Roadrunners prepare for upcoming season

The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners will begin their fifth season under the leadership of Head Coach Matt Brown and new Assistant Coach Blake Kingsley. Coach Brown has been pleased for the most part with how practices have gone in the preseason.

"Practices have been up and down," said Brown. "We are doing a lot of teaching right now. We have gone to a couple of jamborees and been able to play different combinations and employed some different schemes."

SFCC fans can expect to see more of an up-tempo style from the Roadrunners this season.

"Hopefully, we will be able to use a little bit of our speed," said Brown. "We would also like to be able to utilize full-court pressure and play a little bit faster than we have in the past, if we're able to stay healthy and get in the proper condition."

The Roadrunners will count on leadership from six returning players, as well as some newcomers like Yame Butler and Cam Tweedy.

"Jamar Madge Jr. was a leader on our team last year, until he got injured in the Mineral Area game," said Brown. "He is doing really well with his rehab, so hopefully he will continue to work hard and be able to come back and help. We are also counting on leadership from other returning players like Chad Kratzer Jr. and Laveric Mangala.

SFCC will face a challenging non-region schedule that begins with a home opener on Nov. 3 against Missouri Baptist University Junior Varsity, followed by the McDonald's Classic and the Missouri-Iowa Challenge. SFCC will host the State Fair Community College Classic the following weekend on Nov. 19 and 20.

SFCC will also travel to Moberly over Thanksgiving weekend for a pair of tough contests. SFCC will open region play on December 4 against Mineral Area College at Park Hills. All of the men's teams in the Region will play three times during the regular season.

"We have three home games in December," said Brown. "It will be good to have some home games around the holidays, when people like to watch basketball. We are fortunate to be able have the facility this year."

SFCC will host Next Level Prep on Dec. 1, followed by Wabash Valley College on the sixth and Labette Community College on the eighth before the holiday break.

Coach Brown expects the region to be exceptionally good as always.

"Our Region will be very good," said Brown. "I think Mineral Area is ranked fifth in the preseason poll and Moberly is a top 20 program. I have known Jared Phay the Head Coach at Missouri State University-West Plains for 20 years, they will be good. Three Rivers has a new style of play that they want to show everyone."

Coach Brown has some goals for his team this year starting in the preseason.

"There is a direct correlation between how you practice and how well you play in games," said Brown. So we want to compete hard in every practice. In the preseason, we want to be the tougher team and communicate more on the floor. The two things that every team has control over are their attitude and effort. We also need to keep everyone healthy, for everyone to buy into their role on the team."

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics