Former BCC star Brett White has Kellogg CC on a roll heading into postseason
Brett White has had some opportunities to play and win at other places. But the former Battle Creek Central standout wanted to play and win at home.
And that's just what he is doing.
White has helped the Kellogg Community College men's basketball team to the kind of season the program hasn't seen in years as the Bruins head into the postseason this week.
KCC will host Lake Michigan College in a National Junior College Athletic Association Great Lakes District Tournament first-round game at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Miller Building.
KCC qualified for the Region XII District Tournament by winning seven of its last eight games of the regular season.
"This is very exciting. I'm excited to help Kellogg do something like this. It's been a long time," said White, in his second year with the program. "It was important to me to help make this happen. I chose to come to Kellogg because this is home. I've never seen them succeed this much, and I'm excited to be a part of it."
KCC earned a home playoff game for the first time since the 2019-20 season after taking second in the conference, the best finish for the program in 16 years. The Bruins are in the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in 13 years and, at 14-11, their .667 winning percentage is the best for the team in 16 years.
White, who had offers to play Division 1 basketball when he came out of Battle Creek Central in 2016, stepped away from college hoops for a bit before joining KCC last year as a 23-year-old. He has put himself back on the map as a major college basketball recruit, thanks to his play for the Bruins this season.
White is averaging 21.1 points per game with a team-high 8.0 rebounds a contest and 3.0 steals.
"We are playing well because we are playing together," White said. "We had a rough start to the season, battling injury. But now we are playing our best ball at the right time. That's important because this is an important step for the city and for this program to play well in the tournament."
White is getting a lot of help this season as well. Sophomore Rasheed Dyson is averaging 15.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and freshman Sam Hoskin is providing good play in the paint at 11.8 points and 7.4 rebounds.
"At the start of the year, we talked about adding some pieces this year to put around Brett and we have found some key players and we have become drastically better as the year went on," said KCC first-year head coach Steve Proefrock. "We did have an injury bug, had seven different starting lineups early on. But once we got over that, we have been healthy and we have been getting better every game."
Proefrock adds that this year's success will also help next year's team, and beyond.
"Our goal from the jump, was to get to the playoffs. But to get a home game in the playoffs means a lot more," Proefrock said. "That's big for the program. To tell future recruits the things we have accomplished this year. We can say we are on the rise, and show them the evidence, and that's big for our future."
What would be even better for the program, would be winning some games this week. After KCC hosts the first-round contest, the Bruins could advance to the semifinals/finals at Mott Community College.
"We feel really good about things. Going into the postseason, we think we can play with anyone. Our confidence is super high," Proefrock said. "If we keep winning, we will play Tuesday, Friday and Sunday this week. Hey, we have had three-game winning streaks this year, in fact recently, we have done that. So we can do it again."
Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @billbroderick.
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Former BCC star Brett White has KCC on a roll heading into postseason
