With both programs coming off successful seasons, with the Pirate men reaching the national tournament for the third consecutive year, while the Lady Pirates came one win shy of a trip to the national tournament, North Central Missouri College is opening classes within the week as the rosters and schedules are finalized for the highly anticipated basketball seasons arriving in just over two months.
Jenni Croy’s Lady Pirate program, both as a result of a strong, deep recruiting class from a year ago, with the added benefit of an extra available year of eligibility, if utilized, due to COVID-19, have a very familiar looking roster for 2021-2022, with three incoming freshman and a transfer from the NAIA ranks joining a talented returning group.
The incoming freshmen are all in-state products, with Salisbury High School’s Brooke Bartholomew adding 6’1″ athletic size to the North Central frontline. Connections with high school coaches and Coach Croy were key in the two other additions, as Milan High School’s Jordyn Gray was coached by Ched Hurley, father of former Lady Pirate guard McKinley Hurley, while Maryville High School forward Emily Cassavaugh was tutored by former Trenton High School coach Quentin Albrecht, who has kept many Trenton connections, including that with Coach Croy, after his move to Maryville several years ago.
Speaking of Trenton High School, THS graduate Maci Moore, after joining the Lady Pirate program at the start of the season in January, returns to North Central with two full years of eligibility. Angel Wiggins is the only player with two years under her belt at North Central to return for a third year, taking advantage of the NJCAA COVID-19 ruling. She is a guard from Kansas City. Other returners are sophomores Jordan Hibner of Chillicothe, Nora Ford of Hamilton, Kennadie Crowe of Norborne, Kaylie Stufflebean of Brookfield, and Jasmine Taylor of Braymer.
A late addition to the roster was expected to arrive on the NCMC campus for “move-in day” on Saturday, as 5’7″ guard Toya Bethel is being added to the mix. Bethel spent the last two seasons at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi. She played her high school basketball at Tensas High School in St. Joseph, Louisiana, an east-central Louisiana community on the west bank of the Mississippi River.
The Lady Pirates season opener against the Mid-America Nazarene JV on Wednesday, November 3rd from the Ketcham Community Center will start a three-game homestand. Later in November, the Lady Pirates play in the Kansas City Kansas Classic and Central Community College Classic, with the second event occurring on Thanksgiving Weekend in Columbus, Nebraska.
Doubleheaders in Region 16 play, joining the Pirate men, will be at Metropolitan Community College (Kansas City) on January 15th, at St. Louis Community College on January 22nd, at home against Metropolitan on February 5th, with St. Louis traveling to Trenton on February 12th.
In comparison to their female counterparts, coach Jeremy Esry’s Pirate men’s team has more turnover, although a key piece returns for a third season at the guard position, and another talented recruiting class is now arriving on the Trenton campus, with Coach Esry again finding success on the recruiting trail cross-state in St. Louis.
Isaiah Ervin is a high-level transfer from JUCO Division 1 John A. Logan College in Illinois, with one year of eligibility at North Central for the St. Louis native. The other incoming recruits from the “Gateway City” is 6’1″ guard DeMarcus Sanford Jr., continuing a pipeline that gained the Pirates the likes of departed All-Americans Atavian Butler and Jeramy Shaw two years ago.
From New York City, 6’1″ freshman guard Gerald Gittens is a new Pirate, along with 6’9″ center Evan Worley of Imperial, Missouri, and 6’3″ freshman Sterling DeSha of Jefferson City, while redshirting their freshman years will be St. Louis native Kam Bevel and Springfield’s Crishawn Haggard.
Filling out the Pirate roster will be point guard Damien Loyd, coming back for his third season, using the same NJCAA ruling that Angel Wiggins used for the Lady Pirates. Kansas City residents on the roster are 6’3″ transfer Erik Slack, 6’4″ forward Riak Mabour, and 5’9″ guard Darius Walsh, who played huge minutes last season for the Pirates, particularly after a groin injury pushed Loyd to the bench, and Walsh into the starting lineup at midseason. Antheny Carey of Birmingham, Alabama, Guy Moran of Centralia, local product Mack Anderson of Southwest Livingston High School complete the 15 man deep squad.
The Pirates season opener is at home against the Central Methodist JV on Wednesday, November 3rd, with the NCMC Classic to follow the first weekend of November against KCK and Spoon River. NCMC will have trips to the KCK Shootout, Indian Hills Classic in Iowa, and the Pinnacle Bank Thanksgiving Classic and Central Community College Classic, both in Nebraska, with all before the month of November comes to a close.
