June 25, 2010
Former GC player Gilstrap gets summer b-ball invite
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss) - While Marquis Gilstrap’s family and friends ate hot wings during a cookout Thursday in Covington, Ga., he watched the NBA Draft patiently as his phone lay silent. The former Iowa State and Gulf Coast Community College standout didn’t get the call he wanted during the two rounds of the draft, held Thursday in New York City. He had to wait until the end of the day for his phone to ring. On the other end was a surprise, even to Gilstrap. Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown invited Gilstrap to play on the Bobcats’ summer league team.
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April 22, 2010
Signings: Reese finds new home; Lane to Auburn
NEWS HERALD (By NewsHerald Staff ) - PANAMA CITY — Jeff Reese didn’t have to spend a long time deciding if he wanted to play for new Louisiana-Lafayette coach Bob Marlin. Marlin made the decision for him, releasing Reese and Keith McDougal a few weeks after he was hired. Reese was joined by teammates Eric Buckner (Georgia State) and Mike Porrini (Kent State).
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March 1, 2010
GC men wrapup: Team rallied in second half of season
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss) - PANAMA CITY — Gulf Coast men’s basketball has been moving fast under head coach Jay Powell. Maybe a little too fast. The Commodores’ run from worst to almost first during the past three seasons caught up with them during 2009-10. It also set the expectations for Gulf Coast at an all-time high. It wasn’t until they slowed down that the Commodores saved their season and made history in the process. The result was an 18-11 overall record, 5-7 in the Panhandle Conference.
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February 22, 2010
Basketball: Six Commodores selected to all-conference team
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss) - PANAMA CITY — Six Gulf Coast Commodores were named All-Panhandle Conference on Monday, as voted on by the league’s five coaches. Willie Kirkland Jr., Javon Dawson and Michael Porrini were named to the first team, while Johnie Davis Jr., Eric Buckner and Paul Cooper were voted to the second team. Tallahassee led the league with eight selections, while conference champion Northwest Florida State had five, Chipola four and Pensacola had two.
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February 21, 2010
Basketball: GC men win fifth game in last six
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss / Adam Rosenberg ) - NICEVILLE — As the No. 6 Northwest Florida State men’s basketball team celebrated its freshly-minted Panhandle Conference championship, it was no surprise that star point guard Brian Bryant was the first one up the ladder to cut down the nets. The team’s undeniable leader on the court, it was only fitting that Bryant lead the Raiders in celebration as well. Bryant scored a game-high 22 points, including 16 in the first half, to lead the Raiders to a 63-60 win over Gulf Coast Community College and clinch sole possession of their first conference championship since 2003 at Raider Gym on Saturday night.
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February 17, 2010
Basketball: GC men win fifth game in last six
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — The Panhandle Conference season has been night and day for the Gulf Coast Commodores. And these days are pretty sunny in the Billy Harrison Field House. After losing its first five league games, Gulf Coast won its fifth game out of the last six Wednesday night, posting a 99-74 victory over Pensacola on Sophomore Night here. With the postseason out of the question, Gulf Coast’s sophomores made the best of their last game at home.
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February 13, 2010
Basketball: Gulf Coast teams defeat Chipola
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - MARIANNA — Gulf Coast’s men scored 61 points in the second half to erase a one-point deficit at intermission and claim a 97-85 win. That dropped the Indians to 3-6, 18-7 overall while the Commodores moved past them at 4-6, 17-10. It also left GC head coach Jay Powell wondering how things might have been different had a few last-second defeats and overtime games went the other way earlier in the conference grind. “We’re really glad to win, and glad to have been able to take two out of three games against Chipola this year,” Powell said. “They’re a great program, and for us to win at Chipola. I know this is the first time since I’ve been at Gulf Coast that has happened.” The Commodores got 25 points from Willie Kirkland, 20 of them in the second half. Mike Porrini scored 16 of his 20 in the second half, Johnie Davis Jr. had 18, Jeff Reese 12 and Paul Cooper 10. “There was a very high level of guard play in the second half, by both teams,” said Powell, who noted that traditionally his teams have come on strong at the end of the season. “You’ve gotta think back and wish those buzzer-beaters would have turned out the other way.”

