PV MEN PREP TO DEFEND REGION 16 BASKETBALL TITLE

Coach of the Year Marcus Harvey (Uno Yi/The Current)

by Uno Yi  

The Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley’s men’s basketball team is in the middle of preparing for the upcoming 2009/2010 season. Tryouts began on September 2.  

The Scouts are the reigning champions of NJCAA Region 16. Former team member Marquis Kilgore, who led the scouts to the last season’s victory, said he was very disappointed when his team missed the National Tournament by just one game against Johnson County Community College on March 10, 2009.   

Head coach Marcus Harvey expressed confidence in the next season, though. The Scouts recorded only five losses out of 36 games last season.  

A lot of new faces will join in this year’s team. Only five veteran team members return, due to a massive number of graduations. The remaining key members, such as Justin Henderson and Ladon Champagnie, still make the prospect of the upcoming season positive. Recruits Beron White and Nathan Taylor, who make up for some of the former members’ evacuation, are about to join the Scouts through transfer.  

Harvey, who was named Region 16 Coach of the Year, picked his team’s height as a weak point, but added, “Basketball is not about height. It’s about patience, speed and, especially, teamwork.”  

The Scouts are well known for their defense, holding the opposition teams’ average scores to less than 76 points per game last season. Harvey explained the key to the Scouts’ sophisticated defense: “I’m always emphasizing teamwork to my members. Better teamwork leads to better defense,” Harvey said.