MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL: High expectations for DACC men

Nov. 3—DANVILLE — Being close doesn't count when you are trying to reach the National Tournament.

The Danville Area Community College men's basketball team learned that painful lesson last year when the Jaguars came up just short in the Region 24 semifinals against John Wood Community College.

With eight players returning this season, including five that played in at least 20 games for the Jaguars, the expectations of taking those final steps to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament are very high.

So much so, that DACC was rated No. 11 in the NJCAA Division II preseason poll.

"The expectations are actually high, especially with being ranked No. 11," said Danville Area coach DaJuan Gouard. "A lot of that has to do with how we finished last year. This group has several returners and once we get healthy, I think we have a chance to be good.

"We should know by early January, if we can peak the right way and then we will see how far we can go."

In the season opener against Olivet Nazarene JV on Tuesday, DACC was without four players including guard Lewis Richards, who started in six games a year ago.

Gouard believes the strength of this year's team is in the frontcourt as the Jaguars have five extremely talented forwards including Stephen Atkinson, the freshman of the year in the Mid-West Athletic Conference last year.

"Not only do we return Stephen and Kendall Taylor, but we finally got Yacouba (Traore) back," said Gouard as the 6-foot-8 Traore only played in two games last season for the Jaguars. "We also have another kid from Evansville, Terrence Ringo, along with Donovan (Parker) a transfer from Maryville University. I think that is the deepest forward group that we had in a number of years."

Taylor and Atkinson combined to score 21.2 points and pull down 9.9 rebounds a game last season for DACC.

"We have worked super hard since last year," Atkinson said. "This is a new team and we have to prove why we got that lofty ranking.

"We're a little different in the front court this year. I think our skill level is better. We can do multiple things. We don't just sit the paint asking for the ball. We can play on the perimeter as well as go inside."

That's a good combination for the Jaguars, who went 18-7 a year ago, as their guards are not as big as past teams.

"We have a lot of small guards," said Gouard, noting they don't have a big-body guard like previous teams. "But, we are a whole lot faster than we have been in a long time.

"It actually kind of reminds me to the 17-18 teams that made the tournament. Like those guys, these guards are fast and really crafty, but we are still in the beginning stages."

One of those quick guards is Ahmoni Weston, the 6-foot sophomore from Inkster, Mich., averaged 8.3 points and 2.5 assists per game last season for the Jaguars.

"As a team, I think we are very talented and very quick," Weston said. "We have some extremely talented forwards, who can play inside-out. They can pass and they can dribble."

So, what's something that DACC needs to work on this season?

"Knowing when we need to play fast and when we need to slow it down," Weston said. "That's stuff we will figure out over the course of the season. It's going to take some games and experience to learn what works best."

Both Atkinson and Weston acknowledged that closing out games will also be something the Jaguars will need to do better this season.

"We thought we should have made the National Tournament last year, we just didn't finish the job in the regional tournament," Weston said. "That's something that has driven us every day in the off-season."

Atkinson added, "in some of our preseason jamborees, we have either played well at the start of the game or at the end of the game. We need to get more consistent and put together a full 40 minutes."

DACC is idle until Nov. 11 when it travels to Mt. Carmel to play in the Wabash Valley Classic. The next home game for the Jaguars will be No. 21 against the Wabash College JV team.