JUCO NOTEBOOK: Eagles add big man to hardwood

By Staff
from staff reports
Sept. 6, 2004
MCC head men's basketball coach George Brooks added some size to his basketball team.
Stanley Turner, a 6-foot-10 transfer from Centenary College, signed with the Eagles on July 18. The post player from Ashland was a medical redshirt last season, and he still has his two years of junior college eligibility.
Tony Krausz
Rematch of 2002 championship game
Saturday night's meeting of the Jones County Junior College Bobcats and the Holmes Bulldogs in Ellisville will be a rematch of sorts of the 2002 State Championship game.
Holmes won the 2002 meeting, but fell to 3-6 last year. The Bulldogs dropped a 28-10 decision to Copiah-Lincoln in its season-opener on Thursday and comes in 0-1.
Jones, which went 7-2 in 2003, stands at 1-0 following its 51-12 victory over Coahoma on Saturday night.
Steve Swogetinsky
In the Big Apple
Meridian Community College sophomore women's tennis player Amy Cole spent the weekend around the pros.
The East Rankin Academy graduate was a spectator at the U.S. Open over the Labor Day weekend, leaving for New York early Friday morning and is expected to return to Meridian today.
Cole was able to go to the U.S. Open thanks to her time at the Racquet Lake Sport Camp in up-state New York. An invite she received from a coach at an Alabama junior college that MCC played last year.
The Lady Eagle tennis player volunteered to help at the all-sport camp as a tennis instructor over the summer, and she became friends with some tennis players from New York.
Cole's newfound friends at the camp invited her to the U.S. Open with their family members.
MCC tennis coach Wanda McPhail, who guided the Lady Eagles to a 13th place finish in the national tournament, said Cole's opportunity to go to the biggest tennis tourney on U.S. soil is an example of the school's motto, Stay close; go far.'
Tony Krausz
Hitting the road
The East Central Community College Warriors and East Mississippi Community College Lions will try to shake off losses when they hit the road on Thursday night.
ECCC will pay a visit to Fulton to take on Itawamba Community College, while East Mississippi Community College will face Pearl River Community College in Poplarville. Both games are set for 7 p.m.
While both teams lost last year, they came in very different circumstances.
East Central dropped a heartbreaking 14-12 loss to Northwest Mississippi ranked No. 2 in the country by the NJCAA in a heartbreaking manner.
ECCC thought it had tied a game when an offensive lineman fell on a fumble on a two-point conversion attempt in the end zone. But the points were nullified.
The Warriors then missed a 27-yard field goal late in the game, that could have given ECCC a one-point win.
The Lions were manhandled by Hinds Community College in the second game which rolled to a 53-7 win in EMCC head coach Roger Carr's debut at Scooba.
Austin Bishop
Looking for a few good players
MCC's golf team will hold walk-on tryouts for this year's team on Sept. 8.
Those interested in trying out for the Eagles golf squad need to contact coach Lou Hart by Sept. 7.
Hart can be reached at 484-8663 or by e-mail at lhart@mcc.cc.ms.us.
Tony Krausz
Bobcats finding defensive depth
As fall training was wrapping up, Jones County Junior College head football coach Parker Dykes expressed his concerns about depth on the Bobcat defense.
Apparently some have done just that.
Steve Swogetinsky
Praise for Pope
Former MCC third baseman and relief pitcher Van Pope earned a couple of awards in his first season with the Danville Braves, the Atlanta Braves rookie league team.
The former Eagle was voted as Danville's "Fan Favorite" and his teammates named him the player with the "Most Team Spirit."
Pope is carrying a .270 batting average with five home runs and 39 RBIs into the rookie team's final two games of the season on Sept. 8 and 9.
Tony Krausz
Missing an Eagle
The MCC boys' tennis team is still waiting for one player to arrive on campus.
Freshman Thomas Doebbert of Germany has been delayed coming to his new school. He is expected to arrive on Sept. 16.
MCC has 10 players on its men's tennis team, which finished last season ranked 17th in the nation and tied for 16th place in nationals
Tony Krausz
MCC ready for season on the road
The MCC baseball players have a new mantra this year "Road Dogs."
The saying, which is printed on the team's practice jersey and will be on a sign in the dugout, stems from the important road games the Eagles will play this season.
MCC will open the 2005 season with a double header in Pensacola, Fla., and the Eagles will play their last three division games on the road.
The Eagles will also have to travel for the Region XXIII tournament and super regionals, if the team qualifies for both tournaments. MCC has hosted the Region XXIII tourney the last two years and the super regional last year.
Tony Krausz
Solid summer for Brewer and Morgan
Former Meridian Community College outfielder Josh Morgan and current Eagles reliever Justin Brewer had a successful summer playing for the semi-pro Thomasville (Ala.) Travelers this summer.
The duo helped the Travelers to a third place finish in the semi-pro United State Baseball Congress World Series in Evansville, Ind.
The Travelers went 3-1 in pool play, but lost their first game in single-elimination to a team from Hattiesburg 5-0.
Thomasville dropped its first game of the World Series 10-5 to Bloomington, Ind., but the Travelers scored a 10-5, run-rule win over Cape Girardeau, Mo., in their next game.
Thomasville defeated a team from Kentucky 10-0 in five innings in its third game. Morgan hit two home runs in the win. The Travelers last win game via forfeit.
Tony Krausz
He's a Bulldog now
Former MCC men's basketball player Jamaal Edmonson has reported for school and to the Mississippi State University men's basketball team, according to Eagles head coach George Brooks.
Edmonson is academically eligible for the upcoming 2004-05 season, and Brooks said the former Eagle will probably see action at the point guard and shooting guard position this season.
Tony Krausz