Texas talk: Signing updates and more

Once again, juco basketball in Texas was wild and exciting. The week was punctuated by exciting games, outstanding individual performances, a coaching milestone, and many young men put their names on the dotted line to continue their careers after juco.

On Monday night, November 7th, Lon Morris College easily handled Eastfield College 87-69. Also, on Monday evening, Frank Phillips College faced defending NJCAA Region II Champion, Seminole State College. Frank Phillips fell 90-75 to Seminole.

On Tuesday, November 8th, Western Oklahoma State College defeated Clarendon College 94-84. Also, that night, Hill College defeated Navarro College 88-86 in overtime. JucoJunction pre-season All American Josh Love led Hill with 30 points and 18 rebounds. Two NJCAA Region V teams won that evening. Blinn College beat Lamar St.-Pt. Arthur 68-56, as Derek Burditt led Blinn with 23 points. 2005 NJCAA National Champion, Paris Junior College knocked off Ranger College 72-49. Two NJCAA Region V teams won that evening. Collin County Community College beat Brookhaven College 79-58 and Howard College defeated Weatherford College 81-70.

Wednesday, November 9th was highlighted by the Trinity Valley Community College and McLennan Community College battle. The Trinity Valley Cardinals won a wild and crazy evening 80-78.

Thursday, November 10th featured four games. Temple College slid by Jacksonville College 91-89. Lon Morris College rolled over Oklahoma Baptist J.V. 114-63. In the night's most exciting game, Grayson County Community College gave Paris Junior College their first loss of the year, 63-59. Also, Ranger College took it on the chin vs. Redlands Community College (OK) 100-59.

On Friday, November 11th, teams participated in weekend classics, all over the state of Texas and out of state. In an extremely exciting game, Midland College beat San Jacinto College 80-75 in the Lee College Classic. Midland was lead by Globe Tech transfer Ricky Davis with 35 points. In the second game of the evening in the Lee College Classic, Odessa College came from behind to defeat Lee 75-71. Odessa was led by Johan Gomez with 24 points. Lee was led by JucoJunction pre-season All-American, Mike White with 24 points. In Hutchinson Community College (KS) Classic, New Mexico Junior College defeated Sterling College JV (KS) 74-51. South Plains College went on the road and pulled out an impressive 76-58 win over Eastern Arizona College. South Plains was lead by Steve Haley with 22 points and Dwight Collins with 16 points. New Mexico Military Institute took it on the chin vs. College of Eastern Utah 101-64 in the Air Force Prep Classic in Colorado Springs, CO.

Saturday, November 12th was marked by more excitement and upsets on the home floor of some out of state opponents. Let's start with the road upsets. First, Cedar Valley defeated Connors State (OK) 71-62 in the Connors State Classic in Warner, OK. Second, New Mexico Junior College beat Hutchinson Community College (KS) 76-75 in the Hutchinson Community College Classic in Hutchinson, KS. Clarendon College was not so fortunate in the Garden City Community College (KS) Classic. They fell to Garden City (KS) 101-85. Neither was Weatherford College, they fell to Independence Community College (KS) in Independence's Classic 80-57. In a regular season game, Grayson County Community College beat Brookhaven College 77-71. Also, for the second time in one week, Paris Junior College defeated Eastern Oklahoma State College 72-53. In addition, the Lee College was the home for two more exciting games. Midland College knocked off the host Lee College Rebels 86-81 in overtime. San Jacinto College beat Odessa College 65-60 to give Head Coach Scott Gernander his 500th career victory.

GAMES TO WATCH

Monday, November 14th:

Lamar St. College-Pt. Arthur @ Blinn

Murray St. College (OK) @ Grayson County

McLennan @ Angelina

Richland @ Paris

Tuesday, November 15th:

Ranger @ Murray St. (OK)

South Plains @ Temple

Blinn @ Bayridge Christian

Jacksonville @ Kingwood

Eastfield @ Lon Morris

Hill @ Kilgore

Wednesday, November 16th:

Grayson Co. @ Paris

Trinity Valley @ McLennan

Angelina @ Southern-Shreveport

Panola @ Lamar St.-Pt. Arthur

Thursday, November 17th:

Kingwood @ San Jacinto

Temple @ Navarro

Odessa @ Dixie State College Tourney in St. George, UT

Friday, November 18th:

Clarendon @ Seward Co. (KS) Classic in Liberal, KS

Collin Co. @ Lamar St.-Pt. Arthur

South Padre Island Tourney in Pt. Isabel, TX (Howard, Weatherford, & McLennan)

Midland @ Air Force Prep Tourney in Colorado Springs, CO

New Mexico J.C. @ Otero (CO) Classic

Odessa @ Dixie State College Tourney

Ranger @ Richland

Eastern Arizona @ South Plains

Saturday, November 19th:

Clarendon @ Seward Co. Classic

Collin Co. @ Kingwood

Cedar Valley @ Frank Phillips

Trinity Valley @ Grayson Co.

Eastfield @ Hill

South Padre Island Tourney (Howard, Weatherford, & McLennan)

Midland @ Air Force Prep Tourney

New Mexico J.C. @ Otero (CO) Classic

Odessa @ Dixie State College Tourney

Jacksonville @ Temple

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Hill College's Josh Love

He had an outstanding individual performance on Tuesday night vs. Navarro College. Josh Love dominated the Bulldogs in the paint with 30 points and 18 rebounds. To avenge an earlier loss to Navarro, Love scored 11 points in the final 10 minutes, including a thunderous dunk off an offensive rebound to give Hill the lead. Hill held on the win 88-86 in overtime.

RECRUITING UPDATES

The following players signed national letters of intents or have committed:

Antonio Odom Kilgore College to Georgia State University

Charlie Burgess Howard College to Texas Tech University

Justin Johnson Tyler Junior College to University of Iowa

Charles Bronson Panola College to Xavier University

Marcus Malone Lee College to University of Houston

Rob McIver San Jacinto College to University of Houston

Shaun Reynolds Navarro College to College of Charleston

Asrangue Souleymane Panola College to George Washington University

James Barrett Howard College to Sam Houston State University

Marius Cracium Weatherford College to Rice University

Jason Arbet Eastfield College to University Central Oklahoma

Victor Ramalho South Plains College to UTEP

Will Bullard Richland College to Texas A&M Corpus Christi

Ben Bell San Jacinto College to University of North Texas.