BUC MEN BOAST TALENT & DEPTH TO RETURN TO REGION CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

The Blinn College men’s basketball team is eager to return to the Region XIV Championship game in 2021 after a successful run at last year’s regional tournament.

Blinn eliminated Coastal Bend College and Jacksonville College to reach the finals of the NJCAA Region XIV Championships and finished the season just one win away from a berth to the NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.

“We want to be playing in the regional championship with a chance to go to Hutchinson,” head coach Scott Schumacher said.  “My goal as a coach is for us to get better every day and get the highest possible seed we can going into the regional tournament, and to win it. This group has the ability and talent to do that, so it all will come down to how everything falls into place.”

The Buccaneers finished the 2019-20 season with a 23-10 overall record and an 11-8 conference mark. The Buccaneers led the region in field goal percentage, rebound margin per game, free throws per game, and free throw attempts per game, and finished in the top 25 in the nation in five categories.

Returning for the Buccaneers are forward Bonke Maring (Cypress), and guards Calvin Carpenter (Natchitoches, La.), Jacob Paske (Spring), and Tyler Washington (Delhi, La.).

“Our returners bring a lot of experience to our team and know what it takes to have a successful season and make it to a regional championship game,” Schumacher said.

Carpenter played 31 games and recorded 3.6 points and 1.1 rebounds per game.

“Carpenter has really learned how hard he has to play every second that he is on the floor which has elevated his game,” Schumacher said.

Maring played 24 games and totaled 2.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.

“Maring has really come on strong, has really good hands and footwork, and we look for big things from him,” Schumacher said.

Paske played 22 games and totaled 3.2 points and 1.5 rebounds per game.

“He played good quality minutes for us last year and would come off the bench and be a really strong player for us,” Schumacher said.

Washington averaged 3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game before suffering an injury two games into the season.

“He is a 6-foot-7 guard and we are really excited to see what he can do this season,” Schumacher said.

Blinn added a pair of sophomore guards who transferred from Weber State University in Austin Galuppo (Santa Clarita, Calif.) and Judah Jordan (Baltimore).

“Those two guys have really brought a lot of stability and a lot of maturity in how they play on the defensive end,” Schumacher said. “Galuppo can really shoot it from deep and Jordan previously was named a top-100 player in the nation in high school. They really add value to our team.”

The Buccaneers added 10 freshmen in guards Braelon Seals (San Antonio), Davion Coleman (Houston), Ethan Rodela (Bastrop), Ky Blodget (Houston), Jadon Vann (Bastrop), Lewis McGlasson (Stirling, Scotland) and forwards Kylon Owens (Dallas), Elias Ngoga (Dallas), Sam Chigbo (Bristol, United Kingdom), and Sanmi Fajana (Dublin, Ireland).

“We are very excited about our incoming freshmen and the ability they have to make an imprint on our program,” Schumacher said.

Seals earned first-team all-district honors and helped Wagner High School make it to the state championship game his senior year. Coleman earned first-team all-district honors at Jersey Village High School, Rodela earned first-team all-district honors at Bastrop High School, Blodget was named the Fort Bend ISD Tournament MVP at James E. Taylor High School in Katy, Vann earned first-team all-district honors at Bastrop High School, Owens was named the Defensive Player of the Year at South Oak Cliff High School, and Elias Ngoga is 6-foot-10 and played basketball at North Central Texas Academy.

Tim Hartman (Fort Worth) out of Fort Worth Dunbar High School and Marko Susic (Magnolia) out of Cy Ranch High School will redshirt for Blinn this year.

Of the 16 players on the roster, Blinn boasts six who are 6-foot-7 or taller.

“We really like our team and think we have a lot a size in the paint, but also on the perimeter,” Schumacher said. “We have a lot of depth and are strong in every position.”

The 2021 season opens Wednesday, January 20, at 7 p.m. against Victoria College in the Kruse Center.

“There are no warmup games so that will be different, but this has been such a wonderful group to work with and they have really worked well in practice every day,” Schumacher said. “Our chemistry is really good and we are just working hard together. We are ready to get out there on the court and build off what we did last year.”

For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.

(COURTESY: Tara Dreyer, Blinn Information)