Three players ready to break out for Cloud County

Cloud County Community College head coach Kevin Muff has a trio of prospects coming back from last year’s squad, and he’s hoping the leadership and scoring provided by Keddric Mays, Manarou Gakou and Adam Vogelsberg will be enough to propel his team to a good season.

Keddric Mays, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound combo-guard will run the point for Cloud County this year after averaging 14 points per game last year (44 percent from 3-point line).

“He’s an excellent athlete, has a great first step. He has great range on his shot and he’s the consummate team player, very unselfish,” Muff said. “He’s a good student as well. But he’s just a very heady player.”

Mays will play the point this year, where Muff is hoping he can step in and get the CC offense rolling.

“His passing is something he needs to work on but he gets the ball to people when they’re open and he’s unselfish,” the coach said.

Illinois State, Texas A&M, North Texas, Arkansas Little Rock and Arkansas State are among the schools that have been showing recent attention.

Another player, Manourou Gakou, a 6-foot-8, 250-pounds center from Paris, returns after averaging 7 points and 5 boards last season.

“He’s a physical player in the paint, takes up a lot of space,” Muff said.. “He scores well with his back to the basket and he’s really improved his footwork. He had that European extra step but he’s put in a lot of effort to correct that.”

Virginia Tech and Tennessee-Chattanooga have shown the most interest in Gakou.

Finally, the T-Birds welcome back Adam Vogelsberg, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound shooting guard that was the team’s leading scorer last year, averaging about 16 points and 4 boards.

“He’s got excellent range and he’s an extremely accurate shooter. He’s one of those kids that when he shoots it, the ball looks like it’s going in every time it leaves his hands,” said Muff. “He’s a very heady player and he plays to his strengths, stays away from his weaknesses. He’s just a guy that knows how to play the game and has a good feel for it.”

The sharp-shooting lefty suffered a broken foot that prevented him from playing in any summer events, and it’s caused schools to take a wait-and-see approach. But, Muff expects Vogelsbert to have plenty of options after what should be another strong showing this season.