Tigers ready to make a move in Jayhawk Conference
In year three of Donnie Jackson's head coaching tenure at Cowley College, he has the Tigers in position to make a jump in the conference standings thanks to a strong recruiting class to go along with some talented returning players.
Jeff Nwankwo returns to Cowley after initially signing with NCAA Division I Marist University. The 6'6 forward missed most of the fall semester due to injury but returned to average 10.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in 16 contests. He saved his best for the end of the season as he averaged 14.5 points and 8.8 rebounds over his final four games. He could be one of the top players in the conference.
"Jeff needs to be a Player of the Year type contender if we are going to take the step we want as a team," Jackson said. "Jeff puts the time and effort into it, and I think he is seeing the fruits of his labors."
Corey Thomas made 12 starts as a freshman and came on strong toward the end of the 2022-23 campaign. Thomas averaged 9.1 points and 3.6 rebounds over the Tigers' final eight contests. He gained 18 pounds of muscle in the offseason.
"Corey used the last eight games of last season and used them as positive motivation over the summer," Jackson said.
Damare Smith averaged 5.6 points per game while making eight starts as a freshman. Shot a team-high 82.6 percent from the free-throw line. Lam Kuany appeared in 16 games as a freshman, averaging 2.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. Kuany lost 40 pounds in the offseason and looks to make positive strides on the court.
"Lam put in the work in the offseason, and you can see his self-confidence growing," Jackson said.
Faustin Phanor, a 6'10' redshirt sophomore, missed last season due to an injury. Now healthy, the Tigers are excited to see his growth and maturity on the court.
Highlighting the list of newcomers is sophomore transfer Arzhonte Dallas, who earned Second Team All-Region honors and was named to the All-Freshman team while playing at Eastern Oklahoma State College last season. He played in 28 games and averaged 17.4 points, 3.9 assists, and 4.6 rebounds per game during the regular season.
"We added more speed and athleticism in the backcourt," Jackson said. "Arzhonte is a dynamic player that can get easy baskets because of his speed."
David Hill is a transfer from Missouri State University, where he was named to the Missouri Valley Conference Honor Roll. His brother, Alize Johnson, played in the NBA. Strong, physical guard who will compete for minutes in the backcourt.
Marcus Ziegler, who played in two straight state championship games at Heights High School in Wichita, will also be a nice addition to the team's backcourt play.
"Marcus has a lot of winning qualities to him," Jackson said. "We have more ballhandling and decision-making skill in the backcourt, which we hope translates into more points."
Avante Nichols was one of the state of Georgia's best athletes and put on a show full of highlight dunks and rejections at the rim during his time at McDonough High School.
"Avonte is a high-flyer that still needs to take some steps to be consistent," Jackson said. "But, he and Ajai Flagg from Atlanta, Georgia, can be impact freshmen for us."
Devin Brown, Leslie Owens, Trey Thiel, and Marquis Combs-Pierce are other freshmen on the roster.
"I hope the experience our team gets early in the season will prepare them for a run late in the year," Jackson said.
A season ago, Cowley finished ninth in the 13-team conference and went just 10-7 at home.
"We need to do a better job of protecting our home court," Jackson said.
Jackson believes Barton County is the team to beat with the number of players they return. After that, the conference should be wide open. Barton was picked second behind Butler in the 13-team Jayhawk Conference, while the Tigers were picked to finish eighth.
"This team should get better as the season goes along," Jackson said. "I think defensive pressure and sharing the ball should be two things we should be able to hang our hat on. We hope to be peaking at the end of the season when it matters most."
Photo Credit: Rama Peroo