Gaston College takes momentum on road trip to Florida this weekend

A year ago, Gaston College was a first-year basketball program with an unbeaten record when it headed to Florida in November for a trip that saw it face its first nationally-ranked team - and the eventual national champion.

The Rhinos are heading back to the same venue this weekend with the momentum of a 6-1 start to this season and first-year head coach Jamie Rosser looks forward to another challenge.

"This is a great opportunity for us to compete against two really established programs, playing a top 10 team that's the defending champion and is very competitive," said Rosser, who was an associated head coach to David "Dickey" Nutt last season. "That's what we're aiming to become, so it's fitting for our guys to see what that looks and feels like. We respect everyone but fear no one. So we're going to go in and fight and see what we've got."

A year ago, current sophomores Dee Merriweather and DaMarco Watson scored 25 and 18 points, respectively, as a Gaston College team that would eventually finish 18-10 overall and one game out of first place in the Region 10 regular season standings pushed Northwest Florida State before losing 85-70.

This year, the Raiders will host the Rhinos at 8:30 p.m. on Friday night after winning the 2022 National Junior College Athletic Association title last March and after being ranked No. 1 in the first three polls of the 2022-23 season. After a 6-0 start, Northwest Florida State has lost three of its last six games and takes a 9-3 record in Friday's game.

"I think it's going to be a fun trip for us," Rosser said. "It's always great to be able to take a trip to Florida. I always thought it was fun to go to Florida as a kid, so hopefully we are able to get a really good overall experience out of our time there."

This time, the Rhinos will play the host Raiders on Friday, then meet Pensacola State College of Florida at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Northwest Florida State gymnasium in Niceville; Pensacola State is 7-3 entering Friday's game against Monroe College.

So far this season, the Rhinos have been led by freshmen Asil Hoyle (averaging 15.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game) and Jamal Ukaegbu (9.9 points, 7.6 rebounds), and sophomores Caleb McCarty (11.3 points, 6.4 rebounds), Watson (11.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.9 assists), Jordan Guthrie (9.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists), Joshua Johnson (9.0 points, 2.6 rebounds) and Dedrick Givens (8.7 points, 5.4 rebounds).

"Staying ready is the mentality we've got to have," Rosser said. " We're looking forward to going to Florida and having fun, and let's not get that misconstrued because we spell fun W-I-N. Last year, we had five guys who worked on their courses together on the trip. So when you talk about bonding, it's good for us because we are able to relax, do some homework, and play some basketball. You can't beat it."

After this weekend's trip, Gaston College will close out its first semester schedule on Saturday, December 10, against Moravian Prep Academy at 8 p.m. at Ashbrook High School