Preview of Men’s Basketball
Photos provided by Rampage student photographer Gianna Sloan-Lebron.
As winter athletics begin, the men’s basketball team at Bluefield University is preparing for an exciting season this year.
The Appalachian Athletic Conference projected the Rams to finish 11th in the conference in the AAC pre-season poll. With that in mind, BU will be underdogs in the 2023-2024 season.
Around this time, rosters are being posted and teams are gathering scouting reports on the best players on every team. As far as Bluefield is concerned, Elijah White will be on the conference’s watch list this year. As a standout from Virginia Beach, White was named Freshman of the Year, First Team All-Conference, and recognized by the Virginia Sports Information Directors as Rookie of the Year in his first year at Bluefield.
“This year, I’m stepping into a role that’s not new at all for me,” White said about his plans to take on more of a leadership role iin 2023-2024.
Averaging 16.6 points a game, White was a huge threat to the conference last year. His vision of BU’s future this season is very team-oriented.
“I feel like we can be a real good team once we get down the chemistry and know our roles,” White said. “We need the eager to want to win for more than ourselves.”
As Richard Morgan begins his 14th season as head coach, his outlook for the 2023-2024 season is very transitional. With key transfer players, such as Tybenn Sturm, Donavon Martin, and Quantavis McKinney, Coach Morgan projects the Rams to have a great season.
“I think we recruited what we needed, filled the spots we needed to fill, and got some guys that can score,” Morgan said. “I think they’ll do better and we’ll do better.”
Chemistry is vital in team sports, and Coach Morgan believes it’s already there for the Rams.
“I got guys that are playing well now that didn’t even play last year because we’re getting older, bigger, and stronger,” Coach Morgan said. “The things we did last year are preparing them for what’s to come this year.”
The Rams got off to a hot start with a 2-1 record with wins against Truett McConnell University and St. Andrews University, but have since fallen on hard times having lost six in a row. However, in four of those six losses, they had chances to win and lost by as few as two and no more than seven points. The Rams hope to get back on the winning track when they resume play at home against Bryan College on Saturday, December 2.
Catch the Rams in home action at the Dome Gymnasium or follow them on burams.com.
