Photo, BCC Elgin Brown is a preseason honorable mention All-American and ranked as the No. 1 junior college sophomore.

(Dec. 21, 2009) — The Bergen Community College Men’s Basketball Team was ranked second in the nation in the Division III pre-season poll by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).  Three hundred schools compete in NJCAA Division III basketball.

In addition, Bergen’s top player and last season’s Region XIX MVP, Elgin Brown (of Jersey City), has received preseason honorable mention All-America honors from the NJCAA, and was recently named the best junior college sophomore in the state by NJ Hoops – a recruiting publication.  Brown, a forward, averaged a “double-double” last season, scoring 15 points and pulling down 12.8 rebounds per game.

Led by nine underclassmen, the Bulldogs surprised most observers last year when they won the school’s first-ever NJCAA Region XIX Division III title and placed third in the national tournament.

Bergen Coach Sean Kelley hopes to use the team’s past success to its advantage this season, even though the team’s preseason ranking will make it a target.

“Teams are going to come after us,” he said.  “The level of competition is at a high level night in and night out.  But instead of being No. 1 or No. 2 in the preseason, we want to be playing our best basketball in March when the tournaments come up.”

In the NJCAA’s preseason top 20 poll, the Bulldogs are ranked second overall behind Minneapolis Community and Technical College, which lost in last season’s Division III championship game.  

Jay Gomes, who produces NJ Hoops, said Brown helped drive Bergen’s 2008-09 success.

“Elgin had a tremendous end of season,” Gomes said.  “He led Bergen to the Region XIX championship and deep into the NJCAA national tournament.  He put up impressive numbers – particularly rebounding the basketball.  A lot of it was about desire as he outworked and outfought bigger players on a consistent basis.”

Kelley believes the Bulldogs will benefit from the veteran leadership provided by four returning starters: guards Jimmy Schmitt (of Elmwood Park) and Derrick Ross (of Teaneck) and forwards Jayvon Beaty (of Hackensack) and the preseason All-American Brown.

The Bulldogs will tip-off their regular season November 10 at Queensborough Community College in Bayside, N.Y.  The team opens its home schedule November 12 against Bronx Community College.

Additionally, the team will be featured on an upcoming episode of On Campus, hosted by Bergen President Dr. G. Jeremiah Ryan.  On Campus airs on Torch Television, channel 26 of the Verizon FIOS cable system in Bergen, Hudson and Passaic counties.

Bergen Community College is a public two-year coeducational college, enrolling nearly 17,000 students in Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, and Associate in Applied Science degree programs and certificate programs. More than 15,000 students are enrolled in non-credit, professional courses through the Division of Continuing Education, the Institute for Learning in Retirement, the Philip J. Ciarco Jr. Learning Center, located at 355 Main Street, Hackensack, and Bergen at the Meadowlands, located at 1280 Wall Street West, Lyndhurst.  Information about the College is available at www.bergen.edu or by phoning the Welcome Center at (201) 447-7200.