What can the Claflin Panthers basketball team do for an encore?

In their first season of competing in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the Panthers took the league by storm last season en route to the regular-season championship. The inaugural season brought a lot of excitement to the Orangeburg campus as coach Ron Woodard’s team posted a 22-2 record.

The Panthers came within a game of playing for the conference tournament championship, losing in the semifinals to LeMoyne-Owen.

The season didn’t end there as the Panthers participated in the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament, landing a berth in the Lakeland, Fla., regional. Seeded third, Claflin defeated Valdosta State 54-50 in the first round for the program’s first NCAA II tournament win. After the win, Woodard stated it was a great accomplishment.

“A great milestone for Claflin University and the Orangeburg community,” Woodard said.

The win boosted Claflin into the semifinals, where the Panthers fell to a Christian Brothers team 72-53, ending their season. For the season, Claflin finished with a second straight 20-plus wins at 25-4 that included being ranked in the NCAA Division II Top 25 ranking for several weeks. The Panthers were either ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the South Region for nine consecutive weeks.

“I thought we did a good job last season of completing a mission that started a couple of seasons ago,” Woodard said. “Last season was a carryover from the season before when we posted a 24-2 record. Last season, we had a special group of guys that worked extremely hard on the court and in the classroom. They had a certain mental toughness in both areas that played an instrumental role in our success. That team ranks as one of the best groups of guys I’ve been associated with in my days of coaching. And that says a lot because I’ve been in the business for a long time.”

Reflecting on the SIAC regular-season championship and a berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs, Woodard is elated about the accomplishment of his team, but feels it’s a part of Panther history.

“We just took it one game at a time,” Woodard said. “We did not look down the road or took anyone likely. We knew coming off a 24-2 season things were going to be hard for us playing in a tough SIAC. I think the trip out of the country helped us a team. It brought us together as a team and enabled our coaching staff to explore talent we did know we had.

“The accomplishment is now a part of Panther history,” Woodard said. “We must now look forward to this season at defending our championship and making NCAA II playoffs. We not only want to repeat last season’s accomplishments, but add a few more along the way.”

As for the 2009-10 campaign, Woodard, the SIAC coach of the year last season, has mixed emotions.

On one side, Woodard was hit hard by graduation, losing the entire starting unit along with key reserves. At the top of the list is a pair of All-SIAC performers in forward Ernest Sinkfield and guard Phillip Brown. Sinkfield, a first-team selection, led the Panthers in scoring at (13.1 ppg), while Brown added (10.9 ppg). Also gone from the starting unit is point guard Jamaal Newman (2.9 asp), post players Benjamin Lawmann (7.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg), Karl Ray (6.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and reserve David Cobb (7.9 ppg, 7.1) rpg).

“We were hit hard,” Woodard said. “Anyway you look at it, losing that many players with experience is hard. But that’s the nature of this business on the high school and college levels.

“You only keep them (players) for a certain number of years and they’re gone. It’s not like the NBA where players stick around for long period of time. As a college coach, you move on and start the process all over again. That’s the challenge of this profession.”

On the flip side, Woodard elected to reload rather then go through a rebuilding process that could takes years before seeing any dividends. The order of business was to hit the junior college trail in hopes of landing players that could make an immediate impact. Coupled with three experienced returning players and a host of transfers, Woodard is excited about this team on paper.

Returning is junior guard Eric Salley, who played in all 29 games last season, averaging 11.2 points. Salley led the team in scoring on five different occasions and shared game-high honors three times. He had a career-high 29 points against Albany State.

Forward Thomas Bookman also played all the Panthers’ games, averaging nearly five points a game. Other players that saw limited action were sophomore Devon Butler, junior Michael Hines and seniors Otamere Oronsaye and Teddy Spender.

Woodard brought in 10 players 6-6 or taller.

The frontline list includes Efe Odigie (6-8, junior college from Maryland), Stacy McAlister (6-6, NCAA II program in Nebraska), Brandon Bradley (6-10, NAIA Northern New Mexico), Mike Jones (6-8, played at Syracuse, attended South Carolina, junior college transfer), Riley Simmons (6-9, junior college transfer), Kendall Holley (6-6, junior college transfer), Anthony Pigram (6-1, NAIA Mountain State), Justin Creppy (6-2, Hampton University) and Andrew Suggs (6-0),

Freshman Arlen Wiley should see plenty of action.

“I’m excited about this group,” Woodard said. “We knew after last season in order for us to maintain some level of consistency, we had to stay big at the guard position. We also wanted size and maintain quickness.

“This group provides us the opportunity to go big and small. We also have good presence inside with the ability to score. Last season, we lived off guard scoring, but that won’t be the case this season.

“The key for us this season is growing up quick,” Woodard said. “The challenge for this young group is not be history, but a part of history. It will be a tremendous challenge when you have the target on your back. We don’t mind carrying the throne or being the target. We’re going to work hard.”

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