Clarendon College Men

Clarendon College Men Bulldogs bringing more depth

By LEE PASSMORE

For all intents and purposes, third-year coach Hunter Jenkins and the Clarendon College men are starting over again this season.

That seems appropriate, since there hasn’t been much in the way of carryover for Jenkins since he’s been in Clarendon, where he was hired as head coach at the age of 26 two years ago.

Last season, Jenkins said he felt like he was going into his first full season at the helm of the Bulldogs since his first season, 2020-21, was plagued by COVID. Clarendon and Jenkins never really got to settle in last season due to some key injuries, and the Bulldogs finished 8-21 and 3-13 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference, last among the league’s nine teams.

Things can only go up this season.

“We had some key injuries early,” Jenkins said. “We started off 4-1 and then lost two starters for a big portion of the season. I think it would have been a whole different season if we’d had those guys all 30 games. We don’t make excuses; we still had some talent to win more.”

Rebuilding isn’t a word coaches like to use, but it looks as if the Bulldogs will be working with a different foundation this season. They have only two players who return from last season after losing their leading scorer, Zariqiue Nutter, to Division I Northern Illinois University.

Jenkins is trying to be optimistic heading into this season, taking another fresh start angle.

Clarendon College Bulldogs Roster Name, Ht., Pos., Class

Shannon Strickland, 6-5, G, Soph., Monticello, Arkansas Bol Akot, 6-1, G, Soph., Manchester, New Hampshire Omar Cooper, 6-0, G, Soph., Atlanta, Georgia Keano Calderon, 6-7, F. Fr., Orlando, Florida Nic Black, 6-2, G, Soph., Australia Aahmod Scarbrough, 6-3, G, Soph., St. Louis, Missouri Jeriah Coleman, 7-1, P, Soph., Anchorage, Alaska Lenard Taylor, 6-1, G, Fr., Baltimore, Maryland Tyler Mitchell, 6-1, G, Fr., Dallas, Texas Raphael Day, 6-7, F, Fr., Paris, France Jamal West, 6-6, G, Soph., Baltimore, Maryland Chris Williams, 6-6, P, Fr. Toronto, California Donta Coady, 6-5, P, Soph., Arlington, Texas Josiah Fulcher, 6-4, G, Soph., Lima, Ohio Matt Brown, 6-2, G, Soph., Milwaukee, Wisconsin Dylan Gory, 7-1, P, Fr., Paris, France LiWayne Richardson, 6-10, F, Soph., Anguillia Imari Anderson, 6-3, F, Fr., Silver Springs, Maryland Yel Deng, 6-8, P, Fr., Amarillo (Caprock), Texas David Sobkowiak, 6-2, F, Fr., Poland Shaq Samuels, 6-6, P, Fr., Silver Springs, Maryland Prince Malonge, 6-8, P, Fr., Amarillo High, Texas Ashraf Barsham, 6-5, F, Fr., Amarillo (Tascosa), Texas

“We’ve definitely got more comfortable knowing the layout of the conference,” Jenkins said. “We’re happy with the players we’ve got who’ve been working hard this past month. We’re just real excited to get going.”

Bulldogs solid in backcourt

The good news is that Clarendon has a pretty solid bedrock in an area where most successful teams tend to build, the backcourt. That’s due mainly to sophomore point guard Omar Cooper.

Last season Cooper averaged nine points and three assists a game in running Clarendon’s offense. He’s been seriously looked at by schools in the Western Athletic Conference and the Big 12 as well as Seattle University.

“He’s got a chance to really be a leader for us,” Jenkins said of Cooper. “He’s already got Division I’s on him. We’ve got some guys who played some significant minutes at Division I’s and added some guys from some other Jucos. We definitely have the experience; we’ve just got to get them playing together and used to the way we do things.”

Guard Matt Brown is the other returnee and will start alongside Cooper in the backcourt.

The rest of the team is entirely new but has some promise. Two starters are transfers from Division I schools who figure to instantly improve the Bulldogs.

Jeriah Coleman is the most intriguing. Coleman is a 7-foot-1 post who played last season for St. Francis University in Pennsylvania who’s drawing interest from schools in the Big 12, Big 10 and Pac 12, among others, because of his size.

The other D-I transfer who should start is 6-4 guard Josiah Fulcher, who played at Bowling Green, where he was voted to the Mid-America Conference all-freshman team. Jamal West, a 6-6 transfer from South Alabama, should also see a lot of minutes.

Jenkins thinks his team will be good offensively but locked in more on defense in practice.

“We’re going to hang our hat on being very, very aggressive defensively and playing hard and together,” Jenkins said. “I’ve been happy with where we’re at on both ends of the floor. The talent’s there, the character’s there; we’ve just got to make sure we’re getting better every single day. We’ve definitely got a long