Morgan’s men’s basketball season is scheduled to begin Nov. 9, when the Bears face off against the Arizona Wildcats in McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, Arizona.
The Bears have four returning players this year and welcomed 12 new players onto the roster. The returning players include sophomore Guard Rob Lawson, senior Guard Kevon Wiggins, junior Guard Kamron Hobbs and junior Forward Will Thomas.
Kevin Broadus, Bear’s head basketball coach, said that he admires the versatility this team offers because most players can play both ends of the court.
“Since we have a new team, I feel the biggest difference is that we have a better offensive team,” Broadus said. “We have to get better defensively but we can score points. We have multi-talented players at different positions.”
Hobbs was a player who stepped up when several of his teammates became injured last season. During that time, Hobbs averaged 8.4 points per game, 2.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and shot 80.6% as his free-throw percentage.
Hobbs said that he feels that the team’s unselfishness and their will to win is going to help them fight in close games this upcoming season.
“[We’re] coming out the gate fully energized with confidence knowing that we prepared ourselves properly,” Hobbs said. “Every single one of us has a chip on our shoulder and we are going to make sure that everyone against us can feel that chip we are playing with.”
Thomas had an impressive season last year and played 29 games — without injury. He averaged 8.9 points per game and led the team in rebounds, averaging 3.9 rebounds per game.
The Bears have incorporated new talent onto the team and their size is one of their strengths as everyone on the team is at least 6 feet tall except for Hobbs.
Junior Forward Christian Oliver is one of the new additions to the team. Oliver is 7 feet tall and transferred from East Los Angeles College, where he played for the Huskies. Last season, he averaged 5.3 points per game and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 45% from the field. Oliver helped lead the Huskies to a 27-4 record, winning the South Coast Conference North Championship for the seventh straight year.
Senior Guard Wynston Tabbs is another new addition to the team and transferred from East Carolina University, where he played for the Pirates. Last season, he played 13 games due to an injury but still scored a season-high of 16 points and shot 50% from the field when facing the University of Texas Arlington Mavericks on Nov. 23, 2022.
Tabbs said that going to France built team chemistry and that chemistry will show itself on the court this upcoming season.
“I know that I played at a high level already and proved what I could do,” Tabbs said. “ This school is going to showcase my talent as much as possible and I want to bring the school a championship.”
