Preview
On November 7th, 2003, Sinclair Community College officially began a new era of college basketball. Under new head coach Jeff Price; Sinclair established a program to showcase the talents of its student-athletes on the court as well as in the classroom.
Surviving a very disappointing 6-17 first season, Sinclair put into place a system to provide solid academic guidance as well as strong basketball fundamentals. Like most new systems, change happens slowly over time. This point was never so evident as to how well the team played at the end of the year compared to the start of the 2003-04 year. Following the new system set forth by the new coaching staff, Sinclair posted big end of the season wins over Nationally Ranked Owens on the road, along with a win against Cuyahoga (2004 National Champions) and Nationally Ranked #1 and undefeated (25-0) Columbus at home. Given the fact that the team finished 6-17 and had a scoring margin little under -9 per game, the coaching staff felt the pieces were in place to start making a run at the perennial OCCAC top teams.
Sinclair will rely on top returning players Sam Brown (6-1/Cleveland, TX), Ty Sellers (6-2/Dayton, OH), Ray Riley (6-4/Dayton, OH), Vincent Saulnier (6-6/Pitsburg, OH) and Adrian Greene (6-6/Ft. Wayne, IN), along with top newcomers, transfer Nate Blankenship (5-9/Lewisburg, OH) and Freshman Jermiel Atkins (6-5/Dayton, OH), Andrew Williams (6-7/Chicago, IL), Stanley Dunson (6-9/Indianapolis, IN) and Dorian Hoover (6-10/Dayton, OH) to continue the type of excitement and style of basketball Coach Price has set for his program.
Having 9 returning players will make the transition for the incoming players very easy. Early on last year, the one area we identified as a need for our recruiting class was size. For us to take the next step and advance to the next level, we needed to recruit BIGS! As you can see, we feel we signed quality big men.
Now with all the returning experience and a solid inside core, our up tempo style of play will make coming to a Sinclair basketball game very entertaining. We will showcase different types of pressure on the defensive end as well as a type of offensive structure you would see in a NCAA Division I game. This years' team has the experience and size to complete at a very high level. We have assembled a very aggressive schedule that includes an opening tournament in Spartansburg, South Carolina along with a return trip to National Runners up Mott C.C. in Flint, Michigan. Our other two major trips will come early on in the 2004-05 year. Just a few weeks into the season, Sinclair will play a Sunday game against the Naval Academy JV team over in Annapolis, Maryland. About a month later, again on a Sunday, Sinclair will play the University of North Carolina JV team in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The game of basketball is very exciting, and we will utilize all of our talents to play at a very high level of intensity. So come out and enjoy college level basketball from floor level! Enjoy the season!
