Coming off an 18-12 overall record and a 5-9 conference record in their 2024-25 campaign, the Grand Rapids Community College men’s basketball team looks ahead to the new season. GRCC men’s basketball season tips off at the North Central Michigan College tournament against Kirtland Community College on Saturday Nov. 1 at 3 p.m. Followed by another game on Sunday, Nov. 2 against NCMC at 5 p.m.
Last season featured a 13-game winning streak following a 3-2 start. Along with an appearance in the NJCAA Great Lakes District Tournament. Coming off the highs of last season, Head Coach Joe Fox is focused on the year ahead for his new team.
“The fun thing about this level is it’s a whole new team every year,” Fox said. “So we have a couple of All-Conference guys back who did a good job last year, and I think we bolstered with a good recruiting class.”
Expectations are high for this year’s team. However, Fox emphasizes gradually improving each day and not looking too far ahead.
“Expectations are always high,” Fox said. You expect to compete for conference championships, so that’s where we always start. But, it just starts with getting better every day.”
The men’s team welcomes a new batch of young freshman players that Fox is excited about. The young players having an opportunity to learn under the veteran players just adds to the intrigue of what this incoming class will contribute to this year’s team.
Freshman Power Forward, McRecco McFadden, is looking forward to learning from the veterans, even considers it as one of his personal goals for himself this season. “My personal goal is to learn from all the sophomores that’s ahead of me,” McFadden said. “Just for me to grow as a player coming in because I’m the young guy coming in, so I also want to improve my mentality and be more aggressive.”
Even though it’s very early in a young season, the players already see the number of versatile weapons they have at their disposal that can disrupt their opponents. Something that even McFadden has already taken notice of just from a few practices and scrimmages.
“We’re electric, and I say that because we’ve got everybody that can do everything,” McFadden said. “We got dunkers, shooters, people that can pass the ball, pull up from midrange, just guys that can do everything.”
Sophomore players are feeding off the energy of the new freshman class, using that as fuel to build off the success of last season. Sophomore Guard Tyran Thomas, who earned a Second Team All-Conference nod last season, is eager to begin the new campaign that comes with high aspirations.
“I see a lot of talent with this new freshman class,” Thomas said. “We have a lot of height this year, which is good. I feel like we all come out with energy, and even if we are not making shots, I guarantee that we’re going to play defense.”
This year’s team has 14 players over 6-foot-tall, with three players listing over 6 feet tall.
Coming into the season following a loss in the NJCAA Great Lakes District Tournament, the returning players are aiming high with seeking a national championship as the ultimate goal for the team. “I’m going to say probably winning the national championship is the team’s main goal,” Redshirt Sophomore Guard Brady Tebo said. “We have a pretty big team, well-rounded, we play together, so we definitely want to compete for a national title.”
GRCC will be the third team that Tebo has been on, so from his unique experience, building chemistry with this year’s group has been a welcoming process heading into the season.
“We’re vibing, we’re clicking a lot better than we did my first year,” Tebo said. “Last year we were better, but this is definitely by far our most together team. Everyone is selfless.”
Starting off the season on a good note can be pivotal in this year’s team championship hopes. Coach Fox places the key to a good start on his veteran players being ready to lead from game one.
“Sophomores got to be ready to go,” Fox said. We have a lot of freshmen that are super talented, but they haven’t played college basketball before. So as long as the sophomores are locked in and ready to lead, we’ll be okay. We have good leaders, we have freshmen who are ready to take that step. As long as leadership and communication comes through and we can build unity in the team, we’ll be alright.”
