South Plains Men
Tall Texans have an inside plan By DAVE WOHLFARTH When the Texans work the ball inside this season, opponents will have a sizable problem. The Texans have some tall guys operating in the front court. South Plains likely will have 6-10 Khalifa Sakho and 6-10 Malek Abdelgowad next to the basket. Need a backup? There’s 7-0 Antonio Batis. The Texans have still more sizable depth in 6-7 Eric Coleman Jr. and 6-7 DJ Avery. So what will be the Texans’ strength? “It should be our inside play. We’ll be pretty good down low,” SPC assistant coach Trevor Van Tassel said. “And we have some older guys who can play under pressure. They understand the game and will make the right decisions.” Older guys is a bit of an overstatement when discussing a junior college team. The Texans have five sophomores and nine freshmen on their roster. The only player officially back from last year is Batis, still a freshman because of the NJCAA decision to allow players an extra year of eligibility given last year’s COVID problems. But the 7-footer from the Dominican Republic didn’t play much last year, appearing in only seven games and pulling down 14 rebounds. “He’s in the mix with the two other big guys,” Van Tassel said. There is a player on the Levelland campus who saw plenty of action a year ago. Benjamin Ngondo Bayela started 19 games and averaged 10.5 points and 6.1 rebounds. But the 6-6 sophomore guard from France suffered a torn ACL right at the end of last season. His status for this season is in doubt. “He’s working out,” Van Tassel said of Bayela, who was honorable mention all-conference in his 2019-20 freshman season. Consequently, there’s a lot of new blood on the South Plains squad. Not unusual for a junior college team. But that does present some challenges. South Plains Texan Roster Name, Ht., Pos., Class, Hometown Tytan Newton, 6-0, G, Fr., Indianapolis, Indiana Jaden Harris, 6-4, G, Fr., Atlanta, Georgia Savion Gallion, 6-4, G, Soph., Washington, D.C. Malik Zachery, 6-2, G, Soph., Syracuse, New York Kieves Turner, 6-1, G, Fr., Coatesville, Pennsylvania Jaylin Reed, 6-2, G, Soph., Staunton, Virginia Zion Richardson, 6-4, G, Soph., Plano, Texas Antonio Batis, 7-0, P, Fr., La Romana, Dominican Republic Marcus Burnett, 6-5, G, Fr., New York, New York Eric Coleman, Jr., 6-7, F, Soph., Buford, Georgia Andre Gray, 6-2, G, Fr., Minneapolis, Minnesota DJ Avery, 6-7, G, Fr., Louisville, Kentucky Khalifa Sakho, 6-10, F, Fr., Rouen, France Malek Abdelgowad, 6-10, F, Fr., Egypt Coach: Steve Green Asst. Coaches: Hayden Sowers, Trevor Van Tassel, Gino Saucedo 2020-2021 record: 17-2, 12-1 2021-2022 Panhandle-Plains Basketball
Savion Gallion
Malik Zachery
Kieves Turner
Eric Coleman Jr.
Khalifa Sakho
Malek Abdelgowad
“With a brand new team, you’re never sure how they’ll handle adversity,” Van Tassel said. “Also, we need to figure out who we need to play.” He indicated the following Texans may see a lot of action: • Savion Gallion, a 6-4 sophomore guard from Washington, D.C.; • Malik Zachery, a 6-2 sophomore guard from Syracuse, New York; • Kieves Turner, a 6-1 freshman guard from Coatesville, Pennsylvania; • The aforementioned Coleman, a 6-7 sophomore forward from Buford, Georgia; • Sakho, a 6-10 freshman forward from Rouen, France; • Abdelgowad, a 6-10 freshman from Egypt; • Tytan Newton, a 6-0 freshman guard from Indianapolis; • Avery, a 6-7 freshman forward from Louisville, Kentucky. Guards Gallion, Zachery and Newton may provide the bulk of the scoring from the backcourt, but they’ll need to adjust their long-range shooting this season. The junior colleges will play with the 3-point line moved back about a foot, the same as the international line. NCAA Division I schools went to the longer 3-point line last year. Last year was a very successful one for Coach Steve Green’s Texans. They went 18-3 overall and shared the Western Junior College Athletic Conference with a 12-1 league record. That was Green’s eighth conference championship team in his 21 years at South Plains. South Plains won 17 straight before suffering some injuries late in the season. The top-ranked Texans lost the last game of the regular season at Odessa 74-68, then a WJCAC tournament semifinal contest against Howard 61-60. The Texans received a first-round bye in the NJCAA national (Continued on next page)
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