JakePGator Legacy

[JakePGator]

While only in the 5th season at Jacksonville University, we have definitely seen the Dolphins progress each year.

In his first season, Coach led a young team that started 3 freshmen to a 19-9 season, winning the regular season A-Sun title. However, their inexperience hurt them in the conference tournament as they fell to Belmont.

'06-'07 Season 1 Results: 19-9, Lost in NIT
A-Sun Regular Season Championship
A-Sun FOY: Corey Claitt, SG

In that first off-season, coach made a commitment to reach out and hit the recruiting trail HARD. That effort landed him two 7' prospects. Joshua Bowden, a 3-star C (potential D) from France, immediately filled a vacant spot in the starting lineup. Emerson Duggins, a 3-star C (potential C) from NM would also see some minutes, but soon realized that his smaller build would make it tough for him to supplant Bowden in the starting 5. With Bowden anchoring the C position, Marcus Allen at PF, then sophomore Tyrone Curnell at SF, Corey Claitt at SG, and Ben Smith at PG, the Dolphins managed to win both the regular season and tournament titles for the Atlantic Sun Conference, giving Coach his first invitation to the Big Dance. Unfortunately, they drew Missouri and got run up and down the floor in a tough season ending loss.

'07-'08 Season 2 results: 22-9, Lost in First Round
A-Sun Regular Season Championship
A-Sun Conference Tournament Championship
A-Sun FOY: Joshua Bowden, C
A-Sun POY: Joshua Bowden, C

Given the huge success of his new center, Coach felt confident in focusing on the talent pool outside of the States. He decided to primarily target 4-star recruits from around the world in an attempt to find another outstanding player to complement Bowden and create a potent inside-outside game. He found that next piece of the puzzle in Cameroon in the form of a 4-star SG by the name of Vakeaton Siebrandt (potential C-). Even though there were more scholarships available, Siebrandt was the only recruit that signed. The rest of the roster spots were filled with walk-ons. However, this one recruit ended up being enough to have another successful season and Coach was awarded with the Atlantic-Sun Conference Coach of the Year award.

’08-’09 Season 3 results: 29-6, Lost in First Round
A-Sun Regular Season Championship
A-Sun Conference Tournament Championship
A-Sun COY: Coach JakePGator
A-Sun FOY: Vakeaton Siebrandt, SG
A-Sun POY: Joshua Bowden, C
Second Team All-American: Joshua Bowden, C
Top NCAA Scorer: Joshua Bowden, C
Most NCAA Steals: Tyrone Curnell, SF

After being beaten the in First Round the last two seasons, Coach was beginning to feel the pressure of a small school beginning to develop a winning a program and being a few players away from getting to the next level. Recruiting over seas had paid off for him so far, so Coach decided again to seek out 4-star recruits where nobody else was looking. Lenny Colwell, a 4-star SF from Croatia (potential C), signed with the team after unrelenting pressure from Coach and his assistants. However, the team failed to sign more than one recruit for the second straight year. Walk-ons were either cut or red shirted.
The Dolphins had a very successful season and Coach was again awarded the Conference COY award. Bowden won his third consecutive A-Sun POY award and was also awarded the 2K Mid-Major POY.

’09-’10 Season 4 results: 32-5, Elite Eight (Lost to Kansas)
A-Sun Regular Season Championship
A-Sun Conference Tournament Championship
A-Sun COY: Coach JakePGator
A-Sun FOY: Lenny Colwell, SF
A-Sun POY: Joshua Bowden, C
2K Mid-Major POY: Joshua Bowden, C
Most NCAA Steals: Lenny Colwell, SF

Coach prepared for the graduation of the class he met as freshmen on the first day he walked on campus. Corey Claitt had been as consistent a player as Coach had seen in all of his years of coaching. He played PG after Jesse Kimbrough graduated and Siebrandt came in the fold. Tyrone Curnell and Derrick Duggins were both freshmen SF when Coach arrived, and both made some clutch shots over the past few years. Curnell played PF for the last two seasons due to his 6’-9” size and the team’s lack of a true PF. Ben Smith was a smaller PG that hit several big threes during his tenure at Jacksonville.

There was also the looming possibility of Bowden leaving early for the NBA. After the season he had last season, Coach couldn’t blame him for considering it. In fact, when TCU offered Coach a two year contract to take over their program, it was Bowden who convinced Coach to stay in Jacksonville. “Coach, when I came here, I came for to win championships. We’ve been tearing up the A-Sun, but you and I both know it doesn’t stop there.”

The mass exodus of players left Coach with 8 open scholarships to shop around with. This time, the program was indeed able to sign more than just one player. They signed seven. With each signing, Coach felt more and more invigorated and confident in his decision to come back to JU. He was grinning ear to ear and he introduced his new recruits to the student body at March Madness.

Freshmen:
74 -Maureece Price 6’-2” PG (3-star, potential D) Lubbock, TX
Price was a JC transfer and coming in to JU as sophomore.
70 -Bingo Kole 6’-2” PG (4-star, potential C+) Cameroon
66 -Johnny Briggs 6’-4” SG (3-star, potential D) Melbourne
66 -Vidal Phillips 6’-4” SF (3-star, potential D) Sydney
69 -Alvin Silva 6’-8” PF (3-star, potential C-) Nigeria
65 -Lodrick Hendriks 6’-6” PF (3-star, potential C) LasVegas, NV
68 -Jaja Robinson 6’-8” C (3-star, potential C) Venezuela

Returning Players:
84 -Vakeaton Siebrandt (JR) 6’-4” SG (4-star, potential C-) Cameroon
64 -Andrew Zimbro (RS SR) 6’-4” SG (1-star) Lakeland, FL
77 -Lenny Colwell (SO) 6’-7” SF (4-star, potential C) Croatia
76 -Joshua Bowden (SR) 7’-0” C (3-star, potential D) France
71 -Emerson Duggins (SR) 7’-0” C (3-star, potential C) New Mexico

[chestnutz6]

Nice start. It'scrazy to be reading about another Jacksonville legacy, as it seems like an exact copy of mine the way you play your guys. Curnell played PF for me cause he was big enough, Claitt led the team, Ben Smith was small but hit big shots, etc. Read up on mine

[knox33]

Jake,
Looks like you've had some good success. I see that you've stayed with your team even when you were offered more lucrative deals. I've taken note of how well you're recruiting nationally. You've got plenty of world recruits (which is always a good thing), but I see players from NV, NM, and TX. It's nice to see that you're not too shy about recruiting away from you're state. Nice legacy.

[Brew Crew07]

Way too much reading...good job though :thumbsup: