News

GTCC’s Allison Is Coach of the Year; Two Players Take Top Honors

(Release 2/25/10)

JAMESTOWN - Bobby Allison, who is in his first year as coach of Guilford Technical Community College's women's basketball team, has been named coach of the year for Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

GTCC's Amanda Campusano of Bronx, NY, was named player of the year for the region. She and teammate Rhonda Young, also from Bronx, were named to the All-Region X first team.

Others on the All-Region team are Kendra Brown of Spartanburg Methodist, Takesha Littlejohn and Constance McKenney, both of Clinton Junior College, and Tiya Johnson of Denmark
Tech.    

DeAnna Franklin and Sasha Hobson, both players for Clinton Junior College, were named to the Academic All-Region X team.

GTCC won the regular season championship with an 9-0 record, and had an overall mark of 27-2. That brings Allison's record as a head coach to 242-21. He formerly coached at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, NY.

GTCC is the top seed in the Region X tournament, meeting Denmark Tech in a 6 p.m. game Friday (Feb. 26) at Lifepointe Community Center in Fort Mill, SC. Clinton Junior College will play Spartanburg Methodist in an 8 p.m. game. Winners of the two games will meet at 2 p.m. in the championship contest.

Allison formerly played for GTCC athletic director Phil Gaffney, who recruited him for the coaching job with the Lady Titans.

Campusano and Young played for Allison last season at Mohawk Valley.

Allison said, "Amanda has improved over her two seasons as much as any kid I have ever coached. Not only is she an unbelievable three-point shooter but she also is a playmaker and a lockdown defender.

"What Amanda did was take her weaknesses and really work on them over the summer. Winning player of the year isn't a testament to her season as much as it is a testament to the time and effort she put in over the summer. Winning the award is just icing on the cake."

Young has provided the spark that the Lady Titans needed throughout the season, he said.

"Rhonda is one of the greatest teammates that I have ever coached," Allison said. "She is the most supportive person, always doing whatever it takes for a teammate to succeed. Rhonda wasn't starting in the beginning of the season, and you would think it would have been a negative since she started for me last year but it wasn't at all. She gave us a spark off the bench and played so well that I had to start her.

"Her second semester has been outstanding and she truly is the heart and soul of this basketball team. I have no idea where we would be without her leadership."

Allison, who won many coaching awards at Mohawk Valley, said that he feels "blessed to have been selected Region X Coach of the Year. It isn't just one person though. It is the coaching staff of the year to me. Sarah Gaffney and Gary Broadhurst have had as much to do with our success as anyone. They know the system as well as I do and did an outstanding job of teaching 12 first-year players how to do what we do. It also is a testament to the kind of kids we have at GTCC."

Sarah Gaffney and Broadhurst also are products of the Mohawk Valley basketball philosophy. Gaffney was an All-American playing for Allison, and Broadhurst coached there.

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