Two years after an appearance in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) championship tournament, and a year waiting to return to the court due to the pandemic, the Mustangs Men’s Basketball Team from Montgomery County Community College is back in action and on an undefeated 13-game winning streak.

The team was unanimously ranked first in the NJCAA Division 3 poll, following the team’s win against Manor to win the Roadrunner Classic Saturday, Dec. 4. Guard Matt Compas was named tournament MVP. 

The team held a number eight pre-season ranking and has slowly moved up the chart. With 17 games left to play, Kelly Dunbar, Director of Athletics, and Nyere Miller, Assistant Director of Athletics for Recruitment and team Coach, said they are excited about what the future holds for this group.

“This week’s rank is the result of the hard work of our coaching staff,” said Dunbar, “and our student-athletes, who continue to perform in the classroom and on the court.”

Dunbar stressed while the past year the team has been sidelined by the pandemic, the coaches and players have committed themselves to staying engaged with team activities in the interlude in order to be prepared for this season.

“The team is set up to be where it is now,” she said. “Our players came off of winning the Mid-Atlantic Conference championship and a national appearance, to a year outside of work from the court, fitting in random practices where they could. It’s a credit to the team that everyone stayed engaged and ready to get back to work once it was safe to play again.”

Miller is excited to see this group come together and continue to work and get better each day, he said.

“The focus has really been on us this year and controlling what we can control” he said. “This is a new team that has been built on the framework the championship team established. One of the great things to see is how our program has grown over the pandemic. We have student-athletes from a lot of schools including. We pulled from parts of Montgomery and Bucks counties, and Philadelphia.”

Among the student-athletes the coaching staff recruited from for this year’s squad include: Jalen Carey of Levittown, Pa. (Conwell Egan High School), Anthony McClinton, of Bristol, Pa., (Bristol High School), Jason Price, of Perkasie, Pa., (Methacton High School), Sami Chouiriaf, of Souderton, (Souderton Area High School), Nigel Cooke of Limerick, and Noah Baker, of Royersford, (Spring-Ford Area High School), Will Anderson, of Norristown (Norristown Area High School), Matt Compas, of Blue Bell (Wissahickon High School) and Jake Schalki of Horsham (Hatboro-Horsham High School). The staff also recruited Sami Wylie from Philadelphia (Imhotep Institute Charter High School).

“This year we have stressed the importance of becoming the best version of us,” continued Miller. “We have faced some tests early in the season and I’m hoping we continue to build and learn from these experiences. It’s exciting to see everyone back on the court and taking care of business. I believe this group has a lot of potential.” 

The team next plays at home against the Wolves from Cheney University Thursday, Dec. 9. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. For the full schedule, visit the team’s landing page.