SEASON PREVIEW: Richard Bland Has High Expectations For 2016-17
SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, Va. -- Two years ago, Richard Bland College won the 2015 NJCAA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship with a school-record of 32-4. Last year, the defending National Champion Statesmen finished with a highly uncharacteristic record of 15-17. One might imagine that expectations would be tempered as the 2016-17 season approaches; however, it's just the opposite around Statesman Hall where the program has compiled an impressive home-court record of 37-7 since the sport was reinstated prior to 2013-14.
"We expect to compete for a region championship and a national championship every year -- that's the goal of our program and it will never change," explained fourth-year head coach Chuck Moore. "We really are trying to preach buying in to the team chemistry ... enjoying the aspect of playing with and for each other and enjoying the brotherhood of the family that we have here, and once they start enjoying it and appreciating that environment, the success is going to come on the court. We're preparing them for the next four-year level, and hopefully they'll keep developing as young men, too."
Coach Moore, who doubles as the school's Director of Athletics, enters the upcoming 2016-17 campaign with five returning lettermen and has added 10 newcomers to the program, although three of them were around last year while redshirting for various reasons. If anyone knows how to effectively blend such a group of young men together, it's Coach Moore. He has led Richard Bland to a three-year overall record of 74-25, including 40-16 in Region X Conference regular season games, and he is 122-41 overall in five seasons of coaching collegiately within Region X.
"I feel like our five returners who played minutes last year are carrying the leadership role," said Moore, assisted by fourth-year assistant coach Brian Henderson, second-year assistant coach Preston Beverly and first-year graduate assistant Mike Wynn. "We're counting on them to set the tone each and every day, and also to help teach the incoming freshmen what it takes to be successful."
The five include sophomores Gevon Arrington/Petersburg, Deandre Clark/Orange, Myles Markland/Petersburg, Harrison Mitchell/Hampton and Jaquan Wooten/Kinston, North Carolina.
Arrington, a 6-3 guard, started 27 of 32 games a year ago and averaged 24.6 minutes, 8.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He shot 44.3 percent from the field, including 25.4 percent on three-point field goals, and 77.8 percent at the free throw line, adding 38 steals while posting 14 double-figure scoring games and two double-doubles.
"Gevon brings that energy," said Moore. "He's our utility player who just does a little bit of everything really good. We need him to defend and lead with energy and toughness."
Clark, a 6-4 guard, started nine of 32 games and averaged 20.2 minutes, 8.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He shot 39.2 percent from the field, including 32.3 percent on three-point field goals, and 57.8 percent at the free throw line, adding 30 steals while posting 12 double-figure scoring games and one double-double.
"Deandre is our shooter," said Moore. "He can run the point or move to the off-guard position when we need him to score. He has a high basketball IQ and we're counting on him to hit those tough buckets."
Markland, a 6-0 guard, started 14 of 31 games and averaged 14.7 minutes, 5.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists. He shot 39.4 percent from the field, including 31.3 percent on three-point field goals, and 55.8 percent at the free throw line, adding 13 steals while posting seven double-figure scoring games.
"We had talked about redshirting Myles this year, but we're going to go ahead and play him because of how well he has been playing during preseason and he can contribute for us," said Moore.
Mitchell, a 6-9 center, started 15 of 20 games and averaged 16.1 minutes, 4.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.3 assists. He shot 56.5 percent from the field and 41.7 percent at the free throw line, adding 13 blocks while posting four double-figure scoring games and one double-double.
"Harrison brings a lot of energy and has dramatically improved," said Moore. "We'll be looking for him to contribute a lot in the rebounding area and also hope to be able to throw it to him in the block."
Wooten, also a 6-9 center, started eight of the first 14 games before academic issues sidelined him, and averaged 21.8 minutes, 6.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists. He shot 58.1 percent from the field and 57.9 percent at the free throw line, adding 46 blocks while posting two double-figure scoring games and two double-doubles.
"Jaquan was only with us for half of the season last year, but can dramatically affect the game with his length," said Moore. "He blocks shots and protects the paint better than anybody we've had here and we're counting on him to not only be the back line of the defense, but also being able to throw him the ball and get some easy baskets inside."