February 10, 2010
Basketball: Gulf Coast men down Tallahassee
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — Gulf Coast knew what it took to come back from a 16-point deficit and it wasn’t about to let Tallahassee experience those feelings. The Commodores increased their lead to 16 during a 21-6 run to start the second half and held off a valiant comeback by the 12th-ranked Eagles for a 74-70 win Wednesday night at the Billy Harrison Field House. “We found a way to do the things we need to win,” Gulf Coast coach Jay Powell said. It started off as a mirror image of the first meeting between the two schools on Jan. 6, when Tallahassee won in overtime despite the Commodores climbing out of two deep holes.
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February 6, 2010
Basketball: NWF State defeats GC men
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — For 34 minutes Saturday night, every time Northwest Florida State caught up to Gulf Coast, the Commodores pulled away. The Raiders finally caught them with 6 minutes left and refused to relinquish the lead for an 80-73 win in the Billy Harrison Field House. “The game tonight was a game of two halves,” Northwest Florida State coach Bruce Stewart said. “The first half was, I thought, our worst half this season. We were absolutely flat. I thought the second half we refocused and regrouped.
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January 28, 2010
Basketball: Gulf Coast men stun Chipola
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — It’s not exactly a Chinese proverb, but don’t tell Jay Powell that. At lunch on Monday, Powell opened a fortune cookie that provided a prelude to Gulf Coast’s first Panhandle Conference win this season, a stunning 73-61 victory over Chipola at the Billy Harrison Field House on Wednesday night. The fortune read: “Your hard work is about to pay off.” Call it the Gulf Coast Proverb.
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January 24, 2010
Basketball: GC men drop fifth straight game
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - TALLAHASSEE — These are uncharted waters for Gulf Coast men’s basketball coach Jay Powell. Following the Commodores’ 96-81 loss to No. 21 Tallahassee on Saturday night, Powell said this is the first time in his basketball life, as a player and a coach, that he’s lost five games in a row. “It’s a bad feeling and it makes you feel like you’re not worth anything,” Powell said. “They’re working very, very hard. The first round of four we had a chance to win all four games. Because they’re (TCC) so much bigger than us, I’m not for sure we had a chance to win this one looking back on it now.”
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January 21, 2010
Basketball: Conference-leading NWF State men beats GC
NEWS HERALD (By Adam Rosenburg / Josh Weinfuss ) - NICEVILLE — In the first half of Wednesday’s men’s basketball game against Gulf Coast, Northwest Florida State coach Bruce Stewart implored reserve guard Michael Panaggio to shoot the ball after he passed up an open look. Panaggio obviously heard his coach’s instructions, and it ended up helping his team in a big way. The freshman guard exploded for 20 points off the bench for the fourth-ranked Raiders, leading them to a 76-69 win over the Commodores at Raider Gym.
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January 17, 2010
Basketball: Pirates keep Commodore men winless at 0-3
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — Somebody needs to check Jay Powell’s blood pressure. Gulf Coast hasn’t reached the end of the first rotation of Panhandle Conference games yet, and Saturday’s 63-58 loss to Pensacola at the Billy Harrison Field House had Powell questioning his team’s mindset. For the first time since 2007, the Commodores (13-7, 0-3) have started the conference season 0-3, and this year all three losses have been by five points or less.
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January 10, 2010
Basketball: Chipola men escape Gulf Coast rally
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - MARIANNA — It was a heave that represented more than a 3-pointer. Had Johnnie Davis Jr.’s last-second 3-point attempt gone in, it not only would’ve given Gulf Coast a win over Chipola in the Milton H. Johnson Field House, it would’ve been a sign that the Commodores could compete with the Indians in the Panhandle Conference. Instead, Davis’ shot hit almost perfectly off the backboard but bounced off the front rim to give Chipola a 71-69 win.
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January 7, 2010
Basketball: GC men fall to Tallahassee in OT
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — Tallahassee couldn’t wait for the first conference game of the season to end Wednesday night. Gulf Coast wanted another 5 minutes. Facing two deficits of 15 points, Gulf Coast made a steady comeback, capitalizing on Tallahassee mistakes to force overtime. But in the extra period, Gulf Coast couldn’t continue its climb and fell 70-65 at the Billy Harrison Field House.
