(RDC Athletics)

By RDC Athletics

hoop dreams

Graham returns to RDC Kings Basketball as head coach

Oct 16, 2019 | 6:30 PM

Returning to the RDC Kings Basketball program has been a homecoming of sorts for alumnus and Head Coach Darren Graham.

While 1998 was the last season Graham was a student-athlete with the Kings, the memories of his time at the College remain strong and have been reignited upon his return.

“It’s pretty special having worn the same uniform as the guys that I coach. Even my first month or two in town, I ran into a lot of the alumni that I had played with, or who have played since. That recognition makes me feel comfortable, not only coaching, but being part of the community,” he says.

“One of my favourite memories was winning the ACAC (Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference) Championship in ’97-’98 at SAIT. Those are images and memories that stick with you for a lifetime.”

Graham hopes to create special memories with this year’s team, which has a lot of promise.

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“We will be diverse in that we have some size – we have some shooting and we have some speed. We have all the tools,” explains Graham. “It’s just a matter of bringing it together and getting on the same page for the season.”

Back wearing a Kings uniform at the guard position are six-foot-five Anthony Harper, who contributed 10.2 points per game a year ago, Cody White, MacGregor Manyluk, Payton Baltzer, Malik Smith and Spencer Klassen, who averaged 25.6 points and finished at the top of ACAC scoring.

Red Deer’s Klassen was also recognized as a 2018-19 ACAC Men’s Basketball South First All-Conference team selection and ACAC Championship Second Team All-Star.

Six-foot-four Kevin Szymanek, Rudy Suffo, Andrew Cunningham, and six-foot-six Ramiro Martinez Quintanilla Jimenez, who averaged 9.7 points, return on forward.

Graham is ecstatic about the returning veterans and sees a hunger to improve from last year’s sixth place finish at the ACAC Championship.

“Experience is going to be one of our assets. I can see it on the floor,” he says. “There’s definitely a camaraderie, a unity, and a resolve with the returning players to make amends for a little bit of an early exit from last year’s playoffs.”

Graham will rely on Harper, a fourth-year Business Administration student, and Klassen, a fifth-year Bachelor of Education Elementary student, to help guide this group.

“They’re definitely going to be leaders on and off the court. Actually, it’s made my job way easier as a new coach coming on the scene,” he says. “You’ve got two coaches built into the captains’ roles and they have great input. They are the glue of the team and bring everyone together socially and athletically. Where they go, we will go.”

The Kings will benefit from two transfers. “Jouvon Edison is out of Olds, which connects to our first game of the year,” says Graham. “There’s a little bit of a built in rivalry there.”

Edison, a six-foot-nine forward from Reno, was a force for the Broncos. Averaging 16.1 points, the fifth-year also contributed nearly seven rebounds per game in 2018-19.

“Tyronn King is coming out of eastern Canada. He’s played in the CCAA (Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association) and U Sports,” says Graham. “He’s definitely going to help us out from the shooting guard and point guard positions.”

King scored nearly 18 points per game with the Loyalist Lancers of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA). The Legal Assistant student also competed with the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds of U Sports.

Rounding out the roster are three first-year student-athletes – guards Joshua Bollers, from Brampton, Cole Wicker, from Chilliwack, along with six-foot-five forward Brett Hochhausen of Leduc.

The Red Deer College Kings played two exhibition games on October 4 and 5, and despite not picking up a decision, they were able to practice several tactics and aspects of their game plan.

“The emphasis that we’ve put on the preseason and in training camp is playing with speed by moving the basketball, playing as a unit offensively and making sure we get good shots,” says Graham. “Defensively, we’ve preached intensity and making sure we’re communicating, and adapting.”

The Kings are playing three more preseason games from October 10 to 12 at the RDC Thanksgiving Classic, wrapping up their exhibition schedule.

On Saturday, October 19, the Kings will entertain the Broncos at 8:00 p.m. at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre to begin the new season. Last year, the RDC Kings (13-8) finished second and the Olds College Broncos (6-15) placed sixth in the south.

“Whatever Olds has to bring, and I’m sure they’ll bring a solid game, we want to be able to adapt and respond to their efforts on the court,” says Graham.

(Story written and submitted by Brent Forster – RDC Athletics)