WNCC men's basketball team inks guard, center

               The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team added some more depth with two more signings in the past week.

               Last week, the Cougars inked 6-foot-10 Chad Calcaterra of Cloquet, Minn., who transferred from Colorado State University. Thursday, the Cougars then inked one of the top guards in the nation in 6-1 Willie Mangum of John Marshall High in Richmond, Virg.

               Mangum averaged 20 points a game last season and reached the 1,000 point career mark just six games into the season when he scored 30 points and had five 3-pointers in a game against Thomas Jefferson."

               WNCC coach Russ Beck is pleased to be getting someone of Mangum's basketball talents.

               "He is the most dynamic scoring guard in the state of Virginia this past year," Beck said. "He visited CSI last week but chose the WNCC Cougars. He will be reunited with his former high school teammate Tahir Little. He averaged 20 points per game and has deep range. Many regard him as a high major NCAA DI prospect. He may be the best shooting guard to come through the program."

               According to Rival.com, he was getting interest from Baylor, James Madison, N.C. Greensboro, Richmond, UNLV and Virginia Commonwealth.

               As for Calcaterra, he will provide some size on the inside for the Cougars and played for Tim Miles, who is now the University of Nebraska men's basketball coach.

               "Chad played under Tim Miles at Colorado State the last years and was a part of a team this last season that went to the NCAA tournament," Beck said. "He redshirted two years ago and played last season. We think he will bring a lot of athleticism and a great deal of maturity and leadership to the team having been at the Division I level the last two years. We expect big things from chad. Going this route, he wants to go back to the Division I level."

               Calcaterra said he was looking at Division II schools, but his goal is to get back to the Division I level and that is why he decided to go the  junior college route.

               "i felt like I could produce really well someplace else," Calcaterra said. "I wanted to go on and take a chance and that is why I am here."

               As for maybe reuniting with his former coach Tim Miles, he said the door is wide open to where he will end up.

               "I just want to see where this season plays out," he said. "i want to go really far in the season, and hopefully make the national tournament. We will see after the season how it is."

               Calcaterra was a ESPN top 50 ranked center in high school , averaging 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 4.5 blocks as a junior

               He was well-recruited out of high school. Calcaterra chose Colorado State out of high school over schools such as Stanford, Ball State and Harvard.

               Calcaterra said he enjoyed playing at the Division I level.

               "It was a lot of fun and I had a lot of experiences on and off the court, including playing at Duke at Cameron Arena," he said. "Those are experiences you never forget."