Mark White Era ready to launch at TCC

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (October 30, 2015) – The Mark White Era officially begins at Tallahassee Community College on Friday evening when the Eagles open the 2015-16 season in Niceville, Fla., at the Quality Inn Classic hosted by Northwest Florida State College. 

And what a way for the veteran coach to start his career with the Eagles – a 6:30 p.m. eastern tip against NJCAA preseason No. 13 Southwest Tennessee Community College. And the Saluqis are the lower-ranked of Tallahassee's opening weekend opponents. 

Saturday evening brings a 6:30 p.m. date with No. 10 Georgia Highlands College. 

White, who is succeeding retired head coach Eddie Barnes, was hired in May after a wildly-successful eight-year stint at East Mississippi Community College, where he compiled a 161-66 record and led the Lions to four straight trips to the NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, courtesy of four consecutive NJCAA Region 23 titles (2010-13). 

He inherits an Eagles squad who went 18-11 in 2014-15 but returns only two players – forward Stavian Allen and point guard Jahvaughn Powell, a local product from Lincoln High School. Powell, however, will miss the opening weekend due to a fractured hand. 

Which means all eyes will be on a cast of talented, albeit inexperienced, newcomers. Guards Darius Alexander and David Simmons and forward Lwal Dung will make their college debuts on Friday. To offset the lack of experience, White will count on transfers Ryan Johnson (Rutgers), Daishon Smith (Eastern Florida State College) and Rashad Lewis (University of South Carolina-Aiken) to pick up the slack from a leadership standpoint. 

Smith was a member of Eastern Florida State's NJCAA Tournament team in 2015. 

Speaking of the NJCAA Tournament, both Southwest Tennessee and Georgia Highlands are the favorites in Districts VII and XIII, respectively, to advance to Hutchinson, Kan., in March. Georgia Highlands advanced to the national semifinals in 2015 before falling to eventual national champion Northwest Florida State in overtime. 

Earlier this week, Tallahassee received the No. 4 ranking in the NJCAA Region 8 Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Poll and was voted to finish second in the Panhandle Conference behind Northwest Florida State. 

Friday and Saturday will be the first of eight games against teams in the NJCAA preseason poll. Tallahassee faces No. 11 Trinity Valley (Texas) Community College, No. 19 Shelton (Ala.) State Community College and has a second meeting with Georgia Highlands during the non-conference schedule, and plays No. 3 Northwest Florida State three times during the PC schedule. 

While Friday marks a rematch of a game from last November, won by Southwest Tennessee, 84-76, Saturday will be the first-ever meeting with the Chargers. 

For game updates, please visit TCCeagles.com or follow the Eagles on Twitter (@TCCeagles) or Facebook (/TCCeagles).