Cowboys Prepare for Championship Run

The 2022-23 season began with a hope, grew to an expectation, but ended in disappointment as the Connors State Cowboys posted a record of 24-6 on the season and entered the Region 2 tournament flying high. But Western State, which had played the Cowboys tough in two regular season losses, knocked off Connors in the opening round of the tournament 93-87.

Now with the new season on the horizon, Cowboy coach Bill Muse, who begins his 32^nd year as the Connors head man, feels good about this latest edition of the Cowboys. Probably the biggest loss will be that of play maker and leading scorer Xavier Glenn, but Connors will return Tulsa Memorial product Bradyn Hubbard who averaged 15.6 points per game and really had a breakout season in 2022 along with point guard Donyae May.

"Those two probably played 38 minutes a game last year but this year I think we'll have more depth to help them out a little. Hubbard played in the JA48 camp this summer which brings together the top 48 junior college players in the country."

You wonder if Hubbard might have had some influence for the Cowboys as two of Muse's new recruits are also Tulsa Memorial products.

"Ty Frierson (6-0) is a sophomore who played high school ball at Memorial then went to Hutchinson Community College," said Muse. "He transferred in last December, so he's had a chance to see how we operate and get to know the system. He'll compete for a guard spot. The other Memorial product is Dannon Lundy (6-6), a red shirt sophomore who came to us from Brookhaven College in Texas. He redshirted the 2022-2023 season and knows the system and will compete inside."

The Cowboys also hope to benefit from several other transfers. One of them is Saiyd Burnside, a 6-9 inside player who comes from Florida A&M.

"He's strong and physical and reminds me of D.J. Basey (who played two years ago). He wasn't getting the minutes he wanted at A&M and (assistant coach) Bill (Muse) Jr. had a connection with someone on their staff who steered him in our direction," said Muse.

The other transfers are Jason Hunt (6-3) who left Northern-Tonkawa with the coaching change there who Muse says hurt the Cowboys in their games last year and Tony Green (6-6) a Florida native and another Hutchinson Community College product.

There are also several in-coming freshmen from the area that hope to break into a starting role with Connors starting with Del City All-State product Percy Green (6-4) who helped lead the Eagles to the Class 5A state title last year as well as ALL Stater Buddy Hammer Jr. (6-7) from Westville, Dylan Golightly (6-4) from Jenks and Khamani Cooper (6-3) from Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

"Green can play multiple positions and he's a good defender," said Muse. "Cooper comes from the same school and is cut in the same mold as Jordan Tillmon who played here two years ago and is now at Southern Indiana. Golightly is a wing player and will give us an outside shooting threat which we haven't really had. And Buddy Hammer is really one of our best Oklahoma recruits of the past few years. He blocks shots, scores and runs the floor and I think he has a real bright future."

The Cowboys will also return red shirt freshman Konnor Wight from Muldrow.

"Konnor plays hard and is a great team player. He'll be able to provide some depth at the guard spot if needed right away because he's been around our system for a year," said Muse.

The Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference will again be tough according to Muse. There are coaching changes at Northern-Tonkawa and at Seminole where coach Don Tuley retired after 10 years at the helm leading the Trojans to the national tournament in his final season.

"NEO brings in a lot of prep players and transfers each year, so they'll be tough," said Muse. "Murray State should be a little better and Western will still be tough with those twins, but I think we'll be right up there in the hunt as well."

The Cowboys will open the season with three consecutive nights of action starting Wednesday November 1 against Mid-America Christian followed by games Thursday night against Central Baptist and concluding Friday night against Southwestern Christian. 

Connors will again team up with the City of Muskogee and Muskogee Public Schools to host the Region 2 championships at Rougher Village March 14-16, 2024.