ELLISVILLE – Jones County Junior College will be in a rebuilding situation heading into the 2017-18 season.
Not only did the Bobcats lose most every player off of last season’s MACJC and Region 23 Tournament championship team, they will also have a completely new coaching staff.
Randy Bolden has replaced Rahim Lockhart as head coach after Lockhart took an assistant coaching position at Ole Miss.
Bolden, who was an assistant coach at Hinds last season, said everything has gone well leading into the upcoming campaign.
“It’s been a smooth transition,” he said. “Whenever you have a great administration backing you and making sure everything is good, that makes it smooth. From our athletic director (Katie Herrington) and our assistant athletic director (Joel Cain) and just the entire administration helping out, it’s gone really well.”
JCJC will be inexperienced this season, but Bolden is optimistic about this year’s Bobcat team.
“We are only bringing back two guys from last year’s team,” he said. “We have a relatively new team, but we are looking forward to the challenge. This is a fun group to coach and they are a really good group of kids. They play hard and the biggest thing is they love being around each other. That cohesiveness is going to carry over on to the basketball floor.
“We are fortunate to get a good group of basketball players and a better group of young men.”
Bolden became the coach after the 2017 spring semester and is pleased with players he was able to bring into the program over the summer.
“We got the job in June and I feel very fortunate that we were able to get some quality guys in here,” he said. “We have some good core guys. We have 10 freshmen and four sophomores and they have really bought in to what we are trying to do. They come to work hard every day at practice.”
Among others, the Bobcats lost NJCAA first-team and NABC All-American center Bruce Stevens and guard David Davis to Ole Miss, guard Rickey Holden to California State-Bakersfield, guard Maurice Dunlap to Jacksonville State, forward Tristin Walley to Arkansas State and guard Leito Holloway to Mississippi College.
The Bobcats, who open the season at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at home in A.B. Howard Gymnasium vs. Louisiana Christian Prep, only have Omar Steele (Laurel) and Quentin Pough (Wayne County) returning from last season’s 29-2 team that set a school record for wins and advanced to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament for the second time in school history.
Steele is a 6-foot-4 forward and Pough is a 6-foot-2 guard and Bolden is counting on leadership from both of them.
“Omar did not play much last year, but he has really embraced the opportunity to come in and play this year,” he said. “Omar is a great post defender and can rebound the basketball for us. He does the ‘dirty work’ in there to keep us together. We are expecting big things from him.
“Quentin has been one of the most impressive guys I’ve seen. He works hard for us every single day and shoots the 3 ball really well. But even bigger than that is he is one of our better defenders.”
The only other sophomores on the roster are 6-foot-8 guard/forward Shemar Johnson (Columbus) and 6-foot-9 center Marshun Gladney (Northwest Rankin). Johnson is a transfer from East Tennessee State and Gladney is a transfer from East Central.
“Shemar has been hampered with a knee injury, but we are looking forward to getting him back in the next couple of weeks,” Bolden said. “He is one of those players, because of his size, who can play inside-out. We are looking for him to really create problems for teams from an offensive standpoint.
“Marshun is somebody we are depending on. He has lost about 25 pounds since he got here and has worked diligently to get his weight down, so he can be able to perform and do the things we need him to do in order to be productive. We’ve been really impressed with Marshun.”
The Bobcats will have to rely on all freshmen in the backcourt, but there is talent there.
Mason Daniels (Atlanta, Georgia) is a highly-regarded 6-foot-6 guard, along with 6-foot-3 guard Ke’jerrick Taylor (Jackson Provine) and 5-foot-11 guard Winceton Edwards (Oak Grove).
“We were very fortunate to get Mason,” Bolden said of the IMG Academy product. “He shoots the ball exceptionally well. He is hard-nosed and plays tough. He is a great ball handler and has a great basketball IQ. We are expecting Mason to contribute a lot, especially from an offensive standpoint.
“KJ is a knock down shooter and can shoot the ball really well. He plays extremely hard and we are looking for him to come in and do well. He is one of those ‘glue guys’ that will do whatever you need him to do to help the team win.
“Winceton can really shoot the basketball. He scored a lot of points at Oak Grove and he is continuing to do that here. He shot the ball well for us over the summer, but the biggest thing that’s been impressive about Winceton so far is his commitment to defense. He is really starting to buy in defensively.”
Working at the point guard slot are 6-foot freshman Michael “Pooh” Williams (Rayville, Louisiana), 6-foot freshman David McCoy (Meridian) and 5-foot-11 freshman Terry Williams (Oxford).
“Pooh has been outstanding so far running our team,” Bolden said. “He is a leader on the floor. As a coach, it is hard to put the basketball in a freshman’s hands, but Pooh has embraced that challenge and has done a great job.
“David has been really good for us. He is a hard-nosed defender and he is going to leave it out on the floor every night. He is able to knock down the 3-point shot and our staff has been impressed with him so far.
“Terry is another point guard who can come off the bench and give us some minutes. He has a great work ethic. He comes in after hours to the gym and is driven to get better.”
Kenneth Knight (Jackson Jim Hill) is a 6-foot-3 swing player who can play guard or forward.
“Kenny has been getting better day in and day out,” Bolden said. “He works hard every day and the sky is the limit for him.”
Along the front line the Bobcats will look to 6-foot-5 freshman forward David Gaines Jr. (Wayne County), 6-foot-5 forward Malik Henry (Terry) and 6-foot-4 freshman forward Johnny Bingham (Jackson Provine).
“David Gaines brings a lot of energy to the floor,” Bolden said. “He can get to the basket and score around the rim. He just does all of the things that do not show up on the stat sheet. We are expecting big things out of him.
“Malik is a solid offensive player. He can play guard or forward and can put the ball on the floor and cause problems for the defense.
“Johnny is a gifted offensive player. We are in the transition of making him a two-way player, which is a transition that most high school players go through with the speed of the game.”
In the MACJC South Division race, Bolden expects several teams to contend for the top spot.
“Gulf Coast has a really good group and they will be experienced,” he said. “Pearl River had a good recruiting class and Co-Lin will be good. They have a guard-oriented team and can score the basketball at every position. In this league, you are not out-coaching anybody. You have to make sure your team is prepared. Effort and execution are the keys to being successful in this league.
“It is fun and it will be challenging, but our team and our staff are looking forward to it. I think we will compete night-in and night-out.”
Bolden’s coaching staff consists of former Bobcat Kelvin Nixon, Tyler Adams and volunteer assistant Hunter Barocco.
“I was fortunate to get Kelvin,” Bolden said. “He has been really good on the recruiting trail and with player development. He is one of the first guys I hired and he has not disappointed me.
“Tyler brings a different approach being that he is a big man who played at Georgetown. He has been doing early morning workouts with our big guys helping to prepare them for the season. The combination of Kelvin and Tyler will pay off for us with Kelvin working with the guards and Tyler working with the bigs and the forwards.
“Hunter is a volunteer from William Carey. He does whatever we ask him to do and he is here to help the program. I was pleased to be able to put together such a good staff.”
After playing on Thursday night, the Bobcats will turn around and host Coahoma in a 2 p.m. Friday contest. There will be free admission for that game.
JCJC does not open South Division play until they travel to Copiah-Lincoln on Dec. 4.
Bolden, who spent nine years as head coach at Meridian High School before going to Hinds last year, has few complaints with his 2017-18 Bobcats.
“The most outstanding thing is that not only are they working hard on the court, they are working hard for us in the classroom and they are representing us well in the community,” he said. “Those are things we harp on every day and those guys are living up to our expectations right now.”
This season’s MACJC Tournament will be held at the site of the North Division men’s champion.
