TWIN FALLS, IDAHO The Odessa College men’s basketball team is a long way from home to open the 2022-23 season.
Head coach Kris Baumann wouldn’t have it any other way.
Baumann, entering his fifth season at the helm of the Wranglers’ program is finding it harder and harder to schedule quality opponents early in the season.
That’s what happens when you guide a program to the Elite 8 and lose by a single basket to the No. 1 team in the nation.
“I like playing the marquee games early,” Baumann said by phone from Twin Falls, Idaho, where the sixth-ranked Wranglers will face No. 12 Lee College at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the College of Southern Idaho.
“We’ll get 3-4,000 fans in the stands and next year Southern Idaho is going to come down to our tournament. We are going to face some good teams; it’s hard to find people who want to play Odessa.”
The formula worked last season for the Wranglers as they played Salt Lake City Community College twice and Northwest Florida at its tournament in December.
Salt Lake City was the No. 1 team in the nation when Northwest Florida earned the upset victory in the NJCAA Division I National Championship game in Hutchinson, Kan.
That early-season prep allowed Odessa College to run the table in Western Junior College Athletic Conference play in 2022, finishing 16-0 before starting its run to the national tournament quarterfinals.
“All of those games, I just think this prepares us for our league,” Baumann said. “We were 16-0 in our league for a reason.
“And I wouldn’t have brought our team here (Idaho) if we didn’t have a veteran team. We have enough guys to play three games in three days.”
It will actually be five in six days as Odessa College will leave the Rocky Mountains for the plains of Oklahoma to play in the Elite 8 JUCO Festival on Sunday and Monday in Edmond, Okla.
The Wranglers return seven players from last year’s squad, led by point guard Anthony Marshall and shooting guard Dian Wright-Forde.
Marshall was the spark plug off the bench last season, used to give Daniss Jenkins a breather.
Jenkins has moved on to the Division I level at Iona University and Baumann expects Marshall to take a leadership role this season.
“Anthony is going to be important,” Baumann said. “He’s dynamic and he had a good week of practice.
“It’s a weight on him because I’ve let him know, I told him in front of the guys that he has a responsibility. Last year, when we took Jenkins out, it was almost like (Tony) Pollard with the Cowboys, we hit you with another guy.”
Odessa College also lost Daniel Rivera to the Division I ranks to Saint Louis University.
That sent Baumann to the recruiting trail looking for some help and he added Khalil Haywood, a 6-foot-5 forward transfer from Lamar Community College, Aman Measho, a 6-9 forward transfer from Otero College and Marcus Banks, a 6-2 guard who transferred from Western Carolina University.
Baumann also has high hopes for transfer Colin Schaefer, a point guard who played at Navarro College last season after beginning his collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
“I put this team together to make another run at the national championship,” Baumann said. “We have a lot of great additions with veteran players.
“We’re not as big as last year, but we’re faster, we have better foot speed. We added some older guys and combined with the experience coming back from last year, we could make another push at the national title.”
>> Follow Lee Scheide on Twitter at @OALeeScheide
2022 ODESSA COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL ROSTER
No. Name Pos. Ht. Year
0 Anthony Marshall PG 5-11 Soph.
1 Dian Wright-Forde SG 6-3 Soph.
2 Brandon Maclin Wing 6-5 Fr.
3 Darrell Armstrong Jr. SG 6-2 Soph.
4 Terry Brown Wing 6-5 Soph.
5 Dylan Sanders FB 6-4 Fr.
10 Colin Schaefer PG 6-2 Soph.
11 Khalil Haywood G 6-5 Soph.
12 Dontrell Hewlett Wing 6-5 Soph.
13 Aman Measho F 6-9 Soph.
15 Kiree Huie F 6-9 Soph.
22 Austin Green F 6-8 Fr.
24 Chandler Cuthrell F 6-9 Soph.
32 Jordan Ray F 6-11 Fr.
53 Omani Ozenne FG 5-10 Fr.
Head coach: Kris Baumann (5th season)
Assistant coaches: Evan Eustachy, Parker Lamarre
2022 ODESSA COLLEGE SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time Site
Nov. 2 Lee College* 6 p.m. Twin Falls, Idaho
Nov. 3 Central Arizona College* 4 p.m. Twin Falls, Idaho
Nov. 4 College of Southern Idaho* 8 p.m. Twin Falls, Idaho
Nov. 6 Seminole State College-x Noon Edmond, Okla.
Nov. 7 Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa-x Noon Edmond, Okla.
Nov. 11 Panola College-y 2 p.m. Plano
Nov. 12 Angelina College-y 2 p.m. Plano
Nov. 18 Utah State Eastern-z 4 p.m. OC Sports Center
Nov. 19 Cochise College-z 4 p.m. OC Sports Center
Nov. 20 Blinn College-z 4 p.m. OC Sports Center
Nov. 25 Hill College# 3 p.m. Plano
Nov. 26 Otero College# 5 p.m. Plano
Dec. 2 Ranger College@ 6 p.m. Hobbs, N.M.
Dec. 3 University of the Southwest-JV@ Noon Hobbs, N.M.
Jan. 7 New Mexico JC 4:45 p.m. Hobbs, N.M.
Jan. 9 Clarendon College 7:30 p.m. OC Sports Center
Jan. 12 Western Texas College 7:30 p.m. OC Sports Center
Jan. 19 New Mexico Military Institute 7:30 p.m. OC Sports Center
Jan. 23 Midand College 7:30 p.m. Chaparral Center
Jan. 26 Frank Phillips College 7:30 p.m. OC Sports Center
Jan. 28 South Plains College 3:45 p.m. Levelland
Jan. 30 Howard College 7:30 p.m. Big Spring
Feb. 2 New Mexico JC 7:30 p.m. OC Sports Center
Feb. 6 Clarendon College 7:30 p.m. Clarendon
Feb. 9 Western Texas College 7:30 p.m. Snyder
Feb. 16 New Mexico Military Institute 7:30 p.m. Roswell, N.M.
Feb. 20 Midland College 7:30 p.m. OC Sports Center
Feb. 23 Frank Phillips Colletge 7:30 p.m. Borger
Feb. 27 South Plains College 7:30 p.m. OC Sports Center
*-Hilex Poly/Physician’s Immediate Care Tourney
x-Elite 8 JUCO Festival, Edmond, Okla.
y-East-West Challenge, Plano
z-Wrangler Shootout, OC Sports Center
#-Collin County Classic, Plano
@-NMJC Classic, Hobbs, N.M.
