Cougars start season off Friday in Pepsi Classic

Cougars start season off Friday in Pepsi Classic
For the past four years, the Barton County Cougars basketball team has been among the nation's elite. Much of their time, in fact, has been spent ranked in the Top 10 in the country with considerable time being spent ranked No. 1.

During that stretch, Barton County has amassed a mark of 125-18. The Cougars have also captured three Jayhawk West titles and a trip to the NJCAA finals in 1999, falling to Indian Hills (Iowa) in the title game.

Last season, the Cougars made a return trip to the NJCAA tournament, capturing the Region VI title in Salina, knocking off Independence in the title game to earn the right to move on to Hutchinson.

The only loss the Cougars suffered at the NJCAA National Tournament was to eventual champion Wabash Valley College. Barton lost in the first round to Wabash Valley, then captured three straight wins for a 7th place effort.

This season the Cougars set about their business of defending that Region VI title with a few returning stars and a host of new faces. The first order of business will get under way Friday night when the No. 6 ranked Cougars play host to the Wisconsin Fox Valley Cyclones. The tip will start at 8 p.m. as part of the Pepsi Classic at Barton County. The Cougars will take on St. Catherine (Kent.) at 8 p.m. Saturday.

"We have some very good players returning from last year's team that should provide some great leadership this season," Coach Ryan Wolf said. "We also have some very talented new players this season. It should be an exciting season."

Among the returnees, Jason Carter is the only player with extensive starting time for the Cougars. Carter started 28 games for the Cougars, averaging seven points a contest.

Carter was a major contributor for the Cougars down the stretch. Not only did he hit the winning layup at the buzzer to secure the 7th place finish in a win over Northwest Mississippi, the jumping jack guard was key in the Region VI tourney in Salina. Carter posted 16 points in a win over Jayhawk East champion Coffeyville in the second round, then tossed in 11 points in the Region VI title game against Independence.

Also back with starting experience is Elisha Fields. Fields started four games for Barton, posting 10 double-digit scoring games and three more double-digit rebounding games.

At the NJCAA tournament, Fields had games of 16 and 13 points in the first two contests.

Rapheal Posey was one of just five Cougars to play in all 38 games last season. Posey did not start any of those games, but the Topeka product scored double digits in six contests and was second on the team 3-point shooting accuracy, hitting 38 percent of his treys.

Also back is DaJuan Clayton. Clayton scored five points in limited playing time last season.

Several new faces come to Barton with some high expectations, led by Omari Westley and Robert Whaley.

Westley was a member of the Wabash Valley national championship team one year ago. The Cleveland sophomore was instrumental in the Warriors title run. After averaging eight points during the regular season, Westley was third on the team with 12 points a game at the NJCAA and tossed in 18 points during the title game against Allegany, Md.

Westley, 6-7, will play small forward for Cougars this season.

Another big name that chose Barton County is 6-10 freshman Robert Whaley.

Whaley comes to Barton from Benton Harber High School in Michigan.

Whaley was one of the highest rated players in high school during his playing days. Midwest Hoops rated him as the No. 1 power forward in high school. Rivals 100 listed Whaley as the No. 7 overall player in the Class of 2001 and Midwest Hoops rated him No. 8 in the country. Fullcourt magazine rated Whaley the second player in the Class of 2001 and PrepStars magazine had him third.

Whaley averaged 22 points and 15 rebounds a game last season for Benton Harber. As a junior, Whaley scored 24 points and grabbed 12 boards a contest. The 4-year starter also averaged 21 points as a sophomore and 15 points as a freshman.

Another big player that is expected to make an impact this season is Nouha Diakite, a freshman from France. As a member of the French Junior National Team this summer, Diakite had games of 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds against Yugoslavia as well as a 28-point, 18-rebound effort against Ivory Coast. He averaged 12 points and 8 rebounds for the Jr. National team.

A pair of transfer players should also make an impact this season are Gabe Martin and E.G. Walden.

Martin comes to Barton County from Junction City, via Binghamton College in New York. Binghamton was in its first year of Division I basketball last season.

At Junction City High School, Martin played along side current Cougar Elisha Fields. Martin averaged 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists per game as a senior. He helped lead Junction City to three I-70 League titles. Junction City placed 2nd in the 2000 Class 5A state tournament.

Walden transferred in from College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California. As a freshman for the Giants two years ago, Walden scored 16.4 points and grabbed 7.3 rebounds per contest. Walden sat out last season after tearing the ACL in his knee. He was a first-team All-Freshman selection in California two seasons ago. Before injuring his knee last season he was the No. 2 ranked wing among community colleges.

Two more new faces come from Indiana, which has been a favorite recruiting stop for Barton in recent years. Indianapolis high school stars Aaron Patterson, a 6-6 forward, and Jesse McClung, a 6-0 point guard, are the two newest products from the Hoosier state.

Patterson scored 18 points a game as junior at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, one of the most storied high school programs in the state. He participated in the Nike All-American Camp following his junior year. That camp is for the top 100 high school players in the nation. He transferred to Warren Central his senior season, where he averaged 22 points a game.

McClung spent much of his time playing second fiddle to Michigan State signee Chris Hill at Lawrence North. But McClung still averaged 15 points, eight assists and four steals a game at Lawrence North. The left hander will provide quickness at the point.

The remainder of the signees this year for Barton come from the state of Kansas, where the Cougars had one of the best in-state recruiting seasons of any team in the Jayhawk.

Two players come to Barton from Wichita, traditionally one of the hotbeds in Kansas recruiting. The other three come from some of the top basketball programs in the state.

Rone Smith, a 6-6 forward from Wichita Southeast comes to Barton after scoring 17 points and grabbing eight rebounds a game. He also hit a school record 56 percent from the floor.

Also from Wichita is 6-5 forward Tyler Luke. Luke scored 15 points and grabbed six boards per contest for the Wichita Northwest last season.

Chris McMillon, from Highland Park High School, scored 12 points and handed out eight assists per contest for the Scotties last season. McMillon, 6-1, played high school basketball with Rapheal Posey, a sophomore for the Cougars. His freshman season in high school, McMillon played at the famed Mt. Zion Christian Academy in North Carolina along with current NBA player Tracy McGrady.

Cody Rierson, from McPherson High School, scored 13 points a game for the Bullpups.

"If we work hard and do the things we are supposed to do, this group could go a long way," Coach Wolf said. "But we have to stay focused and do the work."

Also new to the team this season is assistant coach Jack Owens. Owens finished the season as the interim coach at Howard College, guiding Howard to a 7-3 mark under his tenure.

Owens will join Jon Stuckey as an assistant for the Cougars. Stuckey is in his second year at Barton County.

Note -- The Cougars are ranked No. 6 in the nation to start the season off. The complete poll can be found at http://njcaa.org/sports.cfm?menu=2&sid=4&divid=1&gender=m&slid=2

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Check out Barton County Men's Basketball Online at www.barton.cc.ks.us/sports