Reviewing Gaston College's 2022-23 basketball season

When Gaston College restarted its athletic program, the school's first official game came in basketball.

Under the direction of longtime college coach David "Dickey" Nutt and one of his former players and assistants, Jamie Rosser, the Rhinos managed all of their basketball training and playing off campus.

Throughout that initial season, a "road warrior" mentality emerged and Gaston College started 6-0, won more league road games than "home" games and finished 18-10 overall with the second-best record in Region 10. But, as a first-year program, the Rhinos were ineligible for postseason competition.

Following an offseason in which Nutt left his duties as Gaston College athletic director and head coach to become an associate head coach at the University of Missouri of the Southeastern Conference and Rosser was promoted to head coach, the Rhinos had six returnees and eight newcomers who were ready for the 2022-23 season.

The six returnees - Yarayah Evans, Dedrick Givens, Joshua Johnson, Dee Merriweather, Kirk Scoggins and DeMarco Watson - quickly emerged as team leaders. And with a full complement of new players, Gaston College roared out of the gates with a 7-0 start.

But injuries, particularly to frontcourt players Caleb McCarty (ankle), Dedrick Givens (back) and Ajaden Gray (knee), limited Rosser's options and became the story of the rest of the season. In fact, only one player - All-Region 10 selection Merriweather - played in all 29 games this season.

In the end, the Rhinos finished 17-12 overall and 4-8 in Region 10 after a season-ending league tournament loss to eventual Region 10 champion Cape Fear Community College.

An indication of how good Gaston College could have been if healthy can be seen in its regular season game against Cape Fear Community College. The Rhinos overpowered the visiting Sea Devils 85-60 in late January at Gastonia's Ashbrook High School gymnasium that was Gaston College's home the entire season, then led virtually the entire game before losing 72-70 on a desperation 40-foot 3-pointer on February 8 at Cape Fear's Schwartz Center.

"With McCarty, Givens and Gray out of play, it took away instant toughness in the postseason game for us," Rosser said. "You know the saying, 'You don't know how much you'll miss someone until they're gone.' That was definitely the case here."

McCarty injured his ankle on December 10, missed 12 of the final 19 games and couldn't play a full game in the seven he did play. Givens got injured in the January 21 win over Cape Fear Community College and missed the final 15 games of the year. Gray's knee injury happened in preseason allowing him to play in only games overall.

Merriweather was the top 3-point marksman in Region 10 with 78 conversions and averaged a team-high 11.0 points per game. Watson was the other double-figure scorer at 10.3 per game in addition to finishing second in Region 10 in assists (5.7 per game) and leading the team in rebound average (5.8).

Other standouts included sophomores Jordan Guthrie (9.7 scoring average), McCarty (8.5 scoring average, 4.9 rebounding average), Givens (7.0 scoring average, 4.6 rebounding average) and Johnson (6.4 scoring average), along with freshmen Tyree Bracey (8.8 scoring average, 4.4 rebounding average), Asil Hoyle (8.4 scoring average), Jamal Ukaegbu (8.3 scoring average, 4.8 rebounding average), Evans (6.6 scoring average, 5.0 rebounding average) and Michael Smith (6.3 scoring average).

"I was so proud of my freshmen," Rosser said. "They did all they could and fought a hard season. Those guys showed some resilience that will help us in the future."