Jackson is eager for improvement in year two at the helm
Having amassed a .720 winning percentage during his eight seasons as head coach at Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa, Donnie Jackson has been accustomed to winning. So, you can imagine it was tough on the head coach to go 16-16 in his first year as head men's basketball coach at Cowley College. Jackson is determined to have his team improve on last season's record as he enters year two in charge of the program.
The Tigers, which were recently picked to finish fifth in the 13-team Jayhawk Conference, return 70 percent of their scoring from a year ago but will need to help fill the shoes of last year's leading scorer, Clarence King (CK), who averaged more than 16 points per game.
"Practices have been a lot smoother. The sophomores have been holding the freshman and transfers to a higher standard of what needs to be done in practice," Jackson said.
Mekhi Cameron returns after averaging 12.7 points as a freshman while shooting 40 percent from three-point range and adding 4.0 rebounds per contest.
Raishaun Brown returns for a third season with the team after averaging 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists a season ago. Xavier Valley also returns after averaging 9.6 points and shooting 41 percent from three-point range.
"I expect those guys to take on more of the scoring load with the loss of CK," Jackson said. "Mekhi is being a lot more aggressive to the basket and becoming more of a playmaker for teammates."
Other returning players are Xavier Washington, Emmanuel Austin, Trevion Alexander, Kennedy Willis, and Faustin Phanor.
"You can see the offseason work of the returning players carry over into the preseason," Jackson said.
The Tigers also added three transfers to the roster. Jeff Nwankwo is a high-upside player that transferred to Cowley from Tulane University, where he was a member of the football team. Demetrius Rives is a transfer from Kennesaw State that is a strong wing player, and Cameron Jernigan is an athletic transfer from Tarleton State.
"Those three will add athleticism and strength that we were lacking last season," Jackson said. "They will also bring some energy to W.S. Scott (Auditorium) and get the fans on their feet."
Four of the six freshmen on the roster hail from Atlanta, GA, as Corey Thomas, Jordan Brown, Kobe Davis, and Jackson Greene come to Cowley from Atlanta. Damare Smith from Kansas City, KS, and Lam Kuany from Omaha, NE, round out the freshmen.
"Jackson Greene has been the most consistent freshman. He is very versatile and brings energy to the team," Jackson said. "Demare, Jordan, and Kobe are battling to help at the guard position."
Cowley will play three home games in a row to open the season and four out of five before opening conference play. The Tigers will then play three of its first four conference games on the road.
"I feel the conference keeps getting tougher," Jackson said. "We need to get off to a good start. We hope having some experience back will allow us to play better on the road."
Despite another challenging schedule, the Tigers hope to contend for a conference title and show growth in year two of the program led by Coach Jackson and his assistant Roybell Baez.
"We are more talented than last year, but a lot is to be determined," Jackson said. "Our depth will be our biggest key. It should allow us to play a little more up-tempo. We also have to stay healthy and have the transfers figure things out. If we do that, I feel we should take a step in the right direction."