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High expectations for Logan men's basketball

CARTERVILLE - It seemed like Kyle Smithpeters was pulling guys in off the street last season to join the John A. Logan College men's basketball team. That wasn't the case, obviously, but picking up a roster was definitely necessary every night the Vols played.

"We had 13 new guys last year," Smithpeters said. "But with those 13 guys, we did a lot of really good things."

The Volunteers went 26-6 and played an exciting brand of basketball. The statistics backed up the entertainment factor as they were one of the top teams in the country at sharing the ball and racking up assists.

And now the Vols are turning over the roster again, but not quite as dramatically. The leader of last year's team, David Sloan, is back at point guard after leading all Division I teams in assists and being named an All-American.

A lot of Sloan's teammates moved on to four-year universities, but also back are Vonnie Patterson and Jonah Jackson. Patterson was a multi-threat and Jackson was a long-range sniper. The sophomore trio has been named tri-captains for this year's team.

"We're going to do good," Sloan said at the team's media day luncheon Monday. "We just need to limit teams to no second-chance points, guard full court and get out and run."

Sloan averaged 12.0 points, 9.5 assists and 4.8 rebounds a year ago. Patterson averaged 11.8 points and 7.8 rebounds and was named all-conference. Jackson made nearly half of his 3-point attempts and averaged nearly eight points per game.

"We just have to keep setting our expectations high and having a team-first mentality," Patterson said. "If we keep fighting for each other and having each other's backs, we'll be all right."

Also back are big men Antwan Campbell and Quamain Nelson and Agape Christian product Will Keller, who has bulked up and moved from walk-on to scholarship status. There is a new sophomore in Chris Harris, who transferred in from Missouri S&T after leading them in scoring (13.5 ppg) as a freshman.

"He's a big strong guard who not only brought in a lot of offiensive qualities but I think he has a chance to be one of the best defenders in the country," Smithpeters said of Harris, whose scoring average was best among freshmen in the GLVC.

Then there are the freshmen.

Fans are going to be wowed by 6-foot-6 swingman Jayden Scrubb, who can do just about everything and use both hands doing it.

"Jay is extremely talented on both ends of the floor," Smithpeters said. "He'll be a fun player to watch. He's already progressed a lot and hopefully that continues. When he figures out a few more things, he'll be tough to handle both in our league and across the country."

The incoming freshmen also include Jordan Cousin and Mark Lancaster. Smithpeters is expecting big things from both. Cousin is 6-7 and Lancaster is a transfer from Georgia State - where he was a linebacker, not a basketball player.

"He's brought a great physical aspect and mentality to our practices," Smithpeters said. "We're very thankful for that."

The other two freshmen on the roster are very familiar names to basketball fans in the Logan district - Carterville's Justin Johnson and Marion's Justin Saddoris.

"These are two local guys who have already established themselves with our culture," Smithpeters said. "They've brought a lot of good things. We're very happy to have the type of character those guys are in our program."

Saddoris had a breakout senior season at Marion and helped the Wildcats advance all the way to the Class 3A super-sectional. Now he's a guard with the Volunteers.

"I'm just going to play my role with the team," Saddoris said. "We're going to win some games."

Smithpeters, who has led Logan to five straight 20-win seasons, likes the firepower he's working with quite a bit.

"We think we have the ability to score," he said. "We have a lot of really good scorers. But do we have that defensive toughness? Do we have that defensive mindset? That's what we've been trying to drive home these first weeks of preseason and practice."

Logan's schedule has a drastically different look, as well. The traveling prep schools and JV teams are gone. Instead, the Vols will open at home Thursday against Motlow State, a school from Tennessee with three-straight national tournament appearances.

JALC then hosts perennial power Three Rivers like usual, but also faces highly-ranked teams Vincennes and Moberly and also plays Eastern Mississippi in a tournament at Vincennes. All of that happens before the GRAC slate gets cranking.

"The first thing we did knowing who we signed and what we had coming back was making our schedule as hard as we possibly could," Smithpeters said. "I think we have the hardest schedule in the country and I'll happily go on record saying that. We have three teams in our region alone in the top 25 and three games in our first against the top 20. That's tough to do."

Thursday night's game against Motlow State starts at 7 p.m.

Justin Saddoris
Kyle Smithpeters