WNCC men open season with new coach, new attitude

Posted: Nov 01, 2016

The Cory Fehringer era will officially begin this month as the Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team will open the season.

Fehringer, who is no stranger to Region IX or WNCC since he played at Northeastern Junior College from 2004-2006, took over the coaching reigns in late May after spending time at Williston State.

Fehringer said his team will be a team that plays hard the entire game.

"All coaches will continue to talk about that buzzword process right now," Fehringer said. "This is a process for this program, this team, and these individuals as the majority of them have a coach that they haven't been coached by before and coaches have players that they are not familiar with. To begin, our players show up on time, work hard, and put in extra time."

What has been seen in the scrimmages or even the practices is the energy that this team puts out on the court. It is that energy that will be the defining moment for the season.

"What we are focused on right now is being highly competitive and our competitive spirits be higher than our opponents," Fehringer said. "We want to be mentally and physically tough. We want to do everything within the team strategy and philosophy is, as well as we are going to have a lot of fun when we play."

WNCC has a good mixture of returners and newcomers for this team. WNCC returns six players that saw action a year ago. They include Austin Payne, a 6-4 guard from Elk Grove, California; Daylon Harris, a 6-5 forward from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; RJ Palmer, a 6-7 forward from Tampa, Florida; Michael Connor, a 6-2 guard from Salisbury, North Carolina; Michael New, a 6-3 guard from Halifax Nova Scotia; and Milos Popovic, a 6-5 forward from Belgrade, Serbia.

The Cougars also have the services of Williston State transfer Jeremy Ruffin, who played under Fehringer a year ago. Ruffin is a 6-6 forward from Chicago, Illinois.

Another player that is catching the eyes of the Cougars is red-shirt freshman Trent Harris, who was one of Scottsbluff's prolific scorers two years ago. Harris is a 6-1 guard that has sparked the Cougars in the early scrimmages.

The freshmen also have talent on the team. The seven newcomers include Vinnie Shahid, a 5-10 guard from Minneapolis, Minnesota; Ricards Pinne, a 6-5 forward from Riga, Latvia; Diamond Onwuka, a 6-7 guard from Barcelona, Spain; Deshawn Montaque, a 5-8 guard from Toronto, Canada; Jalan Brown, a 6-2 guard from St. Paul, Minnesota; Marion Sierra, a 6-6 forward from Belgrade, Serbia; and Djordje Dimitrijevic, a 6-1 guard from Grdelica, Serbia.

With all the talent, what stands out with this group of 16 guys is their ability to work hard. That is something that Fehringer is impressed with.

"If you are talking about the ability to jump above the rim and have a lot of flashy plays, that is not who we are," he said. "We are going to be a disciplined team, play on two feet, make the extra pass, and we will have to play collective basketball on both ends of the floor."

And picking a starting lineup might be difficult early in the season with how equal the players are.

"I believe we play present, we coach present, we should be living present and we just need five guys to step out on the floor that are willing to play hard for Western Nebraska," he said. "Those five guys might be the same or they may change. That is up to the individuals in the locker room as far as who is the most prepared to give us the best chance to be successful."

WNCC will have just three home games the first semester. The first time at home will be November 22 when Adams State junior varsity comes to The Palace. After that, the Cougars will have Region IX South contests against Otero Junior College and Trinidad State Junior College Dec. 9-10.

The second semester will see a plethora of home contests with nine, including seven straight in January.

The schedule will not be easy, either, but that is something that Fehringer likes.

"We have opportunities across the board and opportunities to play against some of the best teams in the country and that is exciting," he said. "I think our players will embrace those opportunities."

WNCC will open the season against preseason No. 16 College of Southern Idaho on Nov. 4 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, followed by facing No. 10 Salt Lake twice, and No. 21 Casper College twice more.

Fehringer said this team is ready to get things going.

"I believe our team is excited to represent Western Nebraska," he said. "I believe they understand that they are not the most talented, we don't jump the highest or run the fastest, but if we play the hardest and play with the most intelligence on a nightly basis, we will give ourselves a chance."

Date Opponent Location Time

11/4 Southern Idaho Cheyenne, Wyo. 5 pm

11/5 Ft. Collins All-stars Cheyenne, Wyo. 2 pm

11/11 Salt Lake Casper, Wyo. 5 pm

11/12 Miles Casper, Wyo. 5 pm

11/22 Adams State JV Cougar Palace 7 pm

11/25 Salt Lake Salt Lake City, Utah 7 pm

11/26 Snow Salt Lake City, Utah 3 pm

11/30 Casper Casper, Wyo. 6 pm

12/3 Laramie County Cheyenne, Wyo. 4 pm

12/9 Otero Cougar Palace 7:30 pm

12/10 Trinidad State Cougar Palace 4 pm