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LOCATION: Nachitoches, LA
CONFERENCE: Southland
LAST SEASON: 11-15 (.423)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 8-10 (t-7th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 1/4
NICKNAME: Demons
COLORS: Purple, Orange & White
HOMECOURT: Prather Coliseum (5,000)
COACH: Mike McConathy (Louisiana Tech '77)
record at school First year
career record First year
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ASSISTANTS: Dave Simmons (Louisiana Tech '81)
Brent "Buzz" Williams (Oklahoma City '94)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 13-5-13-13-11
RPI (last 5 years) 210-296-224-232-250
1998-99 FINISH: Did not qualify for postseason.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Mike McConathy knows how to build a basketball program literally. When he started the program at Bossier Parish Community College in 1983, the team didn't have a gym or dormitories. Ten years later, McConathy had built Bossier Parish into a top-10 program nationally and a regular stop for Division I recruiters. McConathy compiled a 351-162 (.684) record at Bossier Parish. His record since 1992-93 is an incredible 185-48 (.794). His teams won 20 or more games in 11 of 16 seasons and won at least 23 games in each of his last seven seasons. Bossier Parish went 26-5 and was ranked No. 8 nationally last season and was 27-3 and ranked No. 3 in 1997-98. He sent two teams to the National Junior College Athletic Association national tournament in the last six years. "He is the hardest working guy I've known," said Chicago Bulls coach Tim Floyd, who played in the same backcourt with McConathy at Louisiana Tech in the late 1970s. "I respect him more for what he's done (at BPCC) than I do many high-profile Division-I coaches. He's real." When J.D. Barnett resigned in March after compiling a 55-79 record in five seasons in Nachitoches, McConathy jumped at the chance to rebuild the program where his father, Johnny, was an All-American in 1952.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C+ BENCH/DEPTH D
FRONTCOURT D INTANGIBLES C
Coach Mike McConathy is a master rebuilder who should be able to mine his contacts in the junior college ranks and talent-rich Shreveport area to replenish the Demons' roster in future years. Meantime, he will have to make do with an undersized, guard-heavy lineup that will live and die from the perimeter. When on, the Demons will be dangerous, especially in tiny Prather Coliseum, where they beat Southwest Texas, Northeast Louisiana and Lamar last year. When the threes aren't falling, this team will be canon-fodder for league front-runners. Northwestern, picked to finish 10th in the preseason coaches' poll, surprised with a seventh-place finish last season. Another middle-of-the-pack finish appears in the cards, but McConathy and Northwestern State will pull off a few upsets along the way. The school's first winning season since 1992-93 is within reach but realistically is another year off. |
"I had chances at some other Division I schools, but they were all as assistant's positions," McConathy said. "This was an opportunity to be a head coach, it was close to home and we already had a familiarity with the league." To facilitate the move, McConathy hired a couple of assistant coaches with SLC ties. Buzz Williams coached four seasons at Texas-Arlington and Dave Simmons spent seven seasons at McNeese State. "Recruiting will be our biggest challenge," McConathy said. "We've got the right contacts to be competitive in this league. Coaching is relative whatever level you play at." McConathy has his work cut out for him at Northwestern State, which has had just one winning season this decade. The Demons return only 11 scholarship players and only three players taller than 6-4 from a team that finished 11-15, shot just 40 percent from the field and averaged only 68 points a game. With the tallest player on the roster standing only 6-7, McConathy probably will employ a three-guard lineup. Alann Polk, a 6-3 junior, is cemented at one spot. Polk (12.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 40 assists, 25 steals) led the Demons in scoring and three-point field-goal percentage (.363). Polk started 23 of 26 games and led the Demons in scoring nine times. He is a strong player who has a tendency to get in foul trouble. He fouled out of six games last season. When he stays in the game, Polk is Northwestern State's most consistent scorer and outside threat. McConathy will ask Polk to diversify his game this season. Almost two of every three field goals taken by Polk was a three-point shot. He scored a career-high 25 points in a 75-72 loss at Southwest Texas State. Josh Hancock (4.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg) returns at point guard, where he started 20 games. The 5-11 junior led the Demons in assists (99) and gets the Demons into their half-court offense. Hancock is a pass-first, shoot-last point guard. He averaged only four field-goal attempts a game. Ryan Duplessis (9.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 42 assists, 30 steals), the third returning backcourt starter, was Northwestern State's highest-scoring freshman in a decade. Duplessis had little trouble adapting to college ball after a standout career at New Orleans powerhouse St. Augustine High School. The wiry 6-2 sophomore started 22 games. He struggled with his shooting eye (.367) despite leading the team in field-goal attempts. Depth is strong in the backcourt. Brent Shropshire (5.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 75 assists), a 5-10 senior, backs up Hancock. The team loses little with the heady Shropshire on the court. A deadly free-throw shooter (37 of 43, .960), Shropshire started nine games and erupted for 24 points, including 10 of 10 from the charity stripe, in a 79-60 victory against Lamar. Shropshire will be challenged by Mensah "Pooh" Davis, a 6-2 junior who is eligible after transferring from North Texas. Davis, a Shreveport native, started nine games as a freshman at North Texas. More guard help is on the way. Sophomore Mike Byars-Dawson, an explosive 5-10 shooting guard in a point guard's body, is sitting out the season after transferring from Miami, Fla. As a freshman, the Fort Worth, Texas, native scored 14 and 12 points, respectively, against Villanova and Providence. The former honorable mention Blue Ribbon All-American was recruited by New Mexico, Missouri and DePaul out of high school. While Northwestern State is experienced and deep in the backcourt, its frontcourt is another story. The team received a blow in the off-season when 6-7 senior-to-be Amidd Sardinea (9.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 43 steals) was declared academically ineligible. Will Burks (8.3 ppg, team-high 6.8 rpg, 31 steals, 31 assists) provided some presence inside, but the 6-6, 190-pound junior would be a small forward in most programs. Burks had his moments in his first season, scoring 23 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in a 66-63 victory against Stephen F. Austin. Burks averaged a double-double during a nine-game midseason stretch before fading late in the season. Swingman Richard Taylor (11.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 40 steals) provides instant offense and defense off the bench. Taylor, a 6-3 senior, was the team's second-leading scorer and one of its best defenders in his first season after transferring from Faulkner (Ala.) State Community College. He had 25 points, eight rebounds and five steals in a 90-65 loss at Oklahoma State. An ankle injury forced him to miss all or parts of 12 games last season. Kenton Fisher (4.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg), a 6-4 senior, and Jerrold McRae Jr. (4.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg), a 6-4 sophomore, provide additional depth on the wings. Fisher, a strong rebounder, had 11 points and seven rebounds in a 71-60 loss against Stephen F. Austin. McRae, the son of former Tennessee State and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Jerrold McRae Sr., had a season-high 13 points in a 72-69 victory against Southeastern Louisiana. McConathy recognized his need for size inside and brought Chris Thompson with him from Boosier Parish CC. The 6-7, 200-pound junior will bring much-needed bulk to the paint. Thompson is a solid rebounder and adequate scorer whom McConathy believes "will be an impact player for us on defense." Another transfer will join Byars-Dawson on the sideline this season. Chris Lynch, a 6-5 swingman from Cal-Santa Barbara and Dallas Garland High School, will have two years of eligibility starting next season. "We're not very big, but we've got pretty good athletes and enough quickness that we should be able to play our man-to-man defense like we want to," McConathy said.
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