Co-Lin Hoopsters look for better seasons

Special to Wesson News

Co-Lin Men's Basketball Team Co-Lin Women's Basketball Team

While the Lady Wolves have jumped off to a fast start on the basketball court with only a single loss to Baton Rouge Community College in their initial seven games, the men under new Coach Randy Bolden have had a more mixed season so far with four wins against five losses.

Bolden is hoping to guide the Wolves to improve on their 2024-25 overall 11-15 finish (3-11 in Mississippi Association of Community College Conference play) and failing to qualify for the Region 23 Tournament.

"First and foremost, I want our team to get better game by game and day by day,” Bolden said. "We have a relatively young team this season and most of them haven't played together.  So we are working on building team cohesiveness and see where that takes us."

In contrast, Lady Wolves Head Coach Britta Stephens Belanger, in her third year at Co-Lin, has an experienced team that finished 15-14 overall and 5-9 in MACCC play during the 2024-25 season, just narrowly missing the Region 23 Tournament field.

"I think that we have a very veteran group with ten sophomores on our roster and eight of those are returners," says Stephens Belanger. "This year the conversation for our team is very different than it was last year. This year we want to try and win the conference, finish in the top four, and host the first round of the Region 23 Tournament."

The men’s roster of 15 players features 14 incoming players with one returning sophomore in Zach Thompson (Hattiesburg). Coach Bolden had high praise for what this roster has done so far to get ready for the season.  The 14 incoming players are a mixture of transfers and freshmen and include Moustapha Salekh (Ngekoh, Senegal), Jadius McCormick (Bay Springs), Stevent Watkins (Ridgeland), LeBron Deal (Monroe, Louisiana), Koie Williams (Philadelphia), Tyrell Bowles (Springdale, Maryland), Morris Hammond (Ridgeland), Dylan Creggett (DeSoto, Texas), Caleb Crozier (Yazoo City), Jackson Payne (Madison), Tristian Lucas (Pearl), Jamei McGhee (Heidelberg), and Jamichael Green (Rolling Fork).

"Tyrell Bowles is someone that we think a lot of, and we think he can be one of the best bigs in the league,” Bolden says.  “LeBron Deal is a player to watch. Our biggest surprise is Caleb Crozier who has really come along in the offseason and we think he is going to be a really good player for us.  Guys like Stevent, Tristian, and Jamichael who transferred from other community colleges in the state have been really good at offering insight for our freshmen on what to expect for the season and that was one of the reasons we wanted to bring them here," added Bolden. Guys like Koie, Jackson, and Jamei help our team because they were with us at Mississippi College and they know my standards and expectations for the team. Both groups come ready to practice and play and the experience that they give our freshmen is invaluable to our team."

Coach Bolden says success for his team is very simple: "Developing young men! I think if our players come in as kids and leave as young men with the understanding of the importance of going to school and getting up and giving each day your very best, that is the most important thing.  I have been coaching for a very long time, and I attribute my career longevity to investing into our players first and then the basketball second.

The Lady Wolves roster features 13 players including ten sophomores with eight returners and two transfers.  The sophomore group includes returning players Maddison Mitchell (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), Eymani Key (Lafayette, Louisiana), Zariah Hatten (Taylorsville), Jamyria Robinson (St. Martin), Tyra Johnson (Morton), Kamaiyah Pruitt (Pass Christian), Amari Barnes (Tylertown), and Kylinn Bell (Choctaw) while the two transfers are Kailyn Willis (Philadelphia) who spent last season at Coffeyville in Kansas along with Akeelah Hobson (Oakdale, Louisiana) who transferred from Southwest Mississippi.

"This group is pretty special for coach Rachel Thompson and me because this is the first group that we have had for two years that we recruited to come here. This is the first year that all the players are my own and this group is very mature," says Stephens Belanger. "Just having this group being with me for a year has made a difference because they know what I expect along with knowing what to run and call."

The three freshmen for the Lady Wolves are Jalynn Applewhite (Gulfport), Zion Nelson (Terry) and Tae Clay (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), who suffered a season-ending in her first practice.  Stephens Belanger says she is excited for what this group adds to the team.

"For the first time in my entire coaching career, I have a team that has two dynamic post players that can do a lot of things with the ball in that area, and I am excited about what Jalynn and Zion can do for us,” says Stephens Belanger.  “There won't be a night where we are undersized against teams this season because of those two. They both can play with their back to the basket and can shoot the ball. While they are very different players, they are very dynamic with what they can do. They also allow us to play some other players in positions that they are more accustomed to being in."

Coach Stephens Belanger says success for this team is simple:  "As a coach, I am a competitor and I want to win every game, but success for this team is personal growth and continue to develop their game.  We have ten players that we have to try and help find a place to play at the next level wherever that is. That will be determined by them and their play while success for our freshmen looks like potentially pushing for one of the starting spots."

For both the men and women hoopsters, December is a relatively calm month before the competition heats up in January and into February and March.  This month, the Lady Wolves play at LSU Eunice and Southern University in Louisiana, teams they easily defeated on their home court in Wesson.  The men play home games with Bevill State and Delgado to whom they lost on the road and visit Southern University, to whom they lost, and Gadsden State, who they beat.