2011-2012 Men's Maroon Team Outlook

Sunrise Christian Academy Wichita KS
Sunrise comes off a 24-4 season last year, where they earned a Division 1A NACA National Championship. After graduating seven seniors,  there is some rebuilding that has to be done, mostly in the paint, as two of them were 6'11" Gabe Olaseni who signed with Iowa and his counterpart 6'9" Eric Katenda who signed with Notre Dame. These are obviously some big shoes to fill. The Buffaloes will look for great post play from Lawrence Fejokwu and Franklin Uzonwanne, who played key minutes off the bench last year as well as newcomer Andre Sands with his aggressiveness and enthusiasm, to fill the void in the paint.

Guard play should be the strength of the Buffaloes this year as they return two starters from a year ago, Sr. Vequan Clark and Sr. Buddy Hield. Hield is a prolific scorer, who is a threat anywhere on the floor. His leadership and hard work are the backbone of this years team. Sunrise will also get a boost in perimeter play from two young sophomores, Lourawls Nairn and Nathan Bain. Nairn with his speed and court awareness should give SCA a boost at the point guard position, while Bain gives length and athleticism to the wing. Also look for considerable contributions this year from shooters Janari Joesaar and Andreas Bigum, who with their size and athleticism, should add weapons both inside and outside.

Sunrise will need to play at a high level, because the competition they face is some of the best in the country. They open the regular season in Illinois at the State Farm Tournament of Champions against highly-ranked Huntington Prep and Andrew Wiggins. The field is loaded with the best talent in the country. Sunrise will have a grueling schedule which takes them all over the country. Some of the states they will visit are California, Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Missouri.

View our 2011-2012 Schedule