Jason Roscoe has a vision for what his team and program will look like. In his third season leading the Madison College men's basketball team, he believes that vision is starting to take shape. Roscoe and the WolfPack open the 2024-25 season Saturday against McHenry County College inside H. Douglas Redsten Gymnasium. 

Madison College 2024-25 Schedule | Madison College 2024-25 Roster

"I really like a lot of things about this team," said Roscoe, who over the summer was one of 19 coaches nationwide recognized for earning National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Professional Development Series Certification. "We're unselfish, athletic, and possess a real competitive nature. We've improved our overall ability to shoot the ball, and we're making strides to being able to play faster and cover the entire court. Inexperience and learning how to play together will be our biggest challenges."

Madison College returns one player from last year's 9-18 team the qualified for the Region 4 Tournament in its first year as a Division II program. JP Pleasant, a 6'5" forward from Beaumont, Texas, started 23 of 25 games played last season and led the team in rebounding at 6.4 boards a game. The transfer from Bryant & Stratton College also averaged 10.1 points and 1.5 assists. 

"I am hoping that both JP's playing experience and leadership experience will serve our young team well on-and-off the court. JP has gotten himself into tremendous shape and he's healthy. He's committed to putting in the time in the gym over the summer; therefore, I hope that he will reap the benefits of his hard work this season."

That young team includes 11 new faces, however, not all are new to collegiate basketball. Guard Cullen Rauls and forward Amir Ford both transferred to Madison College from other NJCAA schools in the state. Rauls, a Fall River, Wisconsin, native, averaged 18.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.1 steals, and shot 34% from beyond the arc at Western Technical College last winter, which included a 12-point effort in a loss to the WolfPack. Ford, a 6'7" native of Lovejoy, Georgia, played in 33 games at in-state and Region 4 rival Bryant & Stratton College last season, averaging 2.3 points and 2.7 rebounds.

The rest of the incoming group of true freshmen brings loads of depth to the team, with several ready to step right in and contribute. Roscoe has taken notice of George Whaley IV and Ryen Jones. Whaley is a 6'1" guard from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, while Jones is a 6'5" forward out of Lawrenceville, Georgia.

"Cullen is an experienced guard who can play either position in the backcourt. He possesses the ability to score in a variety of ways. His leadership and IQ will help us tremendously this year. George is a very gifted guard that is capable of scoring in bunches. He is a quiet assassin with a tremendous work ethic. And I anticipate that RJ will be one of the most athletic players in the region this year. He's an extremely versatile scorer offensively and he's able to guard multiple positions on the defensive end, as well."

Madison College, like many other teams within Region 4, will certainly have its work cut out for it, as the region has been one of the nation's toughest in Division II the past few years. South Suburban was the NJCAA national runners-up last season after winning the crown in 2021-22. Milwaukee Area Technical College was the national champs in 2022-23. The NJCAA Division II Preseason Poll lists three Region 4 teams, all of whom are on the WolfPack's schedule, as well as two other non-region foes.

Following the season opener with McHenry County College, the Pack embarks on a two-game road trip that starts in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a matchup with #6 Kirkwood Community College on November 4, and ends in Sugar Grove, Illinois, on November 7 for a game with #18 Waubonsee Community College. The first half of the season closes with a four-game homestand from November into December and then a pair of away contests before the holiday break. When they return, #7 Ellsworth Community College (IA) will visit the capital city on January 4. Madison College has a five-game home stretch that wraps up February 4 against Joliet Junior College, who is currently ranked #8 in the NJCAA Division III Preseason Poll. Second-ranked South Suburban College comes to Madison on February 11 and the WolfPack visit #8 Milwaukee Tech on February 18 before finishing the regular season two days later with a home game against the College of DuPage.

"We want to be part of the mix in the Region 4 Tournament again this year and we will work as hard as we can to be the best that we can be, both on the basketball court and in the classroom."

The NJCAA Region 4 Division II Men's Basketball Tournament begins February 27 with quarterfinal games at the site of the higher seed, before moving on to Rockford, Illinois, for the semifinals and championship on March 2 and 8, respectively. The two region champions earn automatic berths into the NJCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championships in Danville, Illinois, from March 17-22.

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