Carthage, TX ? The Panola College men's basketball team and Head Coach Grant McMillan are set to announce their 2017 recruiting class. After the most successful season in school history, the Ponies needed to replace eight sophomores and one redshirt freshman. This past season Panola posted a 26-9 record, won the North Division in Region 14, was regional runner-ups, and qualified for the national tournament.
"Recruiting never stops for us. As a staff we have to identify players we want to recruit early in the process. We believe in the way we do things and think our success the past two seasons has helped us recruit nationally." Head Coach Grant McMillan mentioned. "We graduated a group of players who represented Panola the right way. With that said, we are bringing in a special group of players. Mix them with the talent have returning and we can have continued success." He added.
Returning players for Panola include: Christian Hammett, TJ Killings, and Marlon Taylor. Local product, Hammett averaged three points a game last year. TJ Killings appeared in every game as a freshman. He averaged 7.3 points per game and had a season high 19 points against Bossier Parish. Marlon Taylor started 17 games as a freshman. He averaged 10.7 points and recorded 9 double-doubles throughout the season.
2017 recruits include:
Jaronde Boyd - FR - 5'9" - Michigan City, Indiana - Michigan City High School
Jarande Boyd is part of the winningest class in Michigan City High School history. The point guard averaged 11 points and 6 assists a game his senior year. Boyd was All-Area and named Blue Chips Camp MVP. The knockdown shooter led his team to the areas #1 ranking.
Jeffrey Boyd - FR - 6'4" - Chicago, Illinois - Homewood Flossmoor High School
A two year starter for Homewood Flossmoor High School, Jeffrey Boyd gained the reputation as one of the best shooters in the state. Not in relation to fellow signee Jaronde Boyd, Jeffrey was Recognized on the Chicago Sun times all area team. Was the MVP of the Illinois Coaches Association all-star game and made the Daily Southtown all-area team.
Nathan Brooks - FR - 6'7" - Farmington Mills, Michigan - North Farmington High School
Nathan spent his senior year at North Farmington High School where he anchored the front court. Brooks averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds a game and was named to the all-area squad. Prior to North Farmington, Brooks starred at Stratford Academy in Macon Georgia where we was an all-state performer. The high-flyer made multiple appearances in Michigan?s top plays of the week his senior year.
Tylan Dean - FR - 6'0" - Ruston, Louisiana - Lincoln Prep High School
Tylan is finishing up his senior year at Lincoln Prep High School. His team finished up 29-6 and made it to the Elite 8 of the state tournament. Tylan was a two time LSWA 1st team all-state member, three time Louisiana sportswriter association all-state player, three time all-district player and was the district MVP this past season. He scored over 2000 points in his high school career.
Shandon Goldman - SO - 6'9" - Evansville, Arkansas - Arkansas Little-Rock - Lincoln High School
"Biggie" finished up his freshman year at Arkansas Little-Rock. He appeared in 5 fives this past season. In high school, Biggie was a three-time all-conference player. He was all-state his senior year and made the state tournament all-star team his senior year. After high school he did a prep year at Tennessee Prep where he nearly averaged a double-double.
Jibril Harris - FR - 6'8" - East Chicago, Indiana - East Chicago Central High School
Jibril finished up his senior year at East Chicago Central High School where he led the Cardinals to a sectional championship. This past season he averaged 14.7 points and 10.7 rebounds a game. Jibril made the NWI time?s all-area team and was honorable mention all-state for the Indiana Coaches Association. He was a double-digit scorer for the SYF Players on the grass root circuit.
Alex Holcombe - SO - 6'9" - Houston, Texas - Texas A&M CC - Fort Bend Marshall High School
Alex just finished up his freshman season at Corpus. He appeared in 23 games as a freshman this past season, averaging double-digit minutes per game. In high school, Alex was an all-conference and all district player. Known as an elite level defender, Alex almost averaged 5 blocks a game.
Raymone Lampkin - FR - 6'11" - New Orleans, Louisiana - Helen Cox High School
Raymone averaged 11 points and 12 rebounds a game during his junior year for perennial power Helen Cox High School. Lampkin finished his career at TAGG Prep where he took on a national schedule. He increased both his scoring and rebounding output while at TAGG.
Jeremy Roscoe - RFR - 6'3" - Chicago Illinois - Southern Illinois - Uplift High School
Jeremy sat out last season at Southern Illinois University. Roscoe was a 1st team all-state player for Uplift High School in Chicago. He was a key part in his teams state championship his senior year. He averaged just over 13 points a game. After his senior year he did a prep year at Victory Rock in Florida. At Victory Rock, Roscoe became one of the nation?s leading scorers on the circuit averaging over 18 points per game.
Juwan Williams - RSO - 6'4" - Richmond, Texas - Weber State - Fort Bend Travis High School
Juwan sat out last season after playing his freshman year at Weber State. While at Weber, Williams appeared in 20 games, averaged 3.3 points a game and recorded three double-digit scoring games. One of Texas top high school recruits, Juwan starred at Fort Bend Travis High School. He averaged 14 points and 6 rebounds a game his senior year. Williams was also part of the 2013, 5A state championship team.