Tulsa World: Rogers State hits No. 1 with experienced, deep squad

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Rogers State hits No. 1 with experienced, deep squad

NEW LEADER
Lloyd Williams: Has led Rogers State University to the No. 1 men's ranking in his first season at the NAIA school.

By GLENN HIBDON World Sports Writer
Published: 1/27/2009 2:25 AM
Last Modified: 1/27/2009 3:33 AM

Possessing experience, depth, speed and shooting ability, the Rogers State University Hillcats seem to have it all. On Monday, first-year coach Lloyd Williams and his team were rewarded with the NAIA's No. 1 ranking.

Now 17-1 and leading the Sooner Athletic Conference in just the program's second year, Williams and the Hillcats have one primary objective — to reach the NAIA national tournament in Kansas City.

"The kids really are focused on making the tournament, and so far, the right things have fallen into place," Williams said. "We approach each game as a new challenge, and it's worked so far. We've stayed pretty healthy, and we have a lot of kids back from last year. They go to practice knowing that if they work really hard, they will be rewarded by playing."

Williams, who played and coached at Texas-San Antonio, came to RSU after serving as an assistant and freshman coach at Jenks High School last season. He has inherited so much depth that most of his roster receives double-figure minutes in playing time each game.

Eric Young, a 6-foot-4 guard, leads the team in scoring with 13.6 points a game. Former Oral Roberts player Sylvester Spicer scores 11.8 per game, Roderick Rodgers 11.3, Deveric Taylor 11.2 and Aldric Reynolds 10.0.

The guard-oriented team also has Maurice Rutherford from Broken Bow, Abe Donlon from Broken Arrow and Chris Francis from Vinita.

"We've had eight different guys lead us in scoring," Williams said. "Rodgers plays well, but doesn't do just one thing well. He can play the three (small forward) or four (power forward) positions, and he can post up and shoot it. He guards and rebounds really well. He's had a lot of games where he gets 17 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals.

"But we've won some games without him when he was injured, and we have a lot of guys who can step up on any given night."

The Hillcats' only setback came at Oklahoma Baptist when the Bison slowed the game and forced turnovers. Williams said his team needs improvement on the defensive end and in defensive rebounding. Otherwise, it's go, go, go with a high-octane offense that averages 84.4 points a game and shoots 45.6 percent from 3-point territory.

"We get up and down the floor. Our pace is very fast," Williams said. "That's a good style for this team because we're so athletic. It's fun for the kids we're trying to bring in, because we let them know they're coming into a system that plays the game the way a lot of kids love to play basketball."

Glenn Hibdon 581-8396
glenn.hibdon@tulsaworld.com By GLENN HIBDON World Sports Writer

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