Wayland Men
New coach, young team optimistic By KEVIN LEWIS Clint Galyean knows there will be growing pains as he sets out as head coach of the Wayland Baptist Pioneers. Not only is Galyean a first-year coach at Wayland who is in his fourth year as a collegiate head coach, but the majority of his roster will be young, too. That’s a tough proposition for a team playing in one of the toughest small college conferences in the country, the Sooner Athletic Conference. Still, it’s a challenge that Galyean is very much embracing. “We are excited about the group of guys we have. We are really young. We have nine true/COVID freshmen. We know there will be an adjustment period for these guys, not only with a new staff, but how physical the college game is,” said Galyean, who took the reins from Ty Harrelson after he resigned following a six-year stint that produced a 115-59 record (.661) plus a Sooner Athletic Coach Clint Galyean Conference regular season and SAC Tournament title. Harrelson’s teams qualified for NAIA Nationals four years, including a run to the quarterfinals in 2018. A native of Eastland, where his father Doug is considered a legend in the high school coaching ranks, Clint Galyean came to Wayland from Central Baptist College in Conway, Arkansas, where he spent the past three years as head coach, helping the Mustangs to the American Midwest Conference regular season or tournament title and into the NAIA National Championships every season. Galyean’s teams, ranked as high as No. 18 in the NAIA, produced a combined win-loss record of 63-27, a winning percentage of .700. “I am looking forward to building off the success this program has established over the years,” Galyean said shortly after being hired at Wayland. “Our vision is to help our student athletes be Wayland Baptist Pioneers Roster Name, Ht., Pos., Class, Hometown Bryan Rector, 6-3, G, Soph., Lubbock, Texas Javorian Miller, 6-02, G, Soph., Odessa, Texas Brady Bailey, 6-4, G, Fr., Wheeler, Texas Kenyon Williams, 6-5, G, Fr., Bedford, Texas Amine Bouarifi, 6-5, G, Fr., Algiers, Algeria Amine Bensaleh, 6-7, F, Fr., Tipaza, Algeria Josh Servantez, 6-0, G, Soph., Shallowater, Texas Jordan Brannon, 6-3, G, Soph., Lubbock, Texas Kade Cleavinger, 6-7, F, Fr., Nazareth, Texas Gage Hulse, 6-1, G, Soph., Huffman, Texas Jaxon Recer, 6-7, G/F, Fr., Pottsboro, Texas Dylan McDougal, 6-2, G, Fr., Moore, Oklahoma Thad Udoh, 6-5, G/F, Fr., Amarillo, Texas Deng Bol Yol, 6-11, P, Sr., Kampala, Uganda Jibrael Washington, 6-8, P, Sr., Waco, Texas Coach: Clint Galyean Asst. Coaches: Justin Graham, Barry Johnson 2020-2021 record: 7-5, 6-3 2021-2022 Panhandle-Plains Basketball
Wayland Pioneer Jibrael Washington goes high for a rebound last season at home at the Hutcherson Center. (Photo by Claudia Lusk/WBU Sports Information)
successful on and off the court, grow in their faith, assist them in getting their diplomas and then propel them to successful careers in whatever they might choose to do, while also competing for conference and national championships.” The Pioneers last season went 7-5 overall and 6-3 in the SAC in a COVID-reduced schedule. The top three scorers from that team aren’t back, including graduated Tre Fillmore of Amarillo Palo Duro. Two players who averaged just under 8 ppg do return: (Continued on next page)
Jordan Brannon
Gage Hulse
Javorian Miller
Thad Udoh
Jibrael Washington
Deng Bol Yol
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