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December 30, 2009
Front court propels Gulf Coast men to win
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY – It was the ultimate role reversal. Center passing to guard. Big man out on the wing fitting an entry pass to a small man posting up on the block. When Gulf Coast’s 6-foot-10 center Eric Buckner found 6-foot-2 Mike Porrini in the post for an easy layup in the first half off of the Commodores’ 77-58 win over Northwest Mississippi in the finale of the Gulf Coast Holiday Classic, it was a comical sight.
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December 29, 2009
Basketball: GC men handle pressure in victory
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — One steal sparked the win, while another steal almost cost Gulf Coast on Tuesday night. And the rest, well, it all provided quite a show. Both the Commodores and the Georgia Perimeter Jaguars found the easy recipe for instant offense in the nightcap of the Gulf Coast Holiday Classic: Just add pressure. Gulf Coast’s 75-64 win at the Billy Harrison Field House was a result of which team handled that pressure better at the end.
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December 28, 2009
Basketball: Gulf Coast men beats Aiken Tech
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — Jay Powell was waiting for the letdown Monday night. He was sure the Gulf Coast Commodores would return from 10 days away from basketball rusty and out of sync. And no matter how well they started, the Commodores couldn’t keep it up for 40 minutes, Powell thought. Boy, was he wrong.
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December 26, 2009
Gilstrap's journey may be on final leg
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - It’s an injury that’s nagging Marquis Gilstrap’s career. Next week will be four years since Gilstrap broke his left leg while playing for Palm Beach Community College, and the former Gulf Coast Commodore and current Iowa State senior still is suffering for it. Gilstrap’s injury caused him to miss the second semester of the 2005-06 campaign and then the following two seasons. The next time he played organized basketball was at Gulf Coast in 2008-09. This season, those two-and-a-half years away from the court put Gilstrap in a race against time. The NCAA gives student-athletes five calendar years to finish four seasons of eligibility, starting from the time they first enroll in college. Gilstrap couldn’t take a timeout for his injury. Even though Gilstrap, 22, is playing just his fourth semester of collegiate basketball, and has been a standout in his first season in the Big 12 Conference, he’s in his senior year of eligibility at Iowa State. “I don’t even really think about it,” Gilstrap said. “I’m just really worrying about this year. That’s out of my hands, so I don’t feel like I have a reason to worry about it.”
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December 4, 2009
GC Men fall for third time
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - MARIANNA — A layup with 8 seconds left wasn’t enough for Gulf Coast to escape its first game of the Chipola Panhandle Classic with a win. Alabama Southern scored with a second remaining to send the game into overtime where it pulled away from Gulf Coast in the final minute for a seven-point win. The Commodores committed 32 turnovers, shot 60 percent from the free-throw line and 29.6 percent from the field. “We had some chances to win, but not making free throws and turning the ball over and not shooting the ball well, we couldn’t overcome all three of those deficiencies,” Gulf Coast coach Jay Powell said. Gulf Coast’s largest lead was four and trailed by as many as eight, Powell said, but its front line prevented the Eagles from extending their lead out of reach.
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November 28, 2009
Defense comes through for Gulf Coast men
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY – All those years of practicing a defensive stance finally paid off for Gulf Coast’s big men Saturday afternoon. Enterprise-Ozark, coached by former NBA guard Wesley Person, tried to exploit the Commodores size by isolating their big men against its smaller front-court players. It worked in the first half but Gulf Coast was able to pull away in the final 6 minutes for a 64-43 win in the Gulf Coast Commodore Thanksgiving Classic at the Billy Harrison Field House.
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November 27, 2009
Gulf Coast men earn close win in tourney opener
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — Willie Kirkland’s most important shots weren’t his three first half 3-pointers. While the treys ended up crucial in Gulf Coast’s 67-64 win over South Georgia Tech, Kirkland hit two jump shots in the final 2 minutes, 11 seconds, on Friday to seal the Commodores first win at the Billy Harrison Field House this season. “He came up with some big shots,” Gulf Coast coach Jay Powell said. “But those two shots were within the offense, so that made me even happier.”
