WCC men’s basketball team is ready to begin tournament

By JIM CUNNINGHAM/Staff

The Wytheville Community College men’s basketball team enters the Virginia Community College System’s (VCCS) tournament this weekend riding a nice wave of momentum.
The Wildcats recently completed a successful overall season at 18-9 and were 7-1 within the VCCS, a first place finish.
Second year Head Coach Tyler Cannoy guided the team to a second place conference finish last year and came into this season with a lot of new players.
Cannoy attributed this year’s success to team speed. “They’re very fast,” he said. “They’re not that tall, but they’re very athletic.”
Ethan Mills of Wytheville is the only sophomore on the team this season. Mills is a ’08 graduate of George Wythe High School and helped the Maroons win a state championship that year. Mills was second this year on the team in assists (2.0 avg.) and third in steals (2.0 avg.).
The team scoring leader this season was Kevin Cousin of Anchorage, Alaska with an 18.8 average. Chad Brown of Hopewell was second with a 10.8 average and Antoine Bryant of Newport News was third at 9.7.
Seven of the 13 players on the roster are from Virginia with the other six from as far away as Alaska (two from Anchorage) and Louisiana.
Cannoy said that with nearly everyone coming back, the team should be even better next season. And the team is moving up to a higher conference, the National Junior College Athletic Association, next season.
In the meantime, Cannoy said he is looking forward to the team doing well in the tournament that is being held at Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke March 11-14.
“We’re hoping to win the tournament,” he said.