San Jac,
Paris top men's poll
Longview News
Journal
Thursday, October 16, 2008
TYLER — New faces are common every year in junior-college basketball. For the 2008-09 season of Region XIV men's basketball however, there is a sense of new for the entire conference.
The 11th Annual Region XIV Media Tip-Off was held at Tyler Junior College's Rogers Student Center on Wednesday. The coaches of two new conference members — Bossier Parish Community College and Lamar State College at Port Arthur — were introduced to the media.
The new members increases the conference membership to 14 members, which will be divided into North and South Divisions. Kilgore and Panola will be in the North.
The number of conference games per team has been reduced from 22 to 19, with each member playing each team in their own division once and the teams of the other division once, after previously playing every team twice. The top 12 teams advance to the Region XIV Tournament, which will be held March 6-10 at the University of Texas at Tyler. Last year, the top eight teams advanced to the tournament.
"It will be a different tournament," Panola coach Jacob Wonders said. "It will be unusual that you might play someone you haven't seen since early January because you only played them once."
Both Panola and Kilgore were predicted by their peers to make the tournament, but are not expected to advance far. Panola is predicted to finish eighth in a preseason coaches poll, while Kilgore is predicted to finish 10th. Perennial power San Jacinto is the preseason favorite, while defending conference champion Paris is second.
Kilgore was 15-15 a year ago and missed the conference tournament. Panola finished 18-14 and reached the tournament semifinals.
There will be a new face leading Kilgore as Brian Hoberecht (pronounced Ho-Bright) takes over as head coach after eight seasons at Dodge City Community College. Hoberecht replaces Scott Schumacher, who took a similar position at North Dakota State College of Science after 13 seasons at Kilgore.
Four former Kilgore players that would have been sophomores this season followed Schumacher to North Dakota, including standout center Ridge McKeither, who averaged 17.0 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Also leaving are forward Maurice Foster, forward Fred Savoie and guard Nick Walls.
The transition for Kilgore has been painful, literally. Sophomore centers Jovon Moses and Sonny Soloman as well as freshmen guards Chris Johnson and Dexter Dorsey are all injured. Hoberecht said he is uncertain if they will all be available for the season opener at the Odessa College Tournament on Oct. 31.
All of Kilgore's incoming freshmen are guards, and Hoberecht said he is excited about what they can do, although none have stood out yet.
Kilgore also has four sophomore transfers, including from guard Troy Cage from Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) and Soloman, who followed Hoberecht from Dodge City.
"What we're looking for from our sophomores is continuity and how quickly they learn what junior college basketball is all about," Hoberecht said. "They're still a work in progress."
There are also several veterans returning, including James Graham, Moses, Sage Malone and LaMarshall Corbett.
Wonders enters his third season as Panola's head coach when the Ponies play at the ABT2 Tournament on Nov. 1 in Fort Worth.
Panola has three sophomores returning in forward Milton Burton, center Fran Urli and forward Brandon Webb, but Wonders said they are all role players. Panola brings in 11 freshmen, including Vonshae Wesley of Avinger and Marcus Anderson of Laneville, but Wonders said none of the freshmen have stood out yet.
"It reminds me of my first season here, except that I wasn't hired in July," Wonders said. "There will be work for all the guys."
While the poll indicates Kilgore and Panola could have work ahead of them, it's not as foreboding as what is predicted for the newcomers. Bossier Parish is predicted to finish 13th, followed by Lamar State.
Lamar State coach Jerre Cole took the poll in good humor, and poked fun at the other newcomer, Bossier Parish coach Louis Bonner, who said he didn't vote in the poll because of his lack of knowledge of conference opponents. Lamar State is moving from non-scholarship Division III to full-scholarship Division I.
"I voted and I got our spot right," Cole said. "We're not going to be very good."
The conference will expand next year as well because Coastal Bend College will join starting in the 2009-10 season, according to Roark Montgomery, the Region XIV men's basketball director and Navarro College's athletic director. Montgomery said the conference is considering dividing into three five-team divisions next season.
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REGION XIV CONFERENCE MEN'S POLL
San Jacinto (6): 179
Paris (5): 177
Navarro: 148
Tyler: 146
Trinity Valley (2): 144
Angelina: 130
Lon Morris: 94
Panola: 89
Blinn: 87
Kilgore: 78
Lee: 70
Jacksoville: 66
Bossier Parish: 36
Lamar State-PA: 28
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