Gaston College Review 2024-25: Basketball sets multiple records and produces NCAA D1 signee

When the 2024-25 Gaston College basketball season began, only two players from the previous team were in the rotation as new coach Benny Moss had reshaped the roster with two other returnees and 14 newcomers.

One of the returnees would be forced to redshirt, the other would later leave the team while one newcomer suffered a midseason injury to shorten his season, two others left the team and three would redshirt.

Oh, and by the way, the first game would be against the No. 1-ranked team in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II poll.

Facing such obstacles, even Moss wasn't sure exactly what to expect from his team.

But following a competitive 89-83 loss to a Davidson-Davie Community College that would eventually finish sixth in the NJCAA Division II national championship tournament, the Rhinos hit their stride with the longest winning streak in school history (17 games) and finishing the season with 20 victories for the first time since 1972 - or 50 years before the program restarted in 2021.

Led by All-Region 10 honorees Jordan Brown (13.7 scoring average, 4.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists), Tyheim Love (13.2 scoring, 2.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists) and Judah Ravenell (13.2 scoring, 6.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists), the Rhinos would contend for league honors with at least one win against five of the seven teams and were the only team to win a road game at USC Salkehatchie.

"To win 22 games and win 17 games in a row, obviously we had a lot of good things happen," Moss said. "I feel bad for the three sophomores because I really wanted to get to the national tournament for those guys.
"Those three guys set the tone for the program, set a standard and created a culture. Now we've got to get these freshman to come back and the new guys we bring in to understand the culture we've created here and be better next year down the stretch."

All three sophomores will continue their career at four-year schools - Brown at UNC-Greensboro after receiving national attention, Ravenell at Belmont Abbey and Love at an undetermined as of yet NCAA Division I or Division II school.