Holiday Tournament

Come support Clark in the Holiday Tournament hosted by Clark College.

They won their first game tonight against Seattle CC and will play Chemeketa CC tomorrow night at 8pm.

Last year, Clark won the tournament.

GO PENGUINS!

Season Outlook

This years squad will be smaller and a bit quicker than last years team. Finding replacements for All Conference player Orlandor Westbrook and the other four starting sophmores will have the Penguins relying on three returning letter winners and two redshirts early in the season. A fundamental playing style by skilled players and a committed work ethic with strong team leadership will determine how far this young team will go this season.

Stay Tuned

Please hang tight as I update the blog for the 2008-2009 Season!

Slide Show

A Look Back at the Season

This season, the men's basketball team grew from the foundation built last year. Their win loss record for the season was 15-14 which included two out of state games, the Talbitzer tournament games, and a tie-breaker game against Grays Harbor. Although Clark did not make the playoffs, they significantly improved as a team. For the last two seasons, Clark has won the Talbitzer Tournament that takes place in December. Last year, the team was led by Sophomores Alex Mitchell and Drew Bergerson who both went on to play at the university level. This year the team says goodbye to Sophomores Brian Martin, JC Alexander, Tommy Allen, Demetrick White, and Orlandor Westbrooks. All five players are currently being recruited by other schools.

As the next season approaches, Clark will look to Brandon Jones, Louis Lee, and Keith Jordan-Moilanen to lead the team. Markeith Brown is looking to return to the team next year after a year of red-shirting in order to get his grades back up. Markeith will bring talent as well as heart to the team. The team is also hoping to return Jamal Glover. As a freshman he was a standout player with an all around game.

Clark Travels to Gray's Harbor in Hopes of Play-off Birth

Clark College and Gray's Harbor played in a tie-breaker game for 4th place in the NWAACC West Division. The winner of the game was given the last spot in the playoffs. In the end, Gray's Harbor pulled away with a 76-69 Victory. Clark lost the game at the free-throw line. Gray's shot 25 of 28 from the free throw line while Clark only shot 10 of 17 from the line.

Earlier in the week, Clark had a chance to seal their place in the tournament by beating Green River but they ended up losing and having to play in a tie breaker for 4th place.

Even though Clark did not make the play-offs, the program is beginning to flourish. Four years ago, before Coach Arnold took over JC Alexander quoted the program as "laissez-faire." Now it's recognized as a place in the NWAACC where kids are interested in playing.

Westbrook makes All-Star Team

Congratulations to Sophomore Orlandor Westbrook for making The West's All-Stars First Team. Westbrook was the only Clark player to make the First Team and no players from Clark made the Second Team.

As a freshman, Westbrook had a break-out season. He helped lead his team to the NWAACC playoffs for the first time in several years.

In his second season with Clark, he improved his all around game and became a role model for the team. Coach Arnold stated that, "'O' has a complete game...he has the capability of scoring 40 points a night and also leads the defense in steals and defensive presence. He understands the game and the way it should be played."

Other players to make the team were Chris Sprinkler TCC, Alex King LCC, Cody Theuringer HCC, and Dave Massington GRCC. Coach of the year went to Jim Roffler from LCC. LCC was undefeated until their last home game against Clark.

Markeith Brown

Markeith Brown played on the team last season. This year he is currently red-shirting in order to get his eligibility back up and we hope to see him next season.

The road he's traveled has been a difficult one. The Columbian did a piece on him to highlight what his journey was like, please take a look.

Tie Breaker

Because Clark is tied with Gray's Harbor for 4th place, they will have to play them one more time to see which team will earn the last spot in the playoffs, GO PENGUINS!

Clark Unhinges LCC

Wednesday night, Feb 20, 2008 undefeated Lower Columbia College Red Devils played host to the Clark College Penguins. From the moment the game began, Clark owned it.


Sophomore Orlando Westbrooks and Bryan Martin led the team with 17 and 15 points respectively but this win was a team effort. From the moment the game began, Clark kept the pressure on with their defense. JC Alexander had the first two points, 4 minutes in Clark was up 8-4. With 10:44 to go in the first half, the game was tied 16-16, but that was the last time LCC would come anywhere near to gaining a lead. Clark hustled for every lose ball, forced turnovers, and pounded the boards.

Freshman Brandon Jones hit a 3 right at the buzzer to make the score at half time 40-24 Clark.

Going into the second half, LCC came out using a full court press. Clark kept their composure and 11 minutes into the second half the score was 64-38 Clark. Clark capitalized off of every missed opportunity by LCC. In the end it was clear, Clark wanted the win and they took it.

Final score 82-61 Clark.

Currently Clark is tied for 3 place with So. Puget Sound. Saturday is their last game of the season before the playoffs begin. They play Green River at Home.

