After posting another national tournament appearance in last season’s 30-4 overall showing, head coach Kris Baumann and the Odessa College men’s basketball team is looking to make another trip to Hutchinson, Kan., this spring.
They’re just going to have to do it with a fresh set of new faces.
After graduating numerous sophomores from last year’s team, the Wranglers are eager to get going as the expectations remain the same as they always are.
Even with a bunch of new players this year.
“We’ve got a lot of new guys so it’s not a big deal,” Baumann said. “I don’t worry too much about where we are in the preseason. I just worry about where we are at the end of the season. We have a good group of guys and I’m really excited. We lost 12 guys from last year. We have a lot of new faces this year, but I’m really happy so far. We’re excited for the season and ready to get going.”
The Wranglers won the WJCAC conference title before falling short in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA tournament, losing to Indian Hills Community College in overtime, 79-75 at Hutchison Sports Arena.
That loss has stuck with the Wranglers during the offseason.
“We have to finish,” Baumann said. “That’s the big thing. We just didn’t finish. We were right there. We just let our guard down and you can’t do that. It was really disappointing because we put a lot of work into that point and just let it slip through our fingers.”
Baumann is excited about another chance this year and he knows the WJCAC is one of the toughest conferences in JUCO basketball.
“It’s a new year,” Baumann said. “We have new guys and that’s the great thing about college athletics. You get a chance to reload and we’ll make another run at Hutchinson. Our league is the toughest that it’s been in four or five years. It’s going to be really tough this year.”
Speed is once again going to be the name of the game for the Wranglers as Baumann said his team is going to play fast.
“We’re going to play really good defense,” Baumann said. “We’re going to play fast. We’re going to play full court defense. We need to work on rebounding the ball better. The biggest thing with us is defense. I’ve been preaching that because if you want to win championships, you have to play great defense.”
Earlier this week, the Wranglers were picked to finish second in the WJCAC preseason poll which was released on Wednesday.
South Plains College was picked to finish first after going 22-9 overall, 10-6 in WJCAC last year.
Baumann enters his sixth year as the head coach of the Wranglers, and in all but one year the team has made it to the NJCAA tournament.
“Our expectation is to always win conference championships and then go to Hutchinson and have a chance at a national championship,” Baumann said. “Nothing’s changed, as far as the expectations. This is my sixth year here now. Last year, we lost a heart-breaker. It’s been a long summer, but I’m really excited about the guys we have coming back.”
The Wranglers will have three returning starters including Brandon Maclin.
“Maclin is a tremendous leader.” Baumann said. “He’s one of our returning players. He’s done a good job leading these guys.”
The Wranglers will officially start their 2023-24 campaign at a tournament at Midland College, facing off against Ranger College at 3 p.m. Nov. 1 at the Chaparral Center in Midland.
The Wranglers’ first home game will be on Nov. 16 against College of Southern Idaho in the Wrangler Club Shootout Tournament at the OC Sports Center.
