10 minute read
Frank Phillips College Women
(Continued from previous page) plenty of time to find another school right away. What we have character-wise is pretty good.”
The one Sautter is expecting the most from has a top pedigree. Sophomore Jeremiah Gilliam, son of the late Armen Gilliam, who starred at UNLV and in the NBA, is one guy Sautter is counting heavily on this season.
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He thinks the apple didn’t fall far from the tree with Jeremiah Gilliam.
“He’s a high-, high-character person,” Sautter said. “He’s pretty mature and a great team leader, so he helps with that culture. He’s 100 percent bought in, and you don’t want to cross him.”
Gilliam will play forward, while Sautter is enthusiastic about a pair of guards from Little Rock – Madison Peaster and Kiyler Hudson. They were recommended to Sautter by some of his former players.
Players from overseas and close by
Sautter says about half the team is from overseas. There’s at least one freshman who should be a familiar name to local fans: guard Kadden Price, who graduated from Palo Duro last year.
There’s not a lot of experience on the roster, as there are only three seniors.
“It’s probably not at the talent level we need it to be with a bunch of freshmen this year, but going forward, this isn’t new to me,” Sautter said. “I’m blessed to be able to compete in this league, which is second to none in the country.”
From his years as an assistant and head coach in the WJCAC, Sautter is well aware of the league’s reputation. He knows how good it will be this year, because he may have contributed to it indirectly.
“Because I was out of coaching last year, I placed a lot of players at places throughout the league,” Sautter said. “There’s a lot of really good younger coaches in this league. From top to bottom, I would say it’s pretty wide open. That doesn’t mean the league is down; it means that a lot of people are really, really good.”
Sautter considers South Plains and Odessa College as the top contenders.
With the newness of the situation, he doesn’t expect his Plainsmen to immediately set the world on fire. But he does expect some results.
“I told them if you’re great right now, you’ve got no room for improvement,” Sautter said. “How great we’ll be, I don’t know. I’ve coached All-Americans, and we’re not there yet, but that’s OK. Our fans are going to get our best every night, and toward the end of the season, we’ll be much better.
“I didn’t come here to not make it to the national tournament and win championships. Even as good as this league is, we have the support, we have the resources and the administration which has given us everything to get the job done, so there’s no excuses.”
days. We came back and still had some nice wins, but COVID and injuries don’t go hand in hand very well, and playing with four to six kids just wasn’t an option for us.”
Misleading 2021-22 record
That resulted in a highly misleading record for the Lady Plainsmen, who finished the season 12-17 overall and 3-11 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference, seventh out of the conference’s eight teams. Such bad luck might give Schneider a right to receive a “do-over.”
If that’s the case, though, it’s an entirely new one. Nobody returns from last season’s team, as Schneider heads into this season with 13 brand-new players, all freshmen, on his roster.
That means a mix not only of players, but of cultures, which Schneider has been looking for in the first place.
“We’ve got a good mix of local talent and other players in Texas and international players as well,” Schneider said. “Probably for most coaches in the country since COVID, every year’s kind of
Frank Phillips Plainsmen Roster
Name, Ht., Pos., Class Kareem Barnett, 6-2, G, Fr. Madison Peaster, 6-1, G, Fr. Nahum Pastuerin, 6-4, G, Fr. Melquan Collins, 6-6, F, Soph. Kadden Price, 5-10, G, Fr. Kiyler Hudson, 6-5, F, Soph. Will Hynes, 6-2, G, Fr. Jailan Ardoin, 6-4, G, Fr. Falou Sakho, 6-5, F, Fr. Youssef Medini, 6-3, G, Fr. Octaveon Lozer, 6-4, F, Fr. Jeremiah Gilliam, 6-7, F, Soph. Odanis Done, 6-1, G, Fr. Fabio Fias, 6-3, G, Fr. Fliip Mamic, 6-8, F, Fr.
Coach: Jason Sautter Asst. Coaches: Brandon Rielly, Mustafa Lawrence 2021-2022 record: 14-16, 5-11
Frank Phillips Women
All-freshman team has mix of players
By LEE PASSMORE
It almost feels as if Brett Schneider is being forced to do over his first year as head coach of the Frank Phillips College women.
