TC3 men’s basketball achieves postseason glory

Last season, the Tompkins Cortland Community College men’s basketball team broke a long playoff victory drought, winning its first game in the NJCAA Region 3 tournament since 2009. With an almost entirely new team this season, the Panthers ended another postseason dry spell.

On February 24, the Panthers won the Mid-State Athletic Conference (MSAC) championship for the first time since 2014 after defeating Jefferson Community College 81-63. Head coach Tom Wilk sees the triumph as a shining moment for the program, especially since they won it in their own gym.

“I think it meant a lot to the college community having some buzz here back on campus,” Wilk said. “It meant a lot to our alumni. I had a lot of alumni—guys I’ve coached over the last two years and some guys I know that were affiliated with the program before I was [the] coach—reaching out. You want to be proud of where you went to school, and I think it helped restore some of that pride. We’re really proud of the guys. We had probably our best week of practice all year just getting prepared. They came in and executed the plan, and the rest took care of itself.”

The victory also acted as a confidence boost ahead of the NJCAA playoffs, and it paid off in the quarterfinals with a 70-67 win over SUNY Adirondack. Wilk not only felt that the team got hot at the right time, they were also playing with nothing to lose.

“You’ve already accomplished something in your season,” Wilk said. “You’ve already won one championship. [It] takes a little bit of the pressure off in regionals. Okay, we’ve accomplished something. Now the rest is all kind of a bonus.”

All of this was accomplished despite an incredible amount of turnover in the roster. The Panthers returned just two players from last season and brought in 12 freshmen. While that’s par for the course at the junior college level, the fact that they’ve maintained their success is a testament to the winning culture Wilk has cultivated in the three seasons he has led the Panthers.

“Every year that I’ve been here, we’ve been a little bit better, and you start to grow,” Wilk said. “With the world of social media and whatnot, you start to grow a little buzz around the program. A lot of kids want the experience of winning championships and going far in the playoffs and whatnot. Every year, you’re just building on the type of player you can get here. From a coaching standpoint, you’re learning on the court what things are working at this level and what are not. Every year, you’re just building a little bit more.”

One newcomer who stole the show is Khai Pugh. The freshman guard from Syracuse averaged a double-double of 17.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, leading the team and the conference in both categories. His outstanding play earned him the MSAC Player of the Year and was named to the NJCAA Region 3 All-Region Team.

“He became a lot better player as the season went on,” Wilk said. “Obviously he’s a really talented player and he can score the ball at will. But as the season goes on, teams start to focus in on him more. He started to really just take what the defense was giving him. If that meant they were going to put two guys or three guys helping, he was just making the right play and getting his teammates involved.

Of the two returning sophomores, Damari Johnson emerged as the Panthers’ reliable leader. On the court, he came up big in the MSAC championship with a game-high 19 points and 14 points. He was also named as a MSAC Honorable Mention and to the NJCAA Region 3 All-Tournament Team. He has also led by example outside of their games.

“He took a huge step forward leadership-wise,” Wilk said. “At practice he started to lead by example [by] running hard in drills, taking drills as serious as possible. I think a lot of times young kids think leadership is talking a lot and getting on their teammates, and sometimes it’s just showing your teammates what it looks like to come into practice and work hard.”

While their season came to an end in the semifinals in a hard-fought battle on the road against Herkimer College, the Panthers can hang their heads high knowing they delivered a championship to TC3. Wilk is confident that they can soar to even greater heights once next winter rolls around.

“Our goal next year is not only to win the MSAC championship but hopefully a regional championship,” Wilk said. “That goal really hasn’t changed for me since I’ve been here. It’s just starting to look possible to people around here and the players. We’re gonna keep working every day, and hopefully that goal will come to fruition.”