As of the morning of December 5, 2006, the Penn Valley Community College Scouts men’s basketball team was 9-3 and ranked 14th in the nation.

The Scouts are led by Head Coach/Athletic Director Marcus Harvey, who has taken 9 of his 12 teams to the postseason. Harvey has been coaching the men’s team for three years and is taking them in the right direction. The Scouts were ranked as high as 9th in the nation until they lost three tight games in 2005-2006’s early season.

Harvey says, “The season has been going good so far. The key to having a good year is having my sophomores step up to the plate and take the leadership role, and having some freshmen come along.” The Scouts return eight players from the previous season and bring in eight new players, including a couple of sophomore transfer students.

Harvey mentions four key players on the team: Bret Wilson and Stephen Smith, both sophomores, and Jarmell Reid and Michael Mobley, both freshmen. Harvey explains that these four are players that have been playing very good basketball up to this point in the season. He feels this balance between sophomores and freshmen is what the Scouts need in order to have a great season.

It will be tougher for the Scouts to make it to the post-season than it has been in the past. This is due to the Scouts having to play the winner of the Kansas region - which has Brown Mackie College, ranked 6th in the nation - before advancing. In the past, if they won their region, they automatically qualified for the post-season tournament.

Although the Scouts a have a more difficult road to the national championship, Harvey feels that it's not out of reach. "If this team rebounds and plays the defense that they are capable of, then the national championship is definitely in sight."

The Scouts plan to keep up their up-tempo style of play throughout the season, which gives them a very deep rotation, sometimes having ten players play significant minutes. The starting five, which changes game to game, are: Joe Flanner, Bret Wilson, Stephen Smith, Adam Thomas, and Lonnell Johnson.

Harvey feels that the great thing about junior college basketball is that it "gives great athletes the chance to fulfill their dream of playing college ball, and gives some of them a chance to go to a (Division 1) school and continue their career in basketball and education." Harvey feels that he has three or four players that could go to a D-1 school, and one player, Adam Thomas, already signed to a D-1 school in California.

The Scouts have started strong and are hoping to keep that going throughout the remainder of the season. If they do make it to the tournament, they have a great chance of making a run for the national championship.

The Scouts would love support from the Penn Valley faculty and student body at their home games. For more information about Harvey, his Coaching staff, and a schedule for the Scouts, you can visit their webpage at www.mcckc.edu/pvscouts.

Copyright 2006 Metropolitan Community College