New York, N.Y.— The 2009-10 edition of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice men's basketball team will be the start of a new era in Bloodhound basketball. With six key returnees back this season, along with a first year head coach, the John Jay men's basketball team is taking on a new look for the future.
First year head coach,
DeVernie Winston takes over at the helm for the Bloodhounds who are coming off a 7-19 overall record, including a 4-9 showing in City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) play one season ago.
But despite being a first year head coach for the Bloodhounds, Winston, who was the head coach at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) last season, knows the feeling of being with the John Jay basketball program during its highest moments. Winston was an assistant coach on the men's basketball team during the 2007-08 season when the Bloodhounds won the conference championship for the first time in program history.
And while a new coach is at the helm, the Bloodhounds half dozen players back from last season's team are extremely talented and are all expected to contribute in major fashion.
The returnees include junior forward
Chris Jaeger (Hicksville, NY, Hicksville). Last season, the 6-5 Jaeger was John Jay's leading scorer averaging 13.0 points per game as well as a team-high 8.0 rebounds per contest. His presence inside will be called upon once again for an impact.
Also back this season is the athletic
Vaughn Mason (Bronx, NY, Alfred E. Smith). Mason, a senior who enter's this season needing 100 points to become just the eighth player in John Jay men's basketball history to surpass the 1,000 point mark, was averaging a team-high 14.7 points per game last season before his season ended with an injury.
Another key returnee is senior
Daniel Desir (Jamaica, NY, Jamaica)who averaged 4.4 points and 3.5 rebounds in 19 games last season.
Also back is senior
Ryan Olsen (Huntington, NY, St. John the Baptist)who averaged 3.9 points per game, sophomore
Joseph Padell (Staten Island, NY, Tottenville), who scored 2.5 points per game and
David Williams (Jamaica, NY, Martin Luther King) who played 11 games for John Jay last season.
While the returnees are expecting to make a tremendous impact this season, this season's newcomers are extremely talented and will play a critical role in the team's success this season.
Two players transfer in with playing experience at the college level and they include
Wilson Tenorio (Valley Stream, NY, Hillcrest) and
Eddie Sanford (Alexandria, LA, Bossier). Tenorio comes to John Jay after having played under Winston at BMCC last season, while Sanford last played college basketball at Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama in 1996.
Key first year players to the Bloodhounds this season include
Tyler Clarke (Floral Park, NY, Forest Hills),
Darryl Dennis (Valley Stream, NY, Valley Stream) Shamil Duran (Nutley, NJ, Nutley),
Isaiah Holman (New York, NY, Manhattan Center) and
Lionel Lorquet (Rosedale, NY, St. John's Prep).
John Jay will play a highly competitive schedule which includes 13 games against CUNYAC opponents. The Bloodhounds will also square off in non conference games against highly touted opponents including Kean University (11/24/09), Connecticut College (12/3/09), William Paterson University (12/9/09), Rutgers-Newark University (12/12/09), New Jersey City University (2/1/10) and Ramapo College (2/8/10)
John Jay will also compete in a trio of tournaments including the Castle Classic Tip-off tournament at Manhattanville College (11/20-11/21/09), the Car-Coop/Weenie Miller Memorial Holiday Hoops Tournament at Hampden-Sydney College (12/29-12/30/09) and the Wilkes-Barre Challenge at King's College (1/2-1/3/10).
