The MSJC men's basketball team will begin their 2019-20 season this weekend when they travel to Palm Desert to take part in the Frank Garcia Classic hosted by College of the Desert.
The Eagles are coming off another impressive season a year ago when they finished with a record of 22-6 and reached the second round of the CCCAA Southern California Regional Tournament, the play-off appearance was the 11th in a row for MSJC. The Eagles will feature nearly an entire new roster of players with a mix of freshmen and transfers joining a pair of returners Lenzell Simmons and Jernard Jackson. The Eagles will have to replace Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year David Thompson as well as First Team All-PCAC selections C.J. Hyder and Deshawn Millington. All three will be playing at the four year level this season with Thompson at Santa Clara University, Hyder at Fresno State, and Millington at Tuskegee University. That trio combined to average 42 points a season ago.
Simmons will be the Eagles top returning scorer, the sophomore from Riverside Poly HS, averaged 8.9 points per game as a freshman as he played in all 28 of MSJC's games while making 8 starts. Lenzell also grabbed 4.4 rebounds per contest while playing 20 minutes a game. The Eagles other returner is point guard Jernard Jackson who saw action in 22 games last season and made one start averaging 2 points per game.
Simmons and Jackson will be joined by a trio of transfers including two big bodies in the form of 6'9 Chidi Okwarabizie and 6'8 Latravian Glover. Glover was a highly touted high school player at South Miami, before playing his freshman season at The University of the Virgin Islands. The skilled big man will be expected to contribute both in the post and on the wing. Okwarabizie, who is a native of Lagos, Nigeria will be looked upon to be a physical presence in the post on both ends of the floor. Chidi spent his freshman season at North Platte Community College last year and is the brother of former UCLA player Ikenna Okwarabizie. MSJC's third transfer is Kamien Cederlind, a 5'10 guard from Temecula Valley, who played a season at Mira Costa College in 2015-16 where he appeared in 27 of his team's games.
MSJC will also feature a host of highly talented freshmen led by a pair of guards from Confluence Prep Academy in St. Louis, Missouri. Brandon Fredrick, who averaged 31 points per game in high school, and Michael Clark an explosive point guard will team up in the back court this season to add speed and quickness to the roster. The rest of the freshmen class has a slew of area players who had decorated high school careers. Jamaal Barnes (Bonita), Danilo Da Silva (Redlands), De-von Sullivan (Tahquitz), Ethan Bell (Citrus Valley), and Massai Bates (Scale Prep) are all expected to give the Eagles depth in the guard court and were All-Conference high school players. Up front MSJC will be getting depth from Sebastian Zerpa (Redlands East Valley), Isaiah Williams (Perris), and Mekhi Hill (Vista Murrieta).
Despite all the new faces MSJC impressed in the Fall Showcase season earning themselves a pre-season ranking of #7 in the State and #4 in Southern Cal in the California Community College Coaches Association poll. The Eagles open the Frank Garcia Classic on Friday night at 5 pm when they take on West LA. MSJC will then play Grossmont on Saturday night at 5 with both games being played at College of the Desert. The Eagles who have a very tough non-conference schedule this year will play their home opener on Friday November 8th when they host Rio Hondo College at 7 pm.
The Eagles entire 2019-20 schedule can be found here.