With just three veterans returning, 10 recruits signed for 2021-2022
by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information
You will need a program when Kansas City Kansas Community College opens the men’s basketball season this fall.
Only three Blue Devils return from the COVID-ravished team that finished 10-8 in 2021. And the new faces won’t be the only change.
“We will change the offense,” said third year coach Brandon Burgette. “It will be totally different. We won’t be as big as we were but we’ll have bigger guards with more athleticism and more speed. It will be totally different, a different style of play – guards who can play faster, who can guard, press and play together.”
The defending Jayhawk and Region VI champion, the Blue Devils played in only half of their conference games this past spring, finishing 3-2.
“Looking back, we underachieved,” Burgette said. “It was a very disappointing season, especially with the COVID. We missed 18 days of practice and five games in which we could not be around each other because of the quarantine. We had social distancing and wore masks during practice – just less interaction with the team, less bonding.”
Burgette’s task for 2021-2022 will be to replace 95 percent of the scoring and 94 percent of the rebounding from this past season.
Gone are six of the top seven scorers and rebounders headed by third team All-American guard Deron McDaniel and 6-7 rebound leader Caleb Jones, both of whom were first team All-Jayhawk and All-Region VI. McDaniel led in scoring (15.2) and 3-point goals (56); Jones averaged 14.3 points and led in rebounds with 9.1 per game.
Also gone are guards DeAngelo Bell, who averaged 10.3 points and 1.8 assists; and Trey Bates III, the leader in assists (4.0) while averaging 8.6 points; and forwards 6-8 Jermaine Yarbrough, who averaged 7.1 points and 4.1 rebounds; and 6-7 Robert Rhodes, the Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman who averaged 8.1 rebounds and 6.4 points. Together, Jones, Rhodes and Yarbrough hauled in 359 rebounds, more than half the team’s 727.
The three returnees are headed by 6-5 forward Shayon Janloo, the lone returning starter who averaged 8.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 16 starts. The other returners are 6-6 forward Bryce Johnson, who averaged 5.6 points and 2.9 rebounds; and 6-0 Zach Nelson, who was second in assists (3.2) while averaging 2.2 points.
“A big energy guy, Shaylon will give us more scoring and leadership,” Burgette said. “Zach was a solid backup point guard who will allow us to play at a faster past; Bryce Johnson should be a big piece for us. Extremely athletic, he has a lot of maturing to do on and off the floor but we expect big things.”
So how do you replace nearly 1,200 points and 610 rebounds? For Burgette, it has meant recruiting from coast to coast (Los Angeles to Florida and the Bahamas) and the Midwest (Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis) thanks to the countless relationships built by Burgette in basketball circles.
Ten recruits have already been inked for 2021-2022.
“We’re not done; we have three more to get,” Burgette said.
The new recruits include four transfers, 6-5 Josh Butler, a wing from Lee’s Summit who transferred from cross-town Metropolitan Community College; 6-7 forward Keondre Brown, who transferred from Compton College in Los Angeles; Tomas Teklegergis, a 6-0 point guard from Chicago who is transferring from Jackson College in Detroit; and 6-4 Joshua Dumas, a wing guard from Nassau in the Bahamas, who was at Midland College in Texas last year but was injured most of the year. All four will have two years of eligibility.
Butler averaged 10 points and 6.1 rebounds at Metro.
“Long, athletic with big time motor,” Burgette said. “Brown is very skilled with experience; a finisher around the rim. Teklegergis has a great basketball IQ and leadership while Dames is a shooter and scorer.”
New guards include Cortez Hawlett, a 6-1 point guard from Raytown High School; 6-1 Nyk Bryant of Park Hill; and 6-2 Gavin Russell from Belton.
“Hawlett is a quick, fast, shifty playmaker,” Burgette said. “Bryant is a slasher and big time energy guy while Russell is a shooter.”
New forwards/wings include 6-7 Jerry Maxinaud from Fort Lauderdale, Florida; 6-5 Dane Foster from Sedalia; and 6-3 Caleb Jones from St. Louis Vashon.
“Maxinaud is a rim protector who can score around the rim and is great from 17 feet out,” Burgette said. “Foster is skilled and a very good playmaker for his size; Jones is an athletic wing who can put the ball on the floor and finish around the basket.”
In the coming academic year, Burgette and assistant Brady Morningstar are looking forward to a return to a normal season.
“I’ve never had a full year,” Burgette said. “Two years ago I didn’t get to pick my own team and then we missed out on a chance to play in the national tournament and this season, we did not get to work out the whole summer. We couldn’t even play five-on-five until January.”