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contribute immediately. Garren Davis, a 6-4 guard, transfers in from Loyola-Maryland, 6-7 Bryce Okpoh arrives from Grand Canyon University and biggest of all, literally, 7-1 Cody Collinsworth comes in from the University of Portland. “We’ve got some guys with experience,” Jenkins said. “I like that we’re older and there’s not a lot of true freshmen on the team this year compared to last year. I think we’ve got good size across the board. Even our guards are bigger.” Along with Collinsworth, the Bulldogs will have some size inside with 6-9 Conner Landell from Toronto. The difference from last year is that the Bulldogs will have a month of games under their belts before opening WJCAC play. Clarendon opens the regular season by hosting Nationwide Academy on Nov. 2 and two nights later hosts Ranger College, a national Final Four team last season. Later in November, Clarendon goes to East Texas to face perennial power Trinity Valley Community College. The Bulldogs start WJCAC play on the road Dec. 1 against Western Texas College at Snyder. “The league’s going to be really, really tough this year,” Jenkins said. “There’s not really a night off. South Plains is always really, really good. Odessa (College) was top five in the country. Frank Phillips has put together a good roster, too.” To get through the challenging WJCAC gauntlet, Jenkins wants to see his team take on a blue collar mentality. “I’d like for us every time we go out on the court to be the hardest playing team,” Jenkins said. “It’s playing together and being unselfish. We’ve got to use each other. The point guard
CLARENDON COLLEGE BULLDOGS SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time Nov. 2 Nationwide Academy 6 p.m. Nov. 4 Ranger College 4 p.m. Nov. 6 Coastal Bend College @ Hobbs, NM 3 p.m. Nov. 7 Redlands Community College @ Hobbs, NM 1 p.m. Nov. 11 Loyalty Prep Academy 7 p.m. Nov. 12 RPA College 6 p.m. Nov. 15 @ Otero Junior College, Colorado 7:30 p.m. Nov. 16 @ Trinidad State Junior College, Colorado 2 p.m. Nov. 19 Jacksonville College @ Snyder 4 p.m. Nov. 20 Hill College @ Snyder 4 p.m. Nov. 23 Paris Junior College @ Athens 5:30 p.m. Nov. 24 @ Trinity Valley Community College 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17 Houston Hurricanes 4 p.m. Dec. 1 Western Texas College 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4 Odessa College 3:30 p.m. Jan. 2 Otero Junior College 5 p.m. Jan. 6 @ New Mexico Military Institute 6:30 p.m. Jan. 8 Midland College 3 p.m. Jan. 10 @ Frank Phillips College 7:45 p.m. Jan. 13 South Plains College 7:45 p.m. Jan. 20 Howard College 7>45 p.m. Jan. 24 @ New Mexico Junior College 7:45 p.m. Jan. 27 Western Texas College 7:45 p.m. Jan. 31 @ Odessa College 7:45 p.m. Feb. 3 New Mexico Military Institute 6 p.m. Feb. 7 @ Midland College 7:45 p.m. Feb. 10 Frank Phillips College 7:45 p.m. Feb. 14 @ South Plains College 7:45 p.m. Feb. 21 @ Howard College 7:45 p.m. Feb. 24 New Mexico Junior College 7:45 p.m.
can’t have a great game if he’s playing by himself. “I like our talent from an offensive standpoint. If they can really buy in to guarding on the defensive end, I think we could have a pretty good year.”
Clarendon College Women
Lady Bulldogs have solid foundation By LEE PASSMORE Mark James has been head coach of the Clarendon College women long enough to know that perspective is important to carry from season to season. Last year the Lady Bulldogs, competing in the rugged Western Junior College Athletic Conference, finished a COVID-shortened season 12-11. Considering the quality of the competition they faced from the outset in WJCAC play, James doesn’t think that record is too bad. “I’m not much of an excuse guy, but we play in the toughest conference in the country, so 12-11 is not too shabby,” said James, who’s in his sixth season at the helm of the Clarendon women and third year as the school’s athletic director. “We’re pretty proud of our season. Our first round playoff game, we felt good going into it, and we played a team (Howard College) we had beaten twice, but we picked the worst time to probably play our worst game of the year.” With three returning players who scored in double figures last season, Clarendon appears to have a foundation to at the very least be competitive this season. Last year the Lady Bulldogs finished fourth in the conference in the regular season. James sees capabilities in his returning talent to genuinely
contend atop the WJCAC. “That’s a tough task, but we do feel good about it,” James said. “The one thing we were missing last year is that we just didn’t have a true point guard who could break you down off the dribble and put some ball pressure on other point guards. That was probably the only piece we were missing to contend. This year we do.” That would be sophomore JoJo Munroe, a 5-5 native of the Bahamas who’s a transfer from the prestigious Colleyville (Kansas) Community College program. James likes Munroe’s speed and defense along with her ability to push the ball in transition. Munroe should complement what James thinks will be the biggest strength of his team, at least offensively. “We can shoot the ball,” he said. “We’ve got some size that can shoot it. We’ve got four kids who are returners who played a lot of basketball last year. Experience should lead us pretty early and maybe early on in conference.” Most of last season the Lady Bulldogs played only eight players, and James estimates six of those were contributors. With a bit more depth, that should make the lineup better across the board. Sophomore Aileen Marquez is the leading returning scorer from last season. She might be the team’s best pure shooter, as (Continued on next page)
2021-2022 Panhandle-Plains Basketball
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