Sophomore-laden Skipjacks ready to take next step

WYE MILLS – “You know what’s great about freshmen?” asked Joel Dearring during a particularly frustrating game last season.  “They eventually become sophomores.”

And that’s what’s happened with this year’s Skipjacks, who posted a 17-11 record last season while playing a mostly freshman lineup.  Now, with at least six sophomores expected to play, Dearring believes the sky really is the limit for the Chesapeake College men’s basketball team.

“To contend for a national championship isn’t overstating what we can do,” said Dearring, who led the Skipjacks to their first winning season in four years last season.

That confidence comes from the experience Dearring is seeing on the court this season.

“It’s like the difference between riding a tricycle and getting your first car,” said Dearring, contrasting a freshman-dominated squad with a sophomore-centered team.

Three sophomores – guards Akanni Salako, center/forward Kevin Bonsu (6-foot-5, 280 pounds), and forward Chad Church (6-4, 198) – are back from last year’s squad.  Sophomore Louis Simpson (6-3, 185) played on Dearring’s first team two years ago, and two other sophomores – point guard Justin May and forward Geran Pope (6-5, 230) – have transferred into the program.

Two more sophomores – guards William Gilmore and Jimmie Jenkins – are attempting to be cleared for eligibility.  If both eventually become eligible, the Skipjacks would have eight sophomores on this year’s squad.

“If you have eight sophomores, there is no way in the world they should not be able to write their ticket to nationals,” said Dearring.  “I don’t want to put a number on it, but I think we’ll win a lot of games.”

Salako (“great outside shooter, great leader, very intelligent player”), Bonsu (“he has the potential to be one of the best big men in the country”), and Church give the Skipjacks a solid nucleus – particularly if Church plays all year like he did in a preseason scrimmage against Bowie State University.

“If Chad Church plays every night like he did at Bowie, we’re going to have some fun this year,” predicted Dearring.

Simpson will be an asset on the boards while Jenkins, who is expected to be eligible starting in January, is the “x factor” after being one of the most explosive offensive players in the conference two years ago.

“The team can win without Jimmie, but with him it takes us to a level we’d all like to see,” said Dearring.