Glendale Community College Men’s Basketball Preview: Vaqueros expect returners to pave way for success
Lineup combinations are still being considered by Glendale Community College men’s basketball coach Vigen Jilizian not long before beginning the season.
Jilizian will look to complete the puzzle before Glendale tips off its campaign against East L.A. at 3 p.m. Thursday in the four-team College of the Canyons Tournament.
“We have five returners and all of them had a chance to start last season,” said Jilizian, a former Glendale player whose team finished 13-14, 3-7 in the Western State Conference East Division for fifth place last season. “With some of the new guys that we’ve brought in, we feel like we have 10 players who are capable of starting. I just have to find the right combinations and it may take a few games to see what we have and where we are at.
“The workouts and practices have been real good and the returners know what to expect. We’ll have them up their leadership skills and help the new players adjust to the skill level at the collegiate level.”
Glendale brings back sophomore guards Serigne Athj, Dominic Gully and Jordan Matthews along with forwards Richard Hollinger Jr. and Frank Irowa.
Athj and Matthews received all-conference recognition last season. Athj averaged 19.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, two assists and 1.1 steals per game. Mathews contributed 11.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals.
Among those who might crack the starting lineup are sophomore forward Chris Daniels and freshman guard Steven Hubbell (Burroughs).
“We’re probably going to be a little small in size at the guard spots,” said Jilizian, who begins his fourth season after serving as an assistant under Brian Beauchemin. “We’ll have good size up front and we’ll look to run an up-tempo offense while also trying to create a lot of turnovers on defense. We’ll try to get many of the players engaged on offense and give them room to operate.”
Glendale will take part in five tournaments and four nonconference contests between Thursday and Jan. 7.
The Vaqueros will begin their second season in the division, which includes Barstow, Citrus, Victor Valley, L.A. Valley and Antelope Valley. Barstow and Citrus split the division championship last season. Citrus, Barstow and Antelope Valley qualified for the playoffs last season. Antelope Valley reached the state quarterfinals.
Glendale lost four division games by four points or less last season. The Vaqueros will look for more favorable results this season.
“It was tough losing so many close games,” Jilizian said. “A lot of that came from having too many turnovers down the stretch.
“We know going in that our conference will be very good from top to bottom.”
Glendale will start conference Jan. 13 at Victor Valley and will wrap up Feb. 17 at Antelope Valley. The Vaqueros’ first home conference game will be Jan. 17 versus Barstow.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
