SSCC men's basketball starting new era in 2014-15
There is a new era of basketball beginning at Southern State for the 2014-15 season, with a more familiar local feel, along with a new head coach to lead the program in a different direction.
The Patriots are led by new first-year head coach Blake Kibler, replacing Travis McAvene, who led the Patriots for the past two seasons.
Kibler is a graduate of Whiteoak High School and played on their 2002 State Final Four team.
Last season, SSCC played in just nine games before their season was ended due to eligibility reasons. At the time, SSCC had an overall record of 5-4. The previous season in 2012-13 saw SSCC finished with a program-best record of 25-3 overall.
As for the new SSCC Patriots, eight of their 11 players are from Highland County, with the other three being from surrounding counties.
The SSCC roster will consist of graduates from Lynchburg-Clay, Clermont Northeastern, Eastern Brown, Fairfield, Whiteoak, Wilmington and Hillsboro.
[[In-content Ad]]
From LC are guards Alec Smith and Gage Waits, along with forward Ryan Inman. Graduates from Fairfield are forwards Gage Montgomery and Ryan Bates and guard Cody Bennett.
Hillsboro's graduate is forward Alex Branscome, and from Whiteoak is guard Luke Taggert. Also, for the Patriots are forward Zach Murray (CNE), forward Riley Prine (Eastern Brown) and guard Michael Sulton (Wilmington).
SSCC will begin their 2014-15 season on Saturday, Nov. 1 on the road at Ohio University-Chillicothe at 3 p.m. They will follow that with an away game on Saturday, Nov. 8 at Ivy Tech in Columbus, Ind.
The first home game for the Patriots (at the Patriot Center) will be on Friday, Nov. 14 when they host the USCAA Basketball Classic at 8:30 p.m., the first of a two-day tournament.
For more on SSCC Basketball, visit highlandcountypress.com and sscc.edu.