ATHLETICS ROUNDUP

The Bears’ Den, home of Harcum athletics, features the Wall of Fame, showcasing all the Men’s Basketball program grads who since the program’s inception advanced to D-I schools on scholarship to complete bachelor’s degrees.

Drew Kelly has moved on from Harcum to become an assistant coach at Northern Illinois University.

Recognizing the Kelly Legacy

Drew Kelly, founder of the Men’s Basketball program at Harcum and longtime Athletics Director, accepted a position at Northern Illinois University (NIU) as an assistant coach. NIU is one of two public universities in Illinois that competes D-I in the NCAA.

Mike Jensen, a sports writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer said, “Drew built something that simply hadn’t existed locally before, a top JUCO division national program full of D-I prospects.”

“Besides transforming Harcum into a national junior college powerhouse in men’s basketball,” President Jon Jay DeTemple said, “Drew Kelly’s contributions to Harcum during his 17 years of service included creating dozens and dozens of opportunities for Harcum players to be seen and recruited by NCAA D-I institutions, enabling our student-athlete graduates to complete a bachelor’s degree with scholarship assistance.”

Kelly concludes his time at Harcum with a 429–102 record. John Ball was named new Head Men’s Basketball Coach, and J.J. DeTemple assumes the role of Athletics Director.

Winter Roundup

MEN’S BASKETBALL HAS BANNER SEASON The Harcum Bears won the NJCAA Region 15/19 Championship, the East District Championship, and headed to the NJCAA National Tournament as the 13th seed. At Nationals, they advanced to the Elite Eight, finishing the season with a 32–3 record. Yazid Powell joined the 1,000 point club. Mohamed Wague was named to the NJCAA DI Men’s Basketball Tournament All-Tournament Team and also the NCJAA DI All-American First Team. Tre Dinkins was named to the Third Team.

Six 2022 players signed commitments to NCAA Division I schools for 2022–23: Philly’s own Derrius Ward is headed to The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Chester native Tre Dinkins is going to Canisius College; the newest member of the thousand-point club Yazid Powell is going to University of Buffalo; big man Mohamed Wague signed with

West Virginia University; Australian Louis Bleechmore is headed to St. Joseph’s University on the Main Line, and Abdul Shanunu will be attending Delaware State.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL IMPROVES TO WINNING RECORD The regular season ended with a record of 17–11. The team advanced to a semi-final playoff round for the first time in five seasons.

22 ATHLETES RECEIVE NJCAA ACADEMIC AWARDS The National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) recognized 22 Harcum College players with AllAcademic Student-Athlete Awards for earning top-tier GPAs while also playing a varsity sport during the 2021–22 academic year.

Two Harcum athletes finished with a GPA of 4.00: Katelyn Yurkovich (Women’s Soccer) from Middletown, Delaware and Beau Landau (Men’s Soccer) from Kent, England. PICTURED: Soccer players Katelyn Yurkovich and Beau Landau both earned perfect 4.0’s; When Men's Basketball won the East District Championship on March 4, they locked in a berth at the national championships in Hutchinson, Kansas; The Women's Baskteball Team.

Eight Harcum athletes finished with a GPA of 3.80-3.99: Louis

Bleechmore

(Men’s Basketball) from Sydney, Australia; Luke Charles (Men’s Soccer) from California, Trinidad & Tobago; Samantha Lachette (Volleyball) from Aldan, PA; Leandro Louro da Silva, ( Men’s Soccer) from Hamburg, Germany; Tobias Chileff (Men’s Soccer) from Conchilla, Uruguay; Pedro Menezes (Men’s Soccer) from Portugal; Michel-Paul Weber (Men’s Soccer) from Germany; and Kayla Williams (Women’s Basketball) from Brooklyn, New York.

Twelve Harcum athletes finished with a GPA of 3.60-3.79: Anyang Atem (Men’s Basketball) from Wunrok, South Sudan; Peta-gay Dixon (Women’s Soccer) from Freeman’s Hall, Jamaica; Anna Panella (Women’s Soccer) from Barcelona, Spain; Santiago Rodriguez (Men’s Soccer) from Mercedes Uruguay; Ned Lewis (Men’s Soccer) from Sevenoaks, England; Santiago Linares (Men’s Soccer) from Lima, Peru; Finlay O’Shea (Men’s Soccer) from Kent, England; Daniel Robolledo (Men’s Soccer) from Cali, Colombia; Abdul Shanunu (Men’s Basketball) from Accra, Ghana; George Stephenson (Men’s Soccer) from London, England; Khayden Stewart (Men’s Basketball) from Durham, Ontario, Canada; and Rhys Williams (Men’s Soccer) from Reading, England.