The Bakersfield College men’s basketball team will have a lot of experience this year.
The Renegades have seven players returning to the team from last season.
The players who are returning from last are: Jeff Grace, Reggie Lassiter, Andrew Rhoades, Jimmy Scroggins, Daniel Williams, Justin Calhoun, and Kyle Watkins.
“We have seven guys back who know our system. They have really worked hard in the spring and summer to get better,” said men’s basketball coach Rich Hughes.
Hughes said that his team’s goals are broken down into three parts.
“We break it down into three seasons,” he said. “The first season, we play in six tournaments; we try to win six tournament championships. The second part of the season we get into our conference.
“We are defending conference champs, so, obviously, we want to retain our conference championship. The third season is the playoffs. Last year, we didn’t do very well in the playoffs.”
Hughes said that the use of the defensive strategy is one way his players play. This is often how the team plays, but being unselfish is always the key to being successful at sports.
Hughes outlined his team’s strengths. “I think our speed and athleticism are our two biggest keys. We are much faster and much more athletic than last year. The way that we play with our pressing style, we are going to be able to cause a lot more defensive havoc this year.”
The 2006 men’s team has seven players who received full athletic scholarships to four-year schools.
Hughes feels that this year’s Western State Conference competition is going to be wide open “Last year, a lot of the teams felt that we were the front runners. This year, there may be four or five frontrunners. It’s going to be a battle.”
Hughes said that he emphasizes practice. “We structure our practice so it is worse than any game. It’s intense, it’s competitive, guys are going after each other. So that when we get in a game our guys are prepared and trained.”
They had a record of 30-3 last season, and they will start off this season with a three-day tournament in Ventura on Nov. 8-10.