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Coach Mike Mitchell, entering his third season at the helm of the Western Texas College Westerners, admits the team would have a hard time mat ching last year’s record. For that matter, any team would. The Westerners won the national Junior College championship last season and completed the season with a fantastic 36-1 record. Moreover, the top six men off that team were lost through graduation. “Some of those guys are virtually impossible to replace,” Mitchell admitted Everyone of the departed Westerners received a basketball scholarship to a four year college. The two who will be missed the most are Bob Miller and Eugene Harris. Both made All-American. Miller now is playing for LSU, and Harris is at Old Miss. Norman Barnes is at Commonwealth of Virginia, Brian Minor is at Angelo State, Ken Fowler is at Western Missouri, Kevin Jones is at AM, and Greg Hill is at Cameron University at Lawton, Ohlo. Despite the big losses, the Westerners should field another fine team this year following another great job of recruiting by Mitchell. In a pre-season poll of Western Junior College Athletic Conference coaches, the Westerners were picked to finish second behind the Amarillo Junior College Badgers. Four coaches in the league picked WTC to finish first. “The conference should be stronger overall this season,” said Coach Mitchell. “The top three or four teams probably won't be any stronger than last year,’’ he added, “But there is better balance. The conference is stronger at the bottom, and any team in the league could beat any other one on any given night. In his first season at the WTC helm, Mitchell’s team placed fourth in conference play with a 2-10 overall record. They were beaten by Hill County in the first round of regional play, but Hill County went on to win the regional tourney. Mitchell, a native of Roswell, N.M., was an outstanding basketball player himself. He played college ball at West Texas State and in the pro ranks for the Atlanta Hawks until an injury ended his career. Soon after drills began Oct. 1 it became apparent the Wester ners would have another good team. We're getting good leader ship from our returning sophomores, said Mitchell. “They have a winning attitude, and the players have worked hard and want to have a good team.” Only three sophs return from the national championship team of last season, and none of them were starters. They include ‘Tyrone Clapton, 6-6 forward from Washington, D.C., who probably has the most ex perience; Stanley Covington, 6-0 guard, also from the nation’s capitol; and, Harrison Johnson, 6-2 guard from El Paso. Concerning the new freshmen, ‘Coach Mitchell said: “As a group they have excellent ‘overall quickness. They are good athletes, who run, jump and shoot well.”’ The new recruits are led by Lawrence Butler, 6-3 guard, who made high school All-American at Glasgow, Missouri. He also was an all-state selection in Missouri. Another All-stater is Larry Orton, 6-8 post from Port smouth, Virginia. Two of the new recruits come from the same high school in Richmond, Va. that produced Norman Barnes. They are Chris Tisdale, 6-4 forward, and Walter Benjamin, 6-2 guard. Butch Person, 64 forward from Brooklyn, New York, was named to the All City team in New York City. Included among the other recruits are Anthony Mack, 6-5 forward from Richmond, Va., who was named to the All-City team; Allen Corder, 6-3 guard from Lake Charles, La., who was named All-District; Ricky Frazier, 6-4 forward from Savannah, Georgia; and, Darryl Smith, 68 past from College Park, Georgia, who also was All- District. Mark Sherrod, 6-5 freshman from Channing, sustained a concussion in an automobile accident, and decided to drop out of school. “We're hopeful that he will be back next term,” said Mitchell. Mitchell said the 1975-76 Westerners have the best overall team quickness of any of the three teams that he has coached at WTC. He said quickness is the greatest team strength. ‘The quickness will enable us to play a better pressure defense, and we will probably press a great deal of the time, Mitchell said. The WTC coach said his main concern is inexperience. However, he feels that after the freshmen get about five or six games seasoning, the team will be strong. “They've improved sur prisingly fast,” he said, adding that the Westerners have a good combination of speed, size and shooting ability. Clapton, Smith and Orton are all excellent rebounders. Covington and Butler both looked good shooting in pre season scrimmages. The Westerners have participated in several scrimmages, holding the upper hand over Ranger, Weatherford, Paris and Wayland Baptist, but Mitchell thinks Howard College may have beaten the Westerners in a close scrimmage here. Mitchell said it’s still too early to name a starting unit and that perhaps he will not know until the day before the opener against Wayland Baptist’s JV here Nov. 13. The first con ference game is at Clarendon pee. 1! Benjamin is the only can didate out of action at this time. He’s had a bad knee injury. Mack also has had knee problems, but now is working out full speed. There have been a few ankle sprains and other minor injuries, but fortunately there haven't been any serious ones. Mitchell isn’t con templating changing the offense much. The Westerners will still run from a double post. Despite the speed, Mitchell said he would not “Call us a fast breaking team—We’ll probably be about like last year when we averaged over 80 points.” Mitchell said he was pleased with the team’s attitude. ‘They look like they're willing to pay the price to win—work hard and then work a little harder,” he concluded. Despite heavy graduation , The Snyder (Tex.) Daily News, Sun., Nov. 9, 1975 DEFENDING CHAMPIONS— The Western Texas College Westerners are defend ing national junior college champions. Although the squad was hard hit by graduation losses, the Westerners will field another fine team. The season opens at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13 with WTC hosting Wayland Baptists’ JV. Team members are, from left to right, bottom row, Ricky Frazier of Savannah, Ga., Walter Benjamin of Richmond, Va., Harrison Johnson of El Paso, Stanley Covington of Washington, D.C., Allen Corder of Lake Charles, La., and Lawrence Butler of Glasgow, Mo.; top row, Chris Tisdale of Richmond, Va., Mark Sherrod of Channing, Tyrone Clapton of Washington, D.C., Harry Morris of South Boston, Va., Larry Orton of Portsmouth, Va., Darryl Smith of College Park, Ga., An thony Mack of Richmond, Va. and Butch Person of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Newspaper Details
Snyder Daily News
Snyder, Texas, US
Sun, Nov 09, 1975
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Brinna A.
USA 01 Jun 2026
Other Publications Near Snyder, Texas
The Snyder Signal
Snyder Scurry County Times
Snyder Daily News