Not because he’s like a kid who failed a class or two and has to repeat a grade. Schneider and the Lady Plainsmen were getting at least passing grades with nine games left in the regular season during his first year at the helm at Frank Phillips.
Problem was, Schneider’s class was getting smaller and smaller as the year progressed. Finally, it got to the point where class was canceled altogether for the remainder of the season.
With so many students unavailable, so to speak, the Lady Plainsmen opted to forfeit their final seven games of the 202122 season.
“It was difficult, because we started the year with 12 on our roster and essentially had five kids that had season-ending injuries or illnesses,” Schneider said. “Around Christmas we started playing with six and seven. Right at the beginning of January we had COVID, and that kept half our team out for about six or seven
been a setback and a restart. Now you’ve got the transfer portal and other opportunities. We have a player on our team from the Bahamas who hasn’t played for two years because her country wouldn’t allow her competition due to COVID.”
More than half of this season’s Phillips roster will be filled by foreign players, with seven coming from outside the United States. The other six are from Texas.
What this year’s Lady Plainsmen do have in common in general is size, as in not a lot of it. Only two players stand at 6-0 or taller, and only two others are as tall as 5-10.
That means they will have to play a style more conducive to smaller teams, something Schneider has been preparing for since last summer.
“Our team chemistry has been really close,” Schneider said. “Definitely the opportunity to get kids on campus has been a plus for us. I can tell that we will be a real good 3-point shooting team. Hopefully, we’ll turn into a great 3-point shooting team.
“We don’t have much size, but I think we have a lot of speed and athleticism. Our guard play’s really going to have to carry us this year.”
For all the talk about foreign players on the roster, Schneider thinks a player from West Texas could help set the tone for the Lady Plainsmen. Xoe Rosalez, a 5-6 guard from Seminole, is praised by Schneider for bringing a work ethic to campus from high school.
“Two days after graduation, she was on our campus,” Schneider said. “She stayed for both summer sessions. She’s a very
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Xoe Rosalez Ayuen Akot Tania Kerr
Frank Phillips Lady Plainsmen Roster Name, Ht., Pos., Class, Hometown
Alana Strong, 5-4, G, Fr., Amarillo (Caprock), Texas Aurore Eyango, 5-8, G, Fr., Paris, France Ayuen Akot, 5-10, G, Fr., Melbourne, Australia Bahar Kalkan, 5-6, G, Fr., Istanbul, Turkey Genesis Toledano, 6-1, P, Fr., General Alvear Mendoza, Argentina Gisselle Hernandez, 5-7, G, Fr., Perryton, Texas Jayden Hayes, 5-4, G, Fr., Houston, Texas Maria Quesada Ortiz, 5-9, G, Fr., Bogota, Colombia Sa’Nya Green, 5-6, G, Fr., Midland, Texas Tania Kerr, 6-1, P, Fr., Nassau, Bahamas Teresa Mbemba, 5-10, G, Fr., Benguela, Angola Xoe Rosalez, 5-6, G, Fr., Seminole, Texas Zaria Simmons, 5-8, G, Fr., Houston, Texas
Coach: Brett Schneider Asst. Coach: Destiny Gonzalez 2021-2022 record: 12-17, 3-11
Brett Schneider’s Sweat with Success
BASKETBALL CAMPS
“I’ve coached at several NCAA schools, including Texas Tech University, the University of Missouri, the University of Memphis and West Texas A&M University.
“I have helped several players garner All American honors and coached a first-round draft pick in the WNBA.
“I can direct individual camps, team camps, individual skill work and offer college prep seminars for parents to educate them about the entire recruiting process.
“We also offer satellite camps and have done camps/skill sessions in Dallas, Clarendon, Turkey, Wellington and several other states.
