extra shots.
WNCC brings plenty of talent into the season. The Cougars return pre-season NJCAA All-American candidate Scott Bamforth and Francisco Cruz. The two combined for over 1,100 points and over 80 3-pointers a year ago. Bamforth was a third team pre-season all-American.
Beck said while Bamforth and Cruz are the “headliners” on this year’s team, there is plenty of supporting cast members.
“I think the fans are familiar enough with Scott and Francisco to know they are a huge part of what we want to do,” Beck said. “But, other guys that will have an impact include Geoffrey Firmin at the point to take some burden off of Scott bringing the ball up the floor. Geoff really showed us at the Casper Jamboree that he is capable of running this team.
“Geddes Robinson and Brylle Kamen are two guys that transferred into the program and should be huge on the block and to battle and defend and score when needed. Those are the main guys right now, along with an O’Rion Hughes off the bench that we hope to be really productive for us.”
Firmin is a 6-2 redshirt freshman from Brussels, Belgium, while the 6-7 Kamen and 6-5 Robinson are transfers from Jacksonville State. Hughes is a 6-3 forward/guard from Aurora, Colo.
Other players on the team include returners 6-2 Saul Torres, 6-7 Ritchie Mundende, and 6-1 Mateus Chaves. Torres saw action last season for the Cougars, while Mundende and Chaves red-shirted.
Other players include Joe Stock, a 6-0 guard from Thibodaux, La., Kwame Alexander, a 6-7 transfer from Irviine Valley College, Dustin Murray, a 6-0 guard from Wilson, N.C., and Al-Akeem Watson, a 6-8 center from Newark, N.J.
Eastern Utah head coach Chris Craig is in his third-year. Craig played at Arizona Western and then professionally in Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and Mexico.
Beck knows this could be one of the Cougar’s toughest games of the year.
“They may be the best team we will play all year,” Beck said. “Sometimes you may look at that and think it is unfortunate that we play them the first two games of the year, but I think in the long run, it is very beneficial to our team. Win or lose, you will now where you are at. They were 25-7 last year and they have numerous kids that have transferred into the program. They are as good of a team that we will see on our schedule this year.”
Beck said the key to victory will be battling on the boards and taking care of the ball.
“They are a team that will be significantly bigger than us and probably deeper than us on the bench. They have a very athletic tea,” he said. “So, competing with them on the rebounding category is very key. Limiting our turnovers and making sure we hit our free throws are also very large keys for us. We really just need to focus on executing our game plan and controlling the tempo. They are a team that wants to get a lot of possessions so we need to limit their amount of possessions in the game, and at the same time, we need to take care of the ball and take the best shot that we can get. “
After Tuesday’s season opener, the Cougars will travel to Price, Utah, to face the College of Eastern Utah. WNCC will then spend back-to-back weekends at the Air Force Prep for different tournaments before returning home for the Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 27-28
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