BLUE DRAGON BASKETBALL OPENS ON THE ROAD TUESDAY AT TABOR JV

NO. 6 HUTCHINSON (0-0) at TABOR COLLEGE JV (0-0)
When: Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Where: Tabor College Gym, Hillsboro, KS
Time: 7 p.m.
Live Radio: KHUT-FM (102.9); 6:55 p.m.
Video: Blue Dragon Sports Network, 6:55 p.m.
Twitter: @bluedragonsport


HCC Sports Information
Monday, October 31, 2016

The 2015 Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team will be a tough act to follow.

After all, the 2015-16 Blue Dragons won the program's first Jayhawk Conference championship in 12 years and played in the NJCAA Tournament championship game racking up 32 victories along the way.

So with the 2016-17 season opener upon them, eighth-year head coach Steve Eck and three central figures from that NJCAA national runner-up team are back to try and match and, daring to dream big, surpass what last year's did accomplished.

"The guys are focused on this year," said Eck, who is four victories shy of moving past Gary Bargen for third on the all-time Blue Dragon coaches list. Eck enters the season with a 196-44 record at Hutch. "We are working hard and working to get better, but it's probably going to take a little longer (to reach optimum level of play) than it did last year."

As always, expectations are ultra-high for the Blue Dragon men. Hutchinson debuted at No. 6 in the NJCAA Men's Division I preseason rankings and are No. 4 in the Sporting News Preseason poll. The Dragons are the preseason pick to win the Jayhawk Conference in 2017 as well.

Eck has two guards and a forward returning as the nucleus to build on in 2016-17.

Sophomore guard Samajae Haynes-Jones (6-foot, 170 pound, Wichita) has been receiving plenty of preseason attention. He has already verbally committed to Wichita State. Last season Haynes-Jones started in 36 of 37 games and averaged 15.4 points per game, shooting nearly 38 percent from 3-point range. Haynes-Jones had a breakout game in the NJCAA Tournament with a 33-point, six-assist game in Hutch's 116-90 quarterfinal win over No. 2 Northwest Florida State.

Sophomore Shakur Juiston (6-4, 215, Paterson, N.J.) was Eck's first option off the bench last season. Juiston averaged 10.9 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game as a freshman.

Guard James Conley (6-3, 170, Derby) missed the first 15 games of his freshman season with an injury and started slow once he joined the lineup. But, Conley's season turned around on Feb.10 when he hit the game-winning shot in an 87-85 win at Seward County. Conley averaged 3.9 points and 1.3 assists per game as a freshman, but was one of the top defenders the Dragons had last season.

"They are going to have to bring some leadership skills and show the freshmen how to do it," Eck said of his sophomore trio. "As long as they practice hard every day and play hard, that's I can really ask of them. This team is so young. Last year I had eight sophomores. We knew who was going to get most of the shots. This year we don't know that yet."

As Eck looks at the 2016-17 Blue Dragons, he sees a team with a lot of length, which should lend itself to being a good rebounding team, especially on the offensive boards.

"I hope that will also turn us into a good defensive team," Eck said. "Right now we aren't a good defensive team, but I think we could be. I really like our team chemistry. It's really good chemistry."

Eck likes his overall depth both on the interior and on the perimeter, hoping to go as far as 10 deep on the bench.

Conley and freshman Devonte Bandoo (6-3, 185, Toronto) will likely see most of the action as the point guard this season. Eck can also use Tiylar Cotton and Roman Young on the point as well.

Eck has a versatile group of guards who can play multiple positions.

Haynes-Jones will be the starting two-guard. Bandoo and Cotton (6-1, 165, Wichita) will also play at that position.

J.J. Rhymes (6-4, 205, Phoenix), Trent Webster (6-6, 190, sophomore, Hutchinson), Kyle Patrick (6-7, 205, Otis) and Kai Mitchell (6-6, 205, Haverstraw, NY) will fill out the 3-guard position.

Mitchell will likely see more time as a forward along with Juiston as well as Sal Nuhu (6-8, 210, Bronx, NY), who is the cousin of former Blue Dragon All-American Bashir Ahmed, Fatir Hines (6-8, 195, Newark, N.J.)

University of New Mexico transfer Nikola Scekic (7-1, 250, Belgrade, Serbia) will be at center. All the forward can rotate into the center spot to create depth there.

With the new 26-game Jayhawk Conference schedule, the Blue Dragons get only four non-conference games to hone their game before league play begins. After Tuesday, Hutchinson will play its home openers this weekend against Frank Phillips College and NEO on Friday and Saturday and then take on Hesston College on Nov. 8 before opening the Jayhawk Conference season with back-to-back road games at Seward County (Nov. 12) and Cloud County (Nov. 15).