Among the newcomers, freshmen Lumumbah Bataille/Brooklyn, New York, Brandon Henry/Chester and Stanley Taylor/Petersburg each have been with the program for a year, while sophomore Jalen Jackson/Plainfield, New Jersey is a transfer from Navarro (Texas) College. Bataille is a 6-6 forward, Henry is a 6-5 guard, Taylor is a 6-7 forward and Jackson is a 6-8 forward.
"Mumbah redshirted last year, so we're counting on him to bring an understanding of what is expected and he does -- he plays hard every day," said Moore. "Brandon had a knee injury last year and didn't get to play, but he was around the program, so he knows what's expected, so once he gets to 100 percent, we're really looking for big production out of him. Stanley redshirted last year and he really used that year to mature physically and mentally, and we're counting on him to do a little bit of everything in the interior and post for us. Jalen was at another junior college last year and brings a toughness and a strength to our post, which is what we need."
The other first-year players include freshmen Tim Bing Jr./District Heights, Maryland, Ricky Hicks/Bronx, New York, Deon Joyner/North Charleston, South Carolina, Robert Smith/Hampton and Travius Smith/Norfolk (not related). Bing is a 6-3 guard, Hicks is a 6-0 guard, Joyner is a 6-9 forward, Robert Smith is a 6-4 guard and Travius Smith is a 6-3 guard.
"We really need our two point guards to play well -- Ricky and Tim," said Moore. "We need those two guys to really grasp and take control of our offense and team quickly. We're going to go as well as our point guards play. I think that Travius and Robert, as freshmen, once they figure out the speed of the game, the mentality and what we expect, they're going to be huge contributors on the wing. Deon is very long and brings another aspect to the game because he can knock down shots from the perimeter, but we can also throw him the ball in the post. Once he figures out the physicality of the game, I think he can become a huge contributor."
Another first-year freshman who was expected to contribute this year is Miodrag Dronjak/Kladovo, Serbia, a 6-2 guard.
"It's unfortunate that we did lose Mio, who potentially could have been a great shooter on the perimeter for us, to a season-ending injury, which affects us but we have to have other guys step up," said Moore. "If someone goes down, they'll be someone to fill that void and we won't miss a beat."
So, what kind of team can we expect this season and what will be the style of play?
"We play a controlled up tempo style -- we're going to keep playing the way we always have -- we like putting pressure on the other team," explained Moore. "Whether we're pushing the ball or we're pressuring them on the defensive end. We want to play an exciting style of basketball and I think we do. We have guys who can fill it up and we're going to put them in positions to utilize their talents and skill sets. We're not necessarily setting a goal of scoring 80-90 points, but I feel we should average in the mid-80's without a doubt, especially with the skill sets of our guys this year and hopefully they buy in on the defensive end and we can be a little more creative with our man-to-man and matchup zones and some more things to disrupt the other team. We easily can go 10-12 deep this year, if we decide to do that."
We mentioned the program's recent national title at the beginning ... can this year's team attain such lofty and significant success?
"The sky is the limit for this group," said Moore. "The one comparison that I make is the fact that we won't lose anything when we go to the bench, that's one thing that championship team had, and this team is very comparable in that aspect, but also, they enjoy being with each other and they compete and that's what we had that year. We had talent at every position and we have talent at every position this year. Now, whether they learn how to carry that over in tough moments will be the determining factor of whether they can follow the footsteps of that team two years ago."
The first opportunity to find out about this year's team will be on Tuesday night, November 1, as Richard Bland, recently ranked No. 14 in the NJCAA Division II Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, will open the season against No. 18 Northern Virginia Community College at 7 p.m. in Statesman Hall.
"Hopefully, we can continue to get the crowd support that makes our home games such a great atmosphere," added Moore. "I feel like this team should put us back where we belong and that's at the top."
Richard Bland is offering Free Admission to all home games this year in an effort to make Statesmen Basketball easily accessible for everyone and for all games to be a fan/family friendly environment. However, the Athletics Department is sponsoring "RBC for Haiti" during the month of November and will be accepting food, clothing and/or monetary donations at the doors to send to Haiti through the "Haitians Angels" organization.