DCCC Hoping For 20 Victories

Ron Frederes, the head coach for the Davidson County Community College basketball team, calls himself a straight shooter. So don’t underestimate him – or his team – when he says the Cavaliers will win 20 games this year.

Last year DCCC finished with a 12-14 overall record and perhaps surprised some people with a second place finish in the Western Tar Heel Conference with an 8-4 mark.

But Frederes, now in his second year at DCCC, figures his program is just getting off the ground.

“We have a potentially exceptional team,” declared the coach. “We have far more size and quickness than we did last year. If we gel early, and if our incoming freshmen work well with our three returnees, we should win 20 games.”

To the casual observer, “ifs” always brings a smile to the face, but Frederes, while optimistic about his chances, is also realistic about basketball at the junior college level.

“It’s hard to get consistently good teams year after year, because the boys don’t have much time to play together. You’re getting 15 different kids from 15 different schools, and at most, they’re playing together for just two years.”

But if Frederes can bring a winner together, this will be the year.

Back from last year are the team’s two highest scorers in Terry Leonard, a 6-2 forward from Lexington who led the league with a 20.0 points per game average, and Kernersville’s Tim Sapp, a 6-5 guard who averaged 18.6 points per game.

Rounding out the experienced players will be Rick Elliott, also from Kernersville, a 6-3 forward.

A couple of recruits have Frederes feeling the season can’t start soon enough. Darnell Francis, a 6-4 forward from Brooklyn, N.Y., and Danny Griffin, a 6-0 guard also from Brooklyn, played on the same high school team – Franklin Delano Roosevelt High. Subsequently, both played against the likes of Albert King and Eugene Banks, two potential starters in the ACC this year.

Frederes, a native of New York himself, suggested that Francis and Griffin – Francis had scholarship offers elsewhere – were attracted to DCCC because it is in the heart of basketball’s hotbed. An outstanding junior college player in this area will have both the ACC and Carolinas Conference looking at him – and both conferences offer full scholarships.

Also giving Frederes something to smile about will be 6-0 guard Keith Norman “who could be an outstanding point guard” according to his coach; Rich Robertson, a 6-2 forward who played for Ledford High and Surry last year, and Kevin Skeen and Ken Tate, “two good rebounders.”

Frederes, 33, played his basketball at Brockport State in New York, where he started at forward. But his basketball philosophies developed at the University of North Carolina where he did graduate work for a year.

“We are a defense-oriented team,” Frederes said. “We’ll press a lot, but then, we’ll also flip-flop our defense a bit, too.”

With the addition of new prospects to his squad, Frederes feels the basketball program is definitely on the upswing at DCCC.

“I think we gained some respect from the league and the region last year,” Frederes said. “Hopefully, we can continue to develop on a month-to-month basis. Barring injuries, we should have an excellent season.”

One thing is certain – if the Cavaliers put together a 20-win season, it won’t be for want of an easy schedule. Besides conference opponents, which includes Surry (unbeaten in the conference last year) and Mitchell, DCCC will also go against the Pfeiffer JVs – twice – and the UNC JVs at Chapel Hill.

“I decided to beef up the schedule this year,”: explained Frederes, “knowing specifically that we have a better squad this year than last. We should have a real good season.”