Coverage

Greg Jayne is the sports editor at The Columbian. Last week, I had a chance to speak with him about the basketball team and the lack of coverage seen in the Columbian. Usually the results of the games are just called in to the paper so there is no one person who does the write up. Whoever takes the call, writes the report. Jayne states, “As with everything we put in the paper, we do our best to assess the level of interest throughout the community. We consider the phone calls and e-mails we receive, the amount of discussion on our web site, and the level of attendance at the games. In my time here, I haven’t noticed a huge demand for coverage of Clark sports.” People may argue that a team may “deserve” coverage, but part of his job is to cover the interest of the community. Clark County is home to 40 high school basketball teams. The Columbian does not have enough people to cover all the high school teams and Clark. They do their best to cover what they think people are going to be interested in. However, once in awhile depending on the success of the team and the importance of the game, they will send a reporter out for coverage. This week, Clark plays their rival and undefeated LCC at LCC. Clark sits in the West tied in third place with S. Puget Sound. Only the first four places from each division receive a trip to the playoffs. With only two games left for the season, I’d say the LCC game is pretty important.

The NWAACC

Lisa Quednow-Bickler is the Athletic Director at Clark College. She also serves as a commissioner on the board for the Northwest Athletic Associate of Community Colleges, also known as the NWAACC. As an athletic director, she oversees all coaches and athletics at Clark. As a member of the board for the NWAACC, she helps makes decisions about the association. For example, she along with the rest of the board met at the end of January to finalize the brackets for the men’s and women’s basketball tournament.

According to Lisa, the NWAACC is made up of thirty-five community colleges in Washington and Oregon. The NWAACC can be compared to NCAA, the responsibilities are the same. These responsibilities include conference tournament management, eligibility, publications, rule enforcement, and sports information. “Community Colleges have grown in the last ten years” says Lisa. With this growth comes the growth of the NWAACC. Like Coach Arnold, Lisa is aware of the role that the community college can play in the student athlete’s life. The NWAACC teamed with the community college has helped many student athletes succeed as they walk out the door and into the real world.

The NWAACC is based in Vancouver, WA at Clark College. Vancouver is a central ground for schools all over Oregon and Washington to meet. There are other associations located throughout the United States including the California Community Colleges Commission on Athletics, the Scenic West Athletic Conference, Arizona Community College Athletic Conference, and the British Columbia Colleges’ Athletic Association.

New Link

The Tournamnet Bracket has been posted, you can find a link to it on the right.

The Coach and His Men

It is 8:00 on a Wednesday night and Clark is playing at home. There is small number of fans in the crowd, mostly friends and families of the players. Clark wins in OT, the next day you can find a short bit about the game in The Columbian, but nothing really detailing the exciting game that took place the night before. There is a great article about the game in the Clark College newspaper The Independent, but only people at the school will get a chance to read it.

Two-year athletic programs are perhaps the most unloved side of college sports. Here there is no spotlight; no ESPN coverage, no glitz, no glamour, no love. The bond between players, coaches, fans has two years to build before it’s taken down and rebuilt. After their two year stay at the community college level is over, it is very common for the student athlete to go onto a university to finish their degree and this may or may not involve also playing sports. Coaches have to work twice as hard to turn their players into student athletes and prepare them for future success. The student athletes who develop over time on the men’s basketball team at Clark College are a prime example of this, and head Coach Mike Arnold knows he has a heavy burden to bear.

After speaking with Mike, I realized that he puts a heavy emphasis on education. He is a health and physical education instructor at the college as well as a head basketball coach, mentor, and friend. In The Independent, Mike states, “I really want my players to focus on their education, because I want them to see what is most important.” I asked him about this and he said that he likes to look out for his guys and wants to make sure they have opportunities when they graduate from Clark. Last year two players, Alex Mitchell and Drew Bergerson received full scholarships to four year universities. These scholarships represent a blending of academic and athletic talent and hard work. For some, the road may end after their two years at Clark. Others may continue their education at another place of higher learning. Whatever the outcome, Coach Arnold wants to see his players realize their potential.

At the next Clark men’s basketball game, you won’t see flashing lights, large cameras and or big names like Bill Walton giving opinions on the outcome of the game. However, what you will see is the determination of the players to give their all on and off the court, with a little inspiration from Coach Arnold.

First Interview

I contacted Nathan Childs who writes the stories on the men's basketball team. I asked him several questions about the team, the coach, school spirit, and community college basketball. I learned that school spirit has increased over the last year and at the last game against LCC, there was a cheering section of students dressed in school colors. Last year, I went to almost every home game and did not see anything like that.

I think the most interesting part of our conversation was about the difference between community college basketball and basketball at the University level. Universities athletes can play for a potential of five years, whereas community college athletes are in and out the door. They are there for two years maximum, so there is not a lot of time to build a foundation. I think this also leads to a problem in creating a fan base. Fans love rivalries between schools and grow to love certain players over the four years they see them play, that can't really be done in two years. Nathan and I both agree that two-year programs are "The most under appreciated, under reported aspect of college sports."