Cobras adjusting to new era

Feb. 19—CHAMPAIGN — The Parkland men's basketball program is adapting to a new era.

First-year coach John Bowler has guided the Cobras to a 12-11 record before Saturday afternoon's game at John Wood, with Bowler taking control of the program last summer after former long-time coach and Champaign native Anthony Figueroa left to become the coach at North Central College, a Division III team.

The Cobras have weathered their share of ups and downs through the first several months of the season, with roughly two weeks left in the regular season.

"I think things are well," Bowler said. "It's not been as anticipated for a lot of these guys just because of the timing of when we all got together and how we're all getting to meet each other.

"This group was pretty much recruited by a prior coach, and so me joining, I think late in July and then getting to know me and me getting to know them, it kind of just took us time."

Bowler — most recently an assistant coach at NCAA Division I team Milwaukee — was hired in July and quickly set out to build a challenging schedule that would prepare the Cobras for the stretch run of the season.

It's been a mixed bag thus far.

The Cobras started the season with three straight losses before rattling off six wins in a row from Nov. 23 to Jan. 7. Since then, two games is the longest streak Parkland has had in the win or loss column.

"The region is always going to be tough," Bowler said. "What I tried to do when we got here was build a schedule that was really tough for our guys.

... I think that's part of the reason we're at where we're at. We've tested our guys. We didn't want it to be easy for them in a lot of ways."

A Chicago native, Bowler starred at Eastern Michigan from 2002-06 and scored 1,427 points throughout the course of his playing career.

Bowler was also the head coach at fellow NJCAA Division II school Des Moines Area Community College during the 2019-20 season. The Bears finished 22-10 that season.

"From my perspective in a coaching journey, I just played for so long and I've had so many impactful coaches in my life that I wanted to have that with guys," Bowler said. "I wanted to be that for younger kids."

Balanced scoring has been a theme this season for the Cobras. Seven players — nearly half of Parkland's roster — are averaging more than seven points through the Cobras' first 23 games. Sophomores Jared Hankins and Sean Ealy are leading the charge with 12.7 and 10.3 points per game, respectively.

"I'm probably the most experienced on the team as far as like the places I've been," said Hankins, a 6-foot-4 guard from Indianapolis who previously played at Indiana State and Wabash Valley.

"My job is just to lead by example. I'm a little bit vocal, but just basically leading by example, coming in every day, giving it my all, training and stuff like that."

Ealy — in his third year on Parkland's roster — brings a different type of experience.

"It's a lot of good changes," said Ealy, a 5-11 guard from Cincinnati. "(Bowler) came from a different level. It's a lot of different things, fast-paced, in terms of like recovery days and everything like that. So it's been great."

Freshmen Donald Coats III and Brylan Phillips are each chipping in 9.6 points apiece, with Jabryn Anderson's even nine points per game rounding out the Cobras' leading quintet.

"I'm more like an energy guy," said Coats, a 6-7 freshman from Chicago who spent last season at Missouri Southern, a Division II program. "Bringing energy, rebounding, bringing sort of like the toughness to the team. I can shoot the ball, I can rebound at high level, I can guard multiple positions. So basically I just do a little bit of everything for us."

No players from Champaign County are on the Cobras' roster this season. The team's relatively local flair comes from Chatham native Will Hanlon, Decatur natives Anderson and Phillips, Springfield native Tye Banks and Washington native Issac Mapson.

Those players have had homecomings thanks to the Cobras' schedule, with road games at Lincoln Land in Springfield and Illinois Central College in East Peoria on the schedule as part of the Mid-West Athletic Conference.

"We actually just went to ICC and (my high school team was) all there," Mapson said. "They just had their senior night, too, so I could get there and then get back in a good amount of time. So it's nice having them right there."

Mapson is among eight freshman on the team who were primarily recruited by Figueroa.

"(Bowler) called me on the phone and we talked and then I met with him in his office," Mapson said. "I decided it would be a great decision to stay here, and I'm happy that I'm here."

The Cobras are a close-knit bunch; "Roll Cobes" was the rallying cry at Tuesday's practice.

"A lot of times we do a lot of stuff together as a team," Phillips said. "We don't really have any locker room rituals except for flaming each other and talking about each other to get good laughs. Other than that, we stay tight. But we've got a lot of chemistry building to do as well."

Now, they'll see if all the adjustments they've had to make pay off in the postseason. The Region 24 tournament tips off the second week in March, with Danville and the NJCAA Division II national tournament the ultimate destination. It's a place the Cobras have routinely been in the past, making nine trips to the national tournament, most recently last season when Parkland finished seventh.

"I think we're in a much better place than we were in August," Bowler said, "and I think we have a lot more room to grow."