Copyright Austin Daily Herald
By Rocky Hulne sports@austindailyherald.com The Riverland Community College men’s basketball team is not backing down from the standard they have set in recent years. The Blue Devils went 30-4 overall last season and they have played in three of the last NJCAA Division III National Tournaments. RCC is 137-19 overall over its last five seasons and the expectations are high once again. “When you go to the national tournament as much as we have, you want to do it again,” RCC head coach Derek Hahn said. “But we also know how hard it is in our league. That’s where the focus is. We’re taking it one game at a time. We lost a lot of guys from last year, and they’re all playing at four-year schools now.” RCC has two strong returning leaders who played big minutes last year in Lubab Kambalo, a sophomore from Sioux Falls, SD, averaged 7.8 points per game and Joe Poyser, a sophomore from Wildwood, Florida, averaged 8.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game last season. Kamablo picked up a lot of lessons last season from Nazih Chehade, a third team-All-American. “I learned a lot from Naz,” Kamablo said. “He was our leader last year and he controlled every game. He taught me a lot of things that I can do to get my teammates involved.” Poyser said the Blue Devils are already demanding excellence on a daily basis to keep the program where it has been. “I try to stay in the young guys’ ears,” Poyser said. “Our past work has spoken for itself and if they keep working hard, everything will work out. I’m excited to try and help my teammates as much as I can this year.” Southland grad Nick Edland will also look to make a big contribution in the rotation after staying patient last season. He’s been in the gym for much of the offseason and he’s improved his game. “We just have to keep working hard, showing up, and doing what we’re supposed to do,” Edland said. “Last year was enjoyable, helping the team. I’m looking forward to being able to help the team not just in practice, but in games. I’m going to use a lot of the things I learned last year, and apply it to this year.” RCC has been playing preseason basketball against scholarship schools for the past month and Hahn feels his team is ready to start playing regular season games. “Our guys have gotten a lot better and we’re set up for success,” Hahn. “We have a really good freshman class with talent, but we’ll have to see if they’re ready to play at this level or not.” Some of RCC’s newcomers who will make an impact this season include Elhadji Thiam, a 6-8 center from Senegal, Tristan Coleman, a 6-7 sophomore transfer forward from Mayowood, Illinois, and Tyson Helms, a sophomore forward from Tucson, Arizona. RCC’s freshmen will likely be led by Camden Fearon, who is from Margate, Florida, and Isaiah Lindor, who is from Miami, Florida. The Blue Devils will hold their home opener against Luther JV at 7 p.m. Monday.
