WS Chronicle

Carolina Christian College ushered in their basketball program three years ago. This summer, the team is working hard to build on the foundation the team has laid their first two years.

Jamie Foster, Centurion basketball head coach, is pushing his team this summer to maximize their potential. His workouts are setting his team up for a successful 2019-2020 season, because his team is building a bond, he said.

“I love the togetherness and the closeness my team has,” said Foster. “Last year we stuck together and went through a lot, but that made them closer.  I think down the road, that closeness is going to help us win some ball games.”

The Centurions were fairly successful last season. Foster expects his team to build upon that success with championship aspirations. He knows his team will not sneak up on any of their opponents this year.

“I don’t expect anything less than the championship,” he said. “We were almost there last year, we lost in the semi-final game, so I don’t expect us to go down, we can’t do anything but go up from here. They already know I am not looking for anything other than a championship.”

With the nice mixture of post and wing players, Foster is pleased with his team’s chances this season.

“I think we are really physical and we are really fast and we have great shooters that will help us a lot,” he said about his team. “If we put in the work, we can be a really, really great defensive team with our length, strength and speed.”

Foster will lean on three of his veteran players this season; Keonte Edwards, Rashon Gray and Stephon Brown.  

“It has been good playing here, we have a lot of up and coming talent and I think we will make big things happen this year,” said Edwards.  

Brown added, “Picking up from last year, I think we have a chance to win a ring, because we are focused as a team.”

The expectations for this year are really high, according to Edwards. Based on their performance last year, combined with the influx of new talent, they feel the sky is the limit.

“We have matured a lot from last year,” said Edwards. “We faced some trials last year, but I feel we are going to make big things happen this season.

“We went through a lot and people did not expect a lot out of us, because of our name and our school, but we come to play every night,” Gray added. “The expectations for us are very high this year, because we want to put Carolina Christian College on the map.”

His team seems to be all on the same page, which will hopefully manifest into more wins this season, said Foster. He is eager to hit the court this fall to see if they can make their dream of winning a championship come true.