Preview: 2021-22 Men's Basketball Season

            Conway, Ark. – With a new coach and a bunch of new players, Central Baptist College men's basketball opens the 2021-22 season tomorrow night in New Orleans against Dillard University. Tip-off will be at 6 p.m. and live links to coverage are on cbcmustangs.com.

            "I'm very excited," said head coach Sam Kohnke, who was hired in August to replace Clint Galyean. "I really like this team. I like the guys. I like how they compete. I'm feeling really good. You never know until you start playing games, but right now, I like who we have in the locker room."

            That locker room consists of four returners, five newcomers and two guys who have spent the last couple of years on the junior varsity team. The returners are led by Kelvin Robinson, who was an AMC first-team, AMC Defensive Team and NAIA Honorable Mention All-America last year after averaging 14.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while leading the team in assists with 71 and grabbing 48 steals. Jordan Parker, who missed most of last season with an injury also returns as do key pieces Jalen Adams and Blake Bradshaw, both of whom are former AMC All-Freshman Team selections.

            "We have a good bit of returners, but also a lot of new faces," added Kohnke. "Stylistically, from last years, we will definitely be similar. Defensively, we will do a lot of the same stuff. Offensively, we will have a lot of different looks. Some same stuff, but a lot of new ideas that we are going to try and implement.

            The newcomers are led by Deshawn Corprew, who was a member of the 2018-19 Texas Tech Red Raider team that played Virginia for the NCAA Division I National Championship. Joining Corprew are former DI players Mayan Kiir, a transfer from New Mexico State, and Justin Van Pelt, who is coming from DIII Millsaps but played at Division I Sam Houston State before that. Also in the newcomers group are Hayden Peterson, a juco transfer from Wyoming, Bryan Maxey, a juco transfer from Clarendon College in Texas, and junior varsity promotions Niles Smith and Victor Chuwueke.

            "We have very high expectations," added Kohnke. "We've won the regular season or conference tournament championship the last three years and we certainly hope to continue that and make some noise in the National Tournament. Obviously, you have to take it one game at a time. We have to understand that it's a process and we either come out early on playing great or come out not playing up to our expectations. We have to keep working towards our goal every day. If we handle ourselves the right way, we will make some noise at the end of the season."

            The season begins on Monday on the road, but the opener at Reddin Fieldhouse follows on Oct. 30 when Arkansas Baptist and former CBC head coach Wes Sullivan play CBC for the first time as an NAIA school.

            "They're a really good group of guys that represent what CBC is all about," answered Kohnke when asked why fans should come out and support the team this season. "They're going to compete. They're going to play hard. We should be really exciting to watch with a lot of athletic guys and a lot of talented guys as well. We hope that everyone comes out and packs out Reddin Fieldhouse."

            Be sure to follow the men's basketball team all year by liking @gocbcmustangs on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.