Roadrunners basketball ready for start of season in spring

The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners are preparing to embark on a basketball season unlike any in the program's rich history. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) decided to move the basketball competition season to the spring. In addition to the shift in the schedule, the program had a change in personnel, as Assistant Coach Andrew Green joined the men's basketball coaching staff.

"We are having to cram a lot of information into our players to be ready for the season to start," said Roadrunners Head Coach Matt Brown. "Honestly, we're just hoping for the opportunity to have a season. Everyone is in the same boat."

SFCC is currently scheduled to open the season on Jan. 26 at Metropolitan Community College in Kansas City, Missouri. SFCC is scheduled to open the home portion of their schedule on Jan. 30 with another game against Metropolitan Community College. Region 16 and Missouri Community College Athletic Conference play is scheduled to open on Wednesday, Feb. 10, when the Roadrunners travel to Poplar Bluff to take on Three Rivers Community College.

Coach Brown expects the Roadrunners to be a faster team this year with good quickness, and to be able to press along with a post presence.

SFCC will only return one player who saw minutes in a game for the Roadrunners last season. Sophomore guard/forward Kohen Thompson of Memphis, Tennessee played in all 30 games for SFCC last season, starting 11 contests. Thompson scored 4.8 points per game and made 80% of his free-throw attempts. Thompson averaged 4.2 rebounds and two assists per game.

Coach Brown expects the leadership on this year's team to come from a few different places.

"Jamar Madge, Jr. (Kansas City), a transfer from Wisconsin-Milwaukee should provide leadership for our team along with Kohen Thompson and Eman Eman (Quebec, Canada)."

Coach Brown sees a few things that will be key to his team's success this season.

"At the end of the year, I think the team that does the best job of staying together and staying healthy is the team that is going to end up winning the region," said Brown. "Another key will be how quickly our team can absorb the information we are trying to teach them and mesh with all their new teammates. It just feels good to be out there and practice with our team."

Source: David Rohrbach
SFCC Athletics