Frank Phillips Lady Plainsmen Coach Brett Schneider greets a friend in Lubbock at a game between the Texas Tech and University of Kansas women on Feb. 19, 2022. Schneider’s brother, Brandon Schneider, is the Kansas women’s coach. Also attending were the Schneiders’ parents, Bob and Barbara Schneider. (Photo by Mike Haynes) Genesis Toledano
Bahar Kalkan
Maria Quesada Ortiz Alana Strong
Giselle Hernandez
Sa’Nya Green Aurore Eyango
Jayden Hayes
Teresa Mbemba
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dependable person and extremely motivated. She shoots up to 2,500 shots a week.”
Schneider also is counting on another new player from much farther away to contribute from outside. Ayuen Akot, a 5-10 guard from Australia, should spread the floor with her 3-point shooting, and Schneider also is counting on her maturity to lead.
What size the Lady Plainsmen have has been imported, as Tania Kerr (the player from the Bahamas) and Genesis Toledano from Argentina both are 6-1.
Freshmen aren’t all rookies
Even with some 3-point shooting, Phillips doesn’t have an abundance of experience regarding players with JUCO playing time. Schneider isn’t concerned about having a team of nothing but freshmen, however.
“I’m not concerned in the fact that even though all of ours are freshmen, because we have kids who have been playing in competition out of high school for a year or two,” he said. “We have rookies, but we have some veteran-type players. I do think we’ve got some good depth.”
That will be extremely important in a conference like the WJCAC. It’s consistently one of the strongest leagues in the nation from top to bottom.
There was a hint the Lady Plainsmen could compete in the conference last season as they started the WJCAC 3-2 before injuries and illness hit. Schneider isn’t making any concrete predictions about what to expect from the rest of the conference this year.
“Because we’re a junior college conference, you don’t know from year to year what the turnover is,” he said. “We have some amazing coaches in this league. Every person in this conference has a lot of experience. South Plains is the main program in our league everyone else looks up to. They have a national reputation.”
Schneider also thinks New Mexico JC looks strong. He still thinks the Lady Plainsmen have a genuine shot at finishing in the top four and making the regional tournament.
“We have to play very smart on defense,” he said. “Obviously when you don’t have a lot of size, you need to defend without fouling. We don’t want to give people the opportunity to score points when the clock isn’t running. We have to generate some offense from our defense, force turnovers and get some transition points.”
FRANK PHILLIPS LADY PLAINSMEN SCHEDULE
Date Opponent
Time
Nov. 1 Redlands @ Oklahoma TBA Nov. 4 Trinidad State @ Clarendon College 4 p.m. Nov. 5 Sterling College JV@ Clarendon College 12 p.m. Nov. 8 Lamar College @ Colorado 6 p.m. Nov. 15 Trinidad State TBA Nov. 17 Lamar College 5 p.m. Nov. 25 Arizona Western @ Yuma, Arizona 7:30 pm Nov. 26 Central Arizona College @ Yuma, Arizona 3:30 p.m. Nov. 28 University of Southwest JV @ Hobbs, N.M. 4 p.m. Nov. 29 Wayland Baptist JV @ Plainview 6 p.m. Dec. 9-10 Lady Plainsmen Classic Dec. 9 Lamar vs Western Oklahoma State 5 p.m. Frank Phillips College vs Redlands 7 p.m. Dec. 10 Lamar vs Redlands 1 p.m. Frank Phillips College vs Western Oklahoma State Jan. 3 Cedar Valley College @ Lancaster 3:30 p.m. Jan. 4 RPA Academy @ Arlington TBA Jan. 9 @ Midland College 5:45 p.m. Jan. 16 @ South Plains College 5:45 p.m. Jan. 19 @ Clarendon College 5:45 p.m. Jan. 23 Howard College 5:45 p.m. Jan. 26 @ Odessa College 5:45 p.m. Jan. 28 New Mexico Junior College TBA Jan. 30 Western Texas College 5:45 p.m. Feb. 6 Midland College 5:45 p.m. Feb. 13 South Plains College 5:45 p.m. Feb. 16 Clarendon College 5:45 p.m. Feb. 20 Howard College @ Big Springs 5:30 p.m. Feb. 23 Odessa College 5:45 p.m. Feb. 27 New Mexico Junior College @ Hobbs, N.M. 5:45 p.m. Mar. 2 Western Texas College @ Snyder 5:45 p.m.
