Southeastern Community College men's basketball cautiously optimistic after 4-0 start

Cautiously optimistic.

That's the way Southeastern Community men's basketball coach Lorenzo Watkins feels about this year's team.

After a year of no fans in the gyms and wearing masks on the bench, the Blackhawks are ready to get back to some sense of normalcy this season. That includes having Loren Walker Arena full of fans, no masks or social distancing on the bench and competing for a Region XI championship and a spot in the NJCAA national tournament on the court.

With seven players back from last year's 17-7 team and an influx of versatile, athletic players to the roster, Watkins is cautiously optimistic as the Blackhawks enter a stretch of tough games after a 4-0 start.

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“I’m just excited to get back going, to be honest, with a lot more normalcy this with our fans," Watkins said. "I just feel bad for our guys last year. Especially not getting that effect of what we tell them when we recruit them about the greatness of being in Burlington and our fans and it’s one to experience. You tell people about it, but then they don’t get to experience our tradition here, the way our fans love Blackhawk basketball. I’m excited for our guys. I’m excited for our returners to have some excitement in Loren Walker Arena again.”

Iowa/Missouri Challenge

The Blackhawks, who rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat Sauk Valley on Tuesday, will be tested this weekend as SCC hosts the Iowa/Missouri Challenge on Friday and Saturday. There will be four games each day, with SCC playing the final game of the day. SCC will play longtime rival Moberly at 8 p.m. Friday and State Fair at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Watkins is looking forward to seeing how his team responds to the challenge.

“Our schedule is pretty tough," Watkins said. “That is going to be a great event for Burlington. There will be four games Friday and four games Saturday with some of the top teams in Iowa and Missouri. It will be a great event. We’re looking forward to it.”

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The schedule for the Iowa/Missouri Challenge:

FRIDAY

2 p.m. — Triton vs. Three Rivers

4 p.m. _ Marshalltown vs. State Fair

6 p.m. — Indian Hills vs. Missouri-West Plains

8 p.m. — Southeastern vs. Moberly

SATURDAY

1 P.M. — Marshalltown vs. Three Rivers

3 P.M. — Triton vs. Missouri-West Plains

5 P.M. — Indian Hills vs. Moberly Area

7 P.M. — Southeastern vs. State Fair

The smalls

The Blackhawks have an array of guards who can not only shoot the ball, but dribble penetrate and find the open teammate and get to the rim.

Koby Issac, Kennedy Milton, Gavin Kies, Bruce Carpenter and Jimmy Beane are back from last year's team. They are joined by Davion Bailey, Jakada Stone, Stephon McGill, Manny Austin and EJ Evans, Jr.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who can really, really shoot it. We’ve got a lot of guys who can put it in the basket from the 3-point line," Watkins said. “Our biggest deal now is not settling. You have to have that attitude that, ‘I’m not going to settle for a three.’ Put it on the floor and broaden you game. Not just being a one-dimensional player.”

Watkins has been pleasantly surprised with the progress of Austin, a 6-foot-3 freshman from Des Moines.

“He came in earlier than anyone else and really just worked," Watkins said. "He and Coach (Justin) Tabor have been in the gym ungodly amount of time before school started and it’s showing now. He’s a big-time energy guy. He can put it on the floor. He’s very athletic. He really reminds me of AJ (Cox). He does a lot of good things.”

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Beane returns after missing a large portion of last season following an ankle injury. For Beane, it is almost like starting from scratch.

“He’s getting there, He’s had some ups and downs," Watkins said. "We’re just trying to get him back into that basketball mode of getting up and down and getting back to what we’re trying to do offensively and defensively. He’s that question mark for us right now. He’s so versatile. He can play so many different positions. He’s a big-time athlete. Jimmy has one of the best mid-range games I have seen in a long time.”

The bigs

Jesiah West and Naiq Chisholm, who had solid seasons in the post last season, are back to join Javordo Mitchell, a 6-11 freshman from Canada, and Railer Vargas Hernandez and Jhonnu Tovar Mendez, a pair of freshmen from Venezuela.

Having some size in the post is something the Blackhawks have lacked for several years.

“Two big energy and effort guys," Watkins said of the Venezuelans. "These guys are just great together. They’ve already blended in with (Chisholm) and Josiah in the post. You can tell those guys have experience is rubbing off on them. They are like sponges. They want to get better. They play hard. I don’t have to coach energy and effort with them. If you’re coaching guys like that it makes you job that much easier. You can just work with them. They are very versatile. They can both step out and shoot it. They are great passers. I think they are going to be a great addition to our inside games who can complement our guards.”

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Defense, defense and more defense

Watkins puts a strong emphasis on defense, rebounding and ball protection. While those areas are emphasized early and often, the Blackhawks' offense will come around in time.

“We’ve got a lot of good additions. Now we’ve just got to be solid. We have to make sure we stay on the right path and understand what we’re trying to do offensive and defensively as a staff," Watkins said. "The offense if going to struggle early because we’re working on the things we can control, and that’s being able to play defense without fouling, being able to rebound and being able to guard your guy one-on-one. The offensive end will come. We’e not going to turn the ball over. We have to value possessions. If our guys start understanding that collectively, we will be on the right track. How many stops in a row can you get? That’s how you bury teams. We aren’t going to stop guys from scoring every time. But we have to make it difficult.”

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A new-look conference

With Iowa Western and Northeast Nebraska dropping down to the Division II level this season, that leaves just SCC, Indian Hills and Marshalltown to battle it out for supremacy as the only Division I schools in Region XI.

Watkins said that has forced him to make some alterations in the schedule.

“We’re going to have to figure out if we’re going to keep it this way or join Missouri or join Illinois. Everybody keeps talking Marshalltown might go Division II because all of their other sports are Division II," Watkins said. “We’re going to get tested early. Our non-conference singles games are going to be tough. We’re going to Highland. We’re going to Kankakee. We go to Mineral Area and they come here. They finished No. 1 in the country last year. We have a tough schedule.”

This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: SCC men's basketball returns seven players from last year's 17-7 team