Sinclair Community College has announced the 2014-15 Men’s Basketball schedule.
Sinclair is coming off a 21-9 record, its fifth 20 plus win season in the last seven years, and the third seed in the NJCA A District Tournament. The Pride spent eleven weeks during the 2013-14 season ranked in the Top 20 of the NJCA A Division II Men’s Basketball Polls topping out with a three week stint as the fourth ranked team in the nation. This year, Sinclair will play 16 home contests with a number of very challenging road games, both
non-conference and conference. An early season match up on November 28, against Region XII powerhouse Mott CC lurks
just eight games into this year’s schedule as Sinclair travels to
Flint, Michigan for the annual showdown. The Bears have four National Championships over the last 12 years, and finished the 2013-14 season 25-6. Another highlight of the non-conference schedule will come early in December as Sinclair travels to Chapel Hill to take on the University of North Carolina JV Tar Heels in the Dean Smith Center on December 7. At the last meeting, Sinclair knocked off the Tar Heels by 2 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Playing in one of the top Junior College Conferences in the nation, the OCCAC (Ohio Community College Athletic Conference) had four out of the seven institutions ranked in the Top 20 last season. The OCCAC stands as one of the toughest Districts to get out of to advance to the NJCA A Division II Sweet 16 National Tournament.
This year, the Sinclair Men’s basketball team recruited new players and also brought in a whole different group of men to the team, with five returning players and nine new players. One new recruit the Tartan’s did welcome is freshman, Michael Tillman, former graduate from Richmond High School in Richmond, Indiana. Tillman led the Red Devils to an impressive 22-3 record as they won the North Central Conference (6-0) and the State 4A Sectional Championship before losing in the Sweet 16. As a starter his senior year, Michael was named team captain, and earned the team MVP award. He was Richmond’s leading scorer at 14.8 points per game, as well as the team’s best 3pt shooter knocking down 45.9 percent of his attempts from behind the arc. In addition to being named team MVP, he was also named to the Palladium-Item Newspaper, All-Area Player of the Year. Tillman was named to the North Central Conference first team and Honorable Mention All-State for 4A Indiana. During his two years on varsity, Richmond won 37 ball games against only 11 losses with one conference championship, and a sweet 16 appearance in the state tournament.
“I love the game of basketball, everything I do is for my family,” Tillman said. “I really hope this season is a great season for me, knowing that I am one of the youngest players, and not only am I young, but I am playing with older guys. This makes me want to better myself and prove to everyone more of what I can do,” Tillman said.
On October 12, 2014 our men basketball team took their first preseason games to Owens Community College, where they faced three different teams. Our men were able to manage the pressure on and off the court. With different talented players, Coach Price was able to manage his talented group of men.
“It was a great way to see what all we need to improve on as a team and individuals. We saw our weaknesses and also our strengths,” Tillman said.