2008 - 2009 Men's Basketball Players Sign National Letters of Intent

The summer school session has come to a end and so moves on the men's basketball players from the 2008 - 2009 basketball season.


Matt Busch a 6"5 220lbs forward from San Leandro High school, Oakland, California has signed a national letter of intent to attend NCAA Division II Regis University in Denver, Colorado.

Earnest Pughsley a 6"3 185lbs shooting guard from Lima Senior High school, Lima, Ohio has signed a national letter of intent to attend NCAA Division II Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio.

Andre Martin a 6"4 190lbs point guard from Mt. Miguel High school, San Diego, California has decided to sign a national letter of intent to attend and red shirt the up coming season at NCAA Division II Colorado State University Pueblo in Pueblo, Colorado

Jeff Pyrol a 6"9 220lbs center from South Shore High school, Brooklyn, New York has signed a national letter of intent to attend NCAA Division II Notre Dame de Namur in Belmont, California.

Javarius James a 5"10170lbs point guard from Encinal High school, Oakland, California has been accepted and will walk-on at NCAA Division I Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisana.

Joe Powell a 6"8 205lbs forward from Edison Academy, Englewood, NewJersey has signed a national letter of intent to attend NCAA Division II Alaska Fairbanks University in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Merritt College Soccer Summer Updates

There have been some changes to the summer schedule. The summer class has been cancelled, but we will still be playing Mon and Wed from 6-8 on the field. We will just be playing and running some. If you know anyone interested this is when you should bring them out. I am not allowed to coach until August 3rd, so it will be mostly on your own until then. Starting August 3rd practice will be everyday 3-5pm Mon-Fri. Starting August 20th practices will move to 1-3pm Mon-Fri because school starts. First official game is August 28th. Please email or call me with any questions...

Here's the classes-

The first is the summer intersession class-PE 030 from August 3rd-19th from 3:00pm-5:00pm Class code is 30824 and it is under the summer schedule. It is .5 units.

The second is the fall practice class-PE 030 from August 20th until the season is over from 1:00pm-3:00pmClass code is 42480 and is on the fall schedule. It is 3 units.

Overview of the 2008 -2009 Men's Basketball Season

The 2008 - 2009 season has brought promise for the future of the Merritt College Men's Basketball program. The return of 30 year veteran Head Coach, Maurice Compton, Alumnus Keenan McMiller as the top assistant coach, and mentor/coach Ben Tapscott has helped to create stability within the program. The Thunderbirds completed the 2008 - 2009 season with three 1st team all-conference selections (Matt Busch, Kerel Mitchell and Joe Powell) and finished with an overall record of 19 - 12 and 11 -5: 3rd in the Bay Valley Conference. More importantly, academically the Thunderbirds are graduating 6 sophmores. Student athletes (Matt Busch, Javariaus James, Andrew Pughsley, Earnest Pughsley, Jeff Pyrol and Kerel Mitchell) all will obtain their A.A. degrees by summer and look forward to moving on to a 4 year institution. That brings Merritt College sophmore student athlete graduation percentage to 85%. The sophmores will announce their schools of choice in the coming weeks.

Merritt College Track and Field Honors Its 3 All Americans

On Thursday evening May 21, Merritt student-athletes Belal Mogaddedi, Mike Pyrtle and Ray Stewart were honored for their achievements in the 2009 track and field season. All three were named All American by the United States Community College Coaches Association.

Ray Stewart won the state title in the 110hh in a time of 13.83 while Mike Pyrtle just missed out on his own win in the 100m finishing a close 2nd at 10.37. Mogaddedi finished 4th in the pole vault at 15 feet 3 inches while enjoying success on both relays (4 x 100m/4 x 400m) and the open 400m.

Catch some of this season's action on youtube at

http://www.youtube.com/user/MerrittTrackField

Merritt College Soccer

If you are interested in trying out for the Merritt College Soccer Team, summer training begins June 23rd from 6:00pm-8:00pm. It will continue Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6:00pm-8:00pm through July. In August practices will be Monday-Friday. If you have any questions or need help getting registered at Merritt please e-mail me @ merrittsoccer@gmail.com.

Men's Basketball All Conference Players

Sophomore: Matt Busch
6"5 - Forward
San Leandro High, Oakland, California
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Sophomore: Kerel Mitchell
6"1 - Guard
Erasmus Hall High Brooklyn, New York
Kerel Mitchell was 4th in the state in 3pt percentage at 50%

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Sophomore: Joe Powell
6"8 - Forward
Edison Academy Englewood, New Jersey
Joe Powell led the state in Rebounding with 13.6 rebounds per game!

2009 Track & Field Youtube Link

Check the video of Merritt College Track & Field.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MerrittTrackField