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November 26, 2009
Gulf Coast men drop second game
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — Johnie Davis Jr. scored 23 points to lead three Gulf Coast players in double-figures, as the Commodores lost a men’s basketball game Wednesday to Howard College from Texas, 87-80. Mike Porrini added 18 points and Jeff Reese scored 10 for Gulf Coast (6-2). Howard (8-1) was led by Josh Watkins with 21 points. Lamont Austin scored 19, Jae Crowder had 17 and Damion McGee 15 for Howard.

November 22, 2009
GC men bounce back
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - NICEVILLE — A day earlier, the Gulf Coast men’s basketball team had lost its first game, providing the Commodores with an early test Saturday of their ability to bounce back in a game against Atlanta Metro. Thanks to an outstanding defensive effort, Gulf Coast passed the test with a 61-51 victory in the Northwest Florida State College Tournament. Trailing 27-26 at halftime, Gulf Coast and Atlanta Metro remained close for the first 8 minutes of the second half before the Commodores went on a run that pushed a 2-point lead to a 10-point lead. Atlanta Metro never seriously threatened after that.
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November 20, 2009
GC men suffer first loss
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - NICEVILLE — Gulf Coast’s men’s basketball suffered its first loss of the season, 80-68 Friday to Cape Fear in the opening game of a tournament hosted by Northwest Florida State. Gulf Coast, 5-1, led 38-30 at halftime against the No. 29-ranked team in the country. “We played good defense in the first half, but when we came out in the second half didn’t have the intensity we needed,” GC coach Jay Powell said.
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November 17, 2009
Basketball: GC men improve to 5-0
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - ENTERPRISE, Ala. — Johnny Davis’ 26 points were an added bonus for Gulf Coast on Tuesday night. By the end of the Commodores 96-69 win over Enterprise-Ozark, they didn’t need Davis’ season high. But it helped the bench get quality minutes. “We played all 12 men,” Powell said. “We got up here and played together on the road.” Powell said Davis shot well from the outside and was able to get his pull-up jump shot working. He scored early and helped Gulf Coast (5-0) to a 31-point halftime lead.
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November 16, 2009
GC basketball teams remain unbeaten
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - Gulf Coast men’s and women’s basketball teams remained undefeated on Saturday with double-figure road victories. In the case of the Lady Commodores, however, their 98-86 triumph came in overtime against nationally ranked Trinity Valley of Athens, Texas. The Commodores improved to 4-0 with an 80-71 win over South Georgia Tech in Americus, Ga. The Lady Commodores are 3-0 after their victory at Chipola College in Marianna. The seventh-ranked Lady Commodores opened a 44-26 halftime lead against sixth-ranked Trinity, before the Texas team came roaring back and forced a 79-79 tie at the end of regulation.
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November 12, 2009
Seven GC basketballers sign with four-year schools
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — Willie Kirkland Jr. and Travis Nichols appreciated more than most picking up their blue pens and signing their names to the National Letters of Intent on Thursday. When they joined three teammates and Andrea and Andrell Smith from the Lady Commodores in signing to play college basketball at the NCAA level, Kirkland and Nichols agreed to play for their third team since graduating high school. The Commodores (2-0), led by their five signees, including Paul Cooper, Brad Reese and Patrick Davis, will play in the Americus (Ga.) Tournament this weekend against Albany Tech at 5 p.m. CST today and South Georgia Tech at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
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November 7, 2009
GC basketball teams move to 2-0
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - AIKEN, S.C. — Gulf Coast is sticking with what works. For the second consecutive game, the Commodores used an inside-outside combination to win, defeating USC-Salkenhatchie to cap an East Coast road trip. Eric Buckner led Gulf Coast (2-0) in scoring again with 16 points. Johnie Davis Jr., also had 16. Paul Cooper had nine. “With both of those guys down there, then it frees up the perimeter,” Gulf Coast coach Jay Powell said. “(Buckner) had a couple of dunks in transition. He had two really impressive jump hooks off the block. Scored several different ways.”
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November 7, 2009
GC basketball teams move to 2-0
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - AIKEN, S.C. — Gulf Coast is sticking with what works. For the second consecutive game, the Commodores used an inside-outside combination to win, defeating USC-Salkenhatchie to cap an East Coast road trip. Eric Buckner led Gulf Coast (2-0) in scoring again with 16 points. Johnie Davis Jr., also had 16. Paul Cooper had nine. “With both of those guys down there, then it frees up the perimeter,” Gulf Coast coach Jay Powell said. “(Buckner) had a couple of dunks in transition. He had two really impressive jump hooks off the block. Scored several different ways.”
