Traveling Flyers Look to Build on Summer Experiences

When the Sandhills Community College basketball coaches and players assemble at The Hangar for the first official practice of the 2022-23 season on October 1, some of them will be bringing more to the table as a result of their summer travels.

Assistant coaches Tramaine Pride, Daquain Towns and Markell Lotharp attended the Jay Bilas Coaching Clinic held at Queens University in Charlotte on June 9-12. Later that month, Head Coach Mike Apple traveled to Barcelona, Spain to coach an 18-and- under youth team made up of players from all over the USA at the Euro Youth Basketball Cup.

And, returning Flyers Bryan Quiller and Joey McMullin were nominated by their coach and selected to participate in the NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaching Association Rising Stars Class of 2023 event held at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs on July 20-21.

Quiller and McMullin Prove to be Up to the Challenge

"It was a great honor to be selected," Apple said of two players he's hoping will help the team qualify for the NJCAA national tournament for a fifth consecutive season. "They got an opportunity to play against some of the best junior college players across the country and performed well."

McMullin was a third-team NJCAA All-American selection and Region 10 Player of the Year last season. Granted an additional season because of Covid, Quiller led the Flyers in scoring average in both of his seasons in addition to earning All-Region 10 recognition.

In Iowa, their team coached by Jerry Carrillo of Cochise College in Arizona, won two of its three games. McMullin averaged 12 points per game and Quiller averaged seven points and four rebounds per contest.

McMullin, a product of Orange High School, enjoyed the air travel and the time spent with his teammate. He was impressed by the quality of players that participated in the event.

"It was a good little summer vacation, I guess," he said. "I did pretty well, I think."

Quiller, who missed most of the first half of last season with a foot injury, also felt he benefited from the experience.

"I got to play with a lot of great players from everywhere," he said. "It just added more to what I've been doing since I came to this college."

Bilas Clinic Provides Opportunity for Growth as Coaches

Pride and Towns were both coached by Apple at Pinecrest High School as well as at Sandhills. Along with Lotharp they were members of Apple's first Sandhills team that won the NJCAA Division III national championship in 2012. Lotharp and Towns are Sandhills CC Athletics Hall of Fame inductees.  Pride previously served as an assistant coach at Cox Mills High School and Pfeiffer University.

They were part of a group of 40 coaches that stayed in the dormitories at Queens University where the Bilas Clinic was held. In addition to helping the staff members run a camp for top college prospects, they learned some of the finer points of teaching the game from coaches with many years of experience.

"We received a lot of information from a lot of coaches about finding your path, your own identity as a coach, and using it," said Pride, who began his college basketball playing career at the University of Charlotte before transferring to Sandhills.  "I think we grew a lot as coaches. It's more than just being a basketball coach, it's skill development and administration."

Pride described Bilas as gracious host when the coaches visited the former Duke player and television analysts home.

"It was like a fraternity," he said of the gathering of coaches. "I look forward to coming back. It was really good of the school (Sandhills) to allow us the chance to get there."

Towns felt that what he learned helped validate what he has experienced as player and a coach over the years for Apple. He also saw the value of the bond that develops between fellow coaches.

"Some of the stuff was kind of new, but a lot of it I experienced before," he said.

As it was for Pride, Charlotte was familiar territory for Lotharp who went to high school in Marshville and played basketball and graduated from Johnson C. Smith University after Sandhills. He feels the Bilas clinic helped him realize that his calling as a coach is in developing players and that being able to communicate with them about their needs is a key part to being successful at it.

Apple Travels 4,000 miles for a Unique Coaching Experience

North Carolina Wesleyan Athletic Director Aaron Denton was originally slated to coach the 18-and under USA team in Spain, but had to withdrew because of a visa problem. He recommended Apple, who had succeeded him as the head basketball coach and later as athletic director at Sandhills.

"Fortunately, I had my passport and all my shots so I was able to do it," Apple said. "I got to coach an 18-and under team which I haven't done in a while. We just had a handful of practices before we started playing."

Apple's team went 5-1, losing to a team from England in the gold medal game of the tournament held in the Mediterranean seacoast city of Blanes, about an hour away from Barcelona. He enjoyed the opportunity to experience international rules, differences in the style of basketball and refereeing.

"It took some getting used to, but it was a great experience," he said.  "I can't say enough about the hospitality and the way we were treated."

In addition to McMullin and Quiller, Apple is expecting to greet eight other returnees from last season's squad that finished with a record of 26-9, along with three red-shirted players and 11 newcomers.

C. Bergmann