Men’s Basketball Earns #8 Spot In NJCAA Preseason Rankings, Sets Up Top-10 Clash in Season Opener

For the first time since preseason rankings were made available by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), the Prince George's Community College men's basketball team enters the year among the nation's top Division III programs, making an appearance as the 8^th ranked squad in the preseason polls heading into the season.

Prince George's made themselves known at the national level throughout 2022-23, finishing with a 25-5 record which included a Maryland JUCO Conference Championship en route to earning the college's first ever at-large bid to a National Championship. Despite an early exit from the tournament, the Owls impressed the rankings committee heading into the 2023-24 season behind five total returners led by the reigning MD JUCO conference coach of the year in Terrell Harris. Among the returners from last year's squad are sophomores Jasir Tremble (Washington, D.C./Theodore Roosevelt), Deven Dowdie (Fort Washington, MD/Lanham Christian), and Jayden Socka (Silver Spring, MD/Springbrook). Also rejoining the program from the Owls 2021-22 Region 20 Championship team is Avery Scott (Bowie, MD/DuVal) and 2022 All-American Saveon Jackson (Kentland, MD/KIPP, D.C.).

Coach Harris and his team will need to be prepared to play up to their opponents again this year as 19 of their 28 regular season contests will be played against colleges outside of their division. Although it didn't slow down Prince George's last year, it's worth noting that the Owls are now officially the only DIII program competing in the conference after Anne Arundel moved to DII over the summer.

Highlighted on the Owls schedule heading into the year is their much-anticipated season opener which comes on the road against Northampton Community College on Saturday, November 4^th. Northampton's Spartans enter the year in the preseason rankings four spots ahead of Prince George's, coming in at #4 after a run at the National Championship last year themselves. The matchup pits the two programs up against one another for the third time in three years, with each one being the season opener for Prince George's. The two programs have split the past two matchups with the home team taking home the victory in each instance. Prince George's will look to flip the home team advantage when they tip-off on Saturday at 3 PM.