The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team will get the season started on Halloween and the team couldn't be happier.
WNCC begins the season when they face Snow College on Halloween with a 3 p.m. contest. The Cougars will then host Dodge City Community College on November 1 at 6 p.m. The other men's game on Saturday will pit Casper College against Snow College at 4 p.m.
Isaiah St. Preux, one of the eight returners, said this team is ready to start playing.
"For me, I feel like this team is definitely ready to go," the 6-foot-1 sophomore guard from Miramer, Florida, said. "We put a lot of work in coming into Friday and just seeing that the team that we play against, we match up very well with them and we're just going to come out and do what we have to do."
Friday's opponent, Snow College, comes into Cougar Palace ranked 10th in the NJCAA poll. Saturday's opponent Dodge City went 15-17 a year ago. The big thing is the time of the game on Friday, which is set for 3 p.m., but that doesn't bother the team.
"We are ready. We definitely going to practice hard this whole week and just the times that we prepare for it, this is what it's for."
After the opening weekend, the schedule doesn't get any easier as they head to Arkansas City, Kansas to face No. 12 Cowley County Community College and then Butler Community College, who received votes, November 7-8. The Cougars also have a trip to Thatcher, Arizona, November 14-15 to face No. 15 Eastern Arizona College and Cochise College, and then a trip to Cheyenne for games with Salt Lake Community College and No. 17 College of Southern Idaho on November 21-22.
St. Preux said the tough early schedule will get them ready for the conference season.
"We definitely do have a tough early schedule," he said. "We play a couple top 25 teams, so we're definitely ready for that."
After the opening weekend the Cougars won't be home again until November 24 and 25 when they face Miles Community College and Eastern Wyoming College.
WNCC wrapped up the scrimmage season last weekend at Laramie County Community College and St. Preux said they did alright, but they know what they need to do work on before the season gets underway.
"The scrimmages Saturday went all right. We came out a little soft early, but then towards the end, we started to definitely come out a little harder," he said. "Our coach stayed on top of us the whole time and he made sure that we kind of just fought through the whole time and not give up. So, having that mindset going into the next game and just fighting off the bat, fighting off the jump, is definitely on our mind. That is the first ting we're going to do."
What makes this team something to watch is the talent on the team. Right now, though, there are a few players that are sidelined because of injuries, but St. Preux said there is so much talent but they just have to play some games to put it together.
"The talent is through the roof, skyrocket. This team is very, very talented all-around," he said. "We are talented in every aspect, too, so we got talent around the boards."
Besides St. Preux, the other returners from last year included Noah Jones, 6-5 from Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Kellon Harris, 6-2 from Scottsbluff; Witold Czerankiewicz, 6-5 from Byton, Poland; Toms Linis, 6-7 from Cesis, Latvia; Kendrick Preston, 6-8 from Miami, Florida; and Dorin Nguema, 6-6 from Tolosa, Spain.
The Cougars also have redshirt freshman Max Orchard, a 6-4 guard from Loma, Colorado, who redshirted a year ago, plus Willie Wilson, who played for the Cougars two years ago on the team. Wilson is a sharp-shooting guard that stands 6-2 from North Minneapolis, Minnesota.
To go with the all the returners, second-year coach Roybell Baez and first-year assistant coach Trey Winkler has some talent with the freshmen to work with. The newcomers include Xavier Kirkpatrick, 6-3 guard from Ocala, Florida; Melchi Egbeyemi, 6-2 guard from London, England; Viktor Lukic-Gavric, 6-3 guard from Sodertalje, Sweden; Amare Jackson, a 6-3 guard from Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Nehemiah Jean Charles, a 6-6 forward from Hollywood, Florida; and Ocean Brobbey, a 6-6 forward from London, England.
St. Preux said there is a big difference between this team and last year's team that went 14-17 and lost in the semifinals of the Region IX tournament to Gillette College.
"The difference between this team and last year's team, I feel like last year's team it was just a lot like we were not gelling together, but this year it's more weird, like it's like a brotherhood over here. It's like family almost," he said. "So, all of us are just connecting, bonding, and then just translating that to the court is honestly a blessing to play with."