(Courtesy: Con Marshall)
The Chadron State College men’s basketball team had just one senior, center Matt Reader, on its roster this past season. But coach Houston Reed said after meeting with each of the team members five others have told him they will not continue playing for the Eagles.
They include Chadron native Vonsinh Sayaloune, who recently had extensive surgery on his right shoulder and was told by the surgeon not to put stress on the shoulder for at least five months. That means he would not be able to work out during the summer months and has decided to discontinue playing.
The injury occurred when he dove for a loose ball during the Eagles’ win over Adams State on New Year’s Eve 2016.
The others who won’t return are Dru Kuxhausen, the freshman guard from Scottsbluff; Michael Johnson, the sophomore forward from Houston by way of the Bahamas; Lee Saffin, the lanky long-range shooter from Australia; and Luke Fick, a guard from Loveland, Colo.
Each of them also experienced health problems during the past year.
Their departure leaves the Eagles with six players who saw action this past year and three others who redshirted.
Three of the returnees will be seniors 2018-19. They include point guard Jaisean Jackson of Denver, the team’s leading scorer this past season at 12.5 points a game, and another stalwart, forward Jeremy Ruffin of Chicago, who averaged 8.9 points and a team-best 6.9 rebounds.
The third senior-to-be is center Adoum MBang. He missed about half the CSC schedule after returning to his home in Cameroon in west Africa for about three weeks for a family matter as the season was beginning and then had to catch up on his academics after he returned.
The others returning are Jordan Mills of Alliance, who will be a junior after averaging eight points while starting much of last season, and Walker Andrew of Littleton, Colo., and Eric Jamerman of Douglas, Wyo., both of whom got considerable playing time as true freshmen.
Two of the redshirts, junior guard Michael Sparks of Denver and freshman forward Jacob Jefferson of Buckeye, Ariz., didn’t play this winter because of injuries. Another freshman, Kayden Sund, a pre-med major from Golden, Colo., asked to redshirt this year to help him get off to a good start academically.
Reed continually praised the hustle and energy that Sayaloune gave the team, noting, “He gives us some juice and does everything we ask. He takes charges, gets loose balls, defends and can also shoot it.”
Sayaloune scored 109 points, including 23 in an overtime loss to Westminster, as a redshirt freshman at year ago. With more guards on the team this year, he took fewer shots and finished with 86 points and a high of 12. He’s the first Chadron native to see significant action for the Eagles since Curt Katen earned letters in both 2000-01 and 2001-02.
Always a crowd favorite, Sayaloune averaged 17.2 points and led the Panhandle with 81 3-pointers as a senior at Chadron High in 2014-15. That summer, he sank six treys and tallied 28 points while claiming the Most Valuable Player award at the Panhandle Prep all-star game.
Sayaloune also was a football standout for the Cardinals. He led the Panhandle with seven pass interceptions his senior year, and made a leaping catch a touchdown pass in the West Nebraska All-Star Football Game a week after he’d earned the MVP basketball honor.
He’ll continue his studies at Chadron State while majoring in math and physical education so he can teach and coach after he graduates.
Kuxhausen was an all-class, all-stater for the Scottsbluff Bearcats his senior year in 2016-17. He averaged 19.4 points a game as a four-year starter, including 28.5 as a senior. His 2,110 career points are the most by any Panhandle high school player and 17th all-time in Nebraska.
He had some big games with the Eagles, scoring 22 points during a 72-69 win at Nebraska-Kearney in the third game of the season and 28 against Metro State on Dec. 9. He also suffered a hip and back injury late in the Metro game and missed the next four games.
Kuxhausen returned to score 27 and 20 games in home games against Colorado Mesa and Western State in early January. But he continued to be bothered by pain and it was finally determined he had a cracked bone in his back. He was in uniform but did not play in the five final games of the season.
He averaged 12.5 points a game, second high among the Eagles, while shooting 35 percent from the field, including 30 percent from 3-point range (37-124) and made 56 of 64 of his free throws for 87.5 percent for the Eagles.
Kuxhausen noted late in the past season that the transition from high school to college basketball was tougher than he had expected. Apparently seeking a fresh start, he has signed a letter of intent to play at Western Nebraska Community College in his hometown next season.
Johnson was another player who came to Chadron State with lots of promise. He had earned all-star honors in football, basketball, track and field and tennis as a senior Texas Christian High in Houston in 2016-17.
The 6-5, 250-pound forward averaged 8.6 points and 4.5 rebounds for the Eagles as a freshman a year ago and 7.8 points and 4.2 rebounds this past year.
Like Kuxhausen, health issues may have been a factor in Johnson’s decision to not rejoin the Eagles. He missed seven games while recovering from an ulcer problem that was diagnosed while he was home in the Bahamas during the Christmas break.
Although Saffin has played just three years for the Eagles, he will have more than 120 hours of college credit at the end of this semester and can graduate at the end of the summer. He’s also experienced of a health issue and had surgery on a foot Monday, according to a teammate.
Although 6-5, the Aussie primarily played on the perimeter. Twenty-three of his 29 field goals this past season were 3-pointers.
Fick earned all-state honors twice at Resurrection Christian High in his hometown of Loveland, Colo., after averaging 16.7 points and 10.4 rebounds as a senior when his team had a 24-2 record. He redshirted with the Eagles a year ago, then required surgery last summer to repair cartilage damage in a knee.
Although he saw limited action in 13 games this season, he said the knee has not completely healed and he decided to forego playing more basketball. A strong student, Fick already had 42 hours of credit when he enrolled as a freshman at CSC. He said he’ll remain at the college this coming year and graduate next May with a degree in business and emphasis in finance.
Reed said last week that he expects to have several signees next Wednesday, the official signing date for several of the sports.
Last fall, he signed Trey Hladky, the guard from Gillette, who has been named Wyoming’s Gatorade Player of the Year the past two seasons. Hladky scored 43 points while leading the Campbell County Camels to victory in the Class 4A championship game at the Wyoming State Tournament last month.