GILLETTE, WY by: Miles Englehart Gillette News Record

One of the biggest keys to successful junior college basketball is buy-in, and the Gillette College men used that buy-in to return to Region IX and national prominence.

The 2018-19 season was an anomaly during coach Shawn Neary's tenure, as the team went 15-16 and lost out in the first round of the region tournament.

The Pronghorns had averaged 30 wins the previous five seasons, including a NJCAA Final Four appearance. Neary reloaded last offseason while returning two experienced sophomores and advanced to the Region IX semifinals to finish the season 26-6. 

"Twenty-six wins, that's good. It kind of gets us back to where we were in the those previous five years before last year," Neary said. "I really enjoyed coaching this team.

"This group of guys was competitive. They let me coach them hard. (They were) always respectable, always coachable."

Three of Gillette's six losses were to Western Wyoming Community College, which finished the season as Region IX champs and ranked No. 15 in the nation. WWCC also ended the Pronghorns' season in the Region IX semifinals.

Neary said the Mustangs were a good team and that he and assistant coach Estevan Sandoval "couldn't figure out a game plan together to beat them."

Gillette College racked up the 26 wins with a roster a five sophomores and seven freshmen, but it's unclear which players will be back in a Pronghorns' jersey next season.

What is known is that Gillette College loses five sophomores who were "really good" for the team this season, Neary said.

Mason Archambault and Bradley Akhile were stalwarts in the program for both of the last two seasons and were the only players who saw the court in 2018-19 to return this past season.

Archambault finished the season as Gillette's top 3-point shooter (45%) and leading scorer at 13.8 points per game. He was the floor general.

Akhile also was a double-digit scorer and at 6-foot-7, he played and defended almost every position on the floor. Neary praised both players for helping grow the program for the last two years.

"Mason and Brad were just outstanding this year," he said.

Gillette's three transfer sophomores played large roles as well.

Jayden Coke, who transferred from Snow College, emerged as the Pronghorns' top defensive stopper and was assigned to every team's best perimeter player.

Tarig Eisa, a transfer from Daytona State College, was a scoring and shooting specialist who averaged nearly 10 points per game. Javen Gumber was the third, and he suffered a season-ending injury with 11 games left.

"Tarig and Jayden transferred in here and just did a fantastic job for us," Neary said. "And Gumber was getting better and better before he got hurt."

The sophomore class gave the Pronghorns a little bit of everything — elite shooting, defending and leadership — but the crop of freshman leaves plenty to look forward to.

The question is who will be back.

Redshirt Anthony Felisma still has three years of eligibility, but will transfer to another program, Neary said.

Which of the remaining freshmen will be back is up in the air, though.

This is usually the time Neary has discussions about the next season with his players. He often sits down and asks them to come back, and sometimes he helps players move on to a different situation that's a better fit.

But with Gillette College's spring break extending because of COVID-19 and students being off-campus, that process has been put on hold. Neary has stayed in contact with his players and hopes there are plenty of familiar faces back next season.

"My hope is that the bulk of that freshman class will come back, because I think we have a good group," Neary said. "The reality is that they might not all come back. That happens sometimes. There's turnover some years."

Some of the notable freshmen this past season include:

• Isaac Mushila: 6-foot-4 starting forward, averaged 13 points, 8 rebounds per game
• Gary Solomon: 6-foot-5 starting guard, averaged 11.5 points and 3.6 assists per game
• Teonta McKeithen: 6-foot-4 guard, averaged 12.6 point in 16 minutes per game, shot 39.4% from 3-point range
• Jo Jones: 5-foot-9 guard, averaged six points and two assists in 14 minutes per game

Gillette College also had four redshirt freshmen this season that may be vying for a roster spot if all four return.

One is 6-foot-10 Emmanuel Ajanaku, who is from Ondo, Nigeria, and played prep hoops at SPIRE Institute, a highly-touted national and international basketball academy.

The other three are Wyoming products — Campbell County High School's Trey Hladky and Tyler Neary and Casper-Kelly Walsh's Davion McAdam.

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