Basketball Preview

Coming off last season’s 23-9 campaign, the men’s basketball team is hoping to make another run at the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division title. Last season, the Tigers finished 13-5 in the Jayhawk East and placed second in the conference for the third straight year. Cowley returns Xavier Burnette, Stacy Bias and Avery Burrell to go along with a talented group of freshmen and two accomplished junior college transfers. Burnette, a 6-1 sophomore guard from Topeka, averaged 7.3 points as a freshman. He is the Tigers’ top returning three-point threat, having made 26 of 67 three-point attempts a year ago. Bias, a 6-6 sophomore power forward from Wichita, and Burrell, a 6-8 sophomore power forward from Derby, gained valuable experience coming off the bench for the Tigers last season.

Cowley head coach Randy Smithson recruited several talented athletes to make up for the loss of five sophomores who logged a ton of playing time last season. Four freshmen who should make an immediate impact are Tony Phillips, Marcus Watts, Julio Anthony and Lionel Saban. Phillips, a 6-5 forward from Wichita North, averaged 19.5 points and 13.5 rebounds as a senior. Watts a 6-7 guard/forward from Clinton, S.C., was named All-Region 3 Player of the Year. Anthony a 6-4 point guard from Charlotte, N.C., averaged 25 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals as a senior, and helped lead Victory Christian High School to back-to-back state titles to close out his high school career. Saban is a 6-7 forward/center from France who averaged 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists for his club team. Saban weighs 220 pounds and gives the Tigers a physical presence inside. The two transfers to the team are Damien Lolar (6-6 guard) and Arturs Stallbergs (6-8 forward). Lolar played high school basketball at Arkansas City, and averaged 19 points and five rebounds at Labette Community College last season. Stallbergs, from Liepaja, Latvia, averaged 10 points and six rebounds at Lander University in South Carolina last season. With a nice mix of freshmen and sophomores, the Tigers are hoping to capture their first Jayhawk East title since the 1999-2000 season.

Women’s Basketball
With a new coach and several new players, the women’s basketball team will have a new look for the 2004-05 season. Todd Clark, who served as an assistant coach for the Lady Tigers from 1997-2000, returns to lead the team into the upcoming season. After his first coaching stint at Cowley, Clark went on to serve as the top assistant at NCAA Division I University of Texas-San Antonio. During his two years at UTSA, he helped turn the program around from seven wins in 1999-2000 to 16 wins in both the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 seasons and a third-place finish in the Southland Conference. He spent the past two seasons as the head women’s coach at Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

Clark inherits four players who saw a significant amount of playing time last season. Marina Caran (5-5 sophomore) returns as the team’s starting point guard. Last season, Caran averaged 12.1 points, 5.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.9 steals per game. Domenica Silva (6-0 sophomore) started several games at center last season and averaged 4.9 points and 3.9 rebounds. Priscilla De Souza (5-7 sophomore) spelled Caran at the point and averaged 4.4 points and 2.2 assists per game last season, while Kara Pridey (5-8 sophomore) finished second on the team in rebounding with an average of 4.4 rebounds per game. Deshunda Ivory (5-11 forward) and Ciara Kendall (5-10 forward) saw limited playing time last season, while Camila Nass (6-5 center) is back after using a redshirt season last year.

Clark has been impressed with the hard work the newcomers have displayed in early-season practices. Transfers Tamala Turner (6-0 guard/forward), Lakisha Miller (5-4 guard) and Krystal Gillespie (5-7 guard) all will be in the mix for playing time. Turner played for Seminole Junior College last season and had a season-high of 30 points. Miller transferred to Cowley from Southeast Illinois, and Gillespie played for Los Angeles Valley last season. Manhattan’s Megan Schoenfeld (5-10 guard) leads a talented group of freshmen. Schoenfeld poured in a game-high 21 points in last season’s Kansas Basketball Coaches Association All-Star game. Other freshmen on the squad are Ashley Burnett (5-10 forward) from Houston, Texas; Sharee Hurt (6-1 power forward) from Sedan; Erin Oliver (5-10 forward) from Erie; Lacey Rowe (5-7 guard) from Oxford; and Courtney Grant (5-5 guard) from Fort Scott. Clark is optimistic about the season and is hoping the Lady Tigers will again be one of the top teams in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

First-semester schedules:
Nov. 2, women host Southwestern JV, 7 p.m.
Nov. 6, men and women host Butler County, 6/8 p.m.
Nov. 10, men and women at Northern Oklahoma, 6/8 p.m.
Nov. 12-13, men and women at Butler County Classic, El Dorado
Nov. 16, women at Barton County, 6 p.m.
Nov. 16, men at Garden City, 7 p.m.
Nov. 20, men and women host Northern Oklahoma, 6/8 p.m.
Nov. 25-27, men at Three Rivers (Mo.) Tournament
Nov. 26-27, women at State Fair Classic, Sedalia, Mo.
Dec. 3-5, men and women at Jayhawk Shootout, Coffeyville
Dec. 8, men host Friends JV, 7 p.m.

NOTE: The Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division opens Jan. 5, 2005, when both Cowley teams host Labette in W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Fall 2004