By Chase Jones
New College of Southern Nevada Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Lee leads players in their optimism and skills as they work to turn the season around.
CSN Men’s Basketball is running a losing season so far 0-10, with hopes for wins in the 16 remaining games.
Lee said, this season he will focus on, “Just basically playing hard, getting after it, concentrating more on defense and (the players) just giving all they have at this point.”
According to CSN’s sports communication director’s press release dated June 28, 2023, “Coach Lee’s journey in basketball began with his own accomplishments as a Division I student athlete at Prairie View A&M University. He most recently served as the Interim Head Coach at Durango High School in Las Vegas, where he successfully led the team to a NIAA 5A State Championship in 2023. Prior to that, he demonstrated his coaching prowess at Clark High School, Del Sol Academy of Arts High School and Centennial High School, leaving a positive impact on the players and fostering a culture of excellence.”
A core player on the team is Jaylen Pollard. Pollard is a 6’6” freshman that already has great scoring ability and high defensive I.Q.
“Jaylen Pollard could be a game changer, once he really is able to get on board and gravitate to everything, he could be a real special player,” Lee said. “In his first game as the sixth man, he scored 34 points in 27 minutes.”
Pollard said, I feel like I can do everything on the floor with my positive energy, optimism and ability to get the guys going on all levels of the floor.
A strategy is fluctuating the starting five each night at the forward and center positions. At Center, there is currently a two-man split in between Chase Jackson and David Estes. While Estes is more offense-minded, Jackson is more of a bruising center, so each night can be a case of pick your poison. Regardless, they both provide much needed height and rim protection.
The starting guards have remained unchanged and for good reason. Point Guard is Lorenzo Abellar, a quick player with great offense ability, maintaining as one of the top three contributors in assists and scoring every game played so far. Some of his goals this year include first team all-conference, and for the team to be above .500 at the end of the season.
Shooting Guard is Samuel Steele-Williams, a tenacious two-way player that understands the importance of a balanced game. “You have to take all the tedious things — all the little things — and make the most out of them because, all those little things, they add up.” He has played more than 33 minutes each game and rarely turning the ball over.
Felix Reeves, a redshirt sophomore who has just as much excitement and pride in this team as if he was playing every minute, said, “I bring energy and I bring leadership to this team. I feel like that’s what we needed this year and that’s what I’m carrying as a player.” Reeves traveled with the team to games and brought positive team morale.
Although the efforts of these players did not equate to wins yet, these players are competing at a high level and the team’s chemistry on the court is showing evidence of becoming stronger. For info on the season click this link Men’s Basketball – College of Southern Nevada Athletics (csncoyotes.com).
Coyote Student News at the College of Southern Nevada 