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November 6, 2009
Gulf Coast teams open basketball season with wins
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - AIKEN, S.C. — Gulf Coast’s Willie Kirkland and Eric Buckner each had 14 points as the Commodores opened the season with a win over Aiken Technical College. Johnie Davis and Javon Dawson each had 12 points, and Jeff Reese added 10 for Gulf Coast. GC coach Jay Powell was pleased with a season-opening win on the road. “They have a good little following in their gym,” Powell said. “I’m pleased with the win and we got a good idea of the things to work on next week.”
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October 20, 2009
Gulf Coast's Cooper commits to Texas Tech
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY - Gulf Coast sophomore center Paul Cooper verbally committed to Texas Tech on Sunday, Commodores coach Jay Powell said. Cooper returned from visiting UCF Sunday night and instead decided on the Red Raiders. Cooper visited Texas Tech earlier this month. The Auburndale product averaged 3.8 points and 3.5 blocks last season in primarily a backup role. During the offseason Cooper, listed at 6-foot-8 and 260 pounds, trimmed down and bulked up, and raised his stock during a camp for top junior college prospects last summer.
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October 15, 2009
GC men's basketballers look to future schools
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — Last weekend was a typical weekend off for the Gulf Coast men’s basketball team. Eric Buckner’s mother drove in from South Carolina, picked him up and drove some more to Baton Rouge, La., for his official recruiting visit at LSU. Jay Powell followed NCAA rules and drove with his wife separately to Baton Rouge. It’s been a busy fall for Powell and most of the Commodores’ seven sophomores. They’ve crisscrossed the country on recruiting trips, trying to find the best school to finish their collegiate basketball careers at the Division I level. But the players can’t just up and leave. Powell has set guidelines on when they can take trips, and has let the Division I teams know as well.
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October 1, 2009
Area junior college basketball teams open practice
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — The first hour of the Gulf Coast men’s basketball team’s first practice of the 2009-10 season could’ve been any hour from any practice last year. Intensity was at mid-season form, with drills teetering on the edge on brawling. Gulf Coast coach Jay Powell picked up where he left off in last season’s state tournament as the Commodores try to surpass its 2008-09 surprising run to the state title game. And the squad’s talent was on display.
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August 21, 2009
North Carolina prep coach named GC men's assistant
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — Gulf Coast men’s basketball coach Jay Powell completed his staff Friday with the hiring of Odell Witherspoon. Witherspoon was an assistant at The Patterson School, one of the top prep schools in the country located in North Carolina, for one season before joining the Commodores. “I heard a lot of good things about it from some other coaches,” Witherspoon said. “I heard a lot of good things about Coach Powell. I’ve never been down this way. I thought it’d be a great career move.” Witherspoon, 34, replaces Thomas Register, who became the head coach at Graceville High School.
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August 20, 2009
Gulf Coast men's basketball stocks up on guards
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - PANAMA CITY — Reloading is a term used loosely in sports. At Gulf Coast, however, restocking would better fit the men’s basketball team. Commodores coach Jay Powell signed seven guards for this year’s team, trying to replace a backcourt emptied by graduation and the scoring load vacated by Marquis Gilstrap and Brad Reese. The lone frontcourt recruit is Javon Dawson, a 6-foot-5 forward from Crisp County High School in Cordele, Ga. “We’ll see what the new backcourt we brought in can do,” Powell said. “Javon Dawson has been a very pleasant surprise. He’s shed some pounds. “I’m pleased (with the incoming freshmen). I think we’re at least two deep at every single position. And after last season, that’s something that we wanted to improve on.”
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August 13, 2009
Register named Graceville boys basketball coach
NEWS HERALD (By Josh Weinfuss ) - Thomas Register's father used to tell him that joining Future Farmers of America would help him meet the right people. It helped the younger Register become the boys basketball head coach at Graceville on Tuesday. Register had met Graceville Principal Chris Franklin while Register was a student at Chipley High School in 2000 at an FFA function. When Register heard that Coach Michael Carter's position was eliminated through budget cuts, Register called Franklin to inquire about the opening. Franklin chose the 23-year-old coach from 34 applicants.
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