Former Sundevil Duda among those joining Eagles
A former Española Valley Sundevil is joining the Northern New Mexico College men’s basketball team — giving a local star to both the men’s and women’s team for next year.
Jordan Duda, a 2021 graduate, joins the team after taking a year away from basketball while studying at Northern.
Duda was a first-team all-state selection in his senior year, and was the team’s leading scorer in his final game, a loss to Del Norte in the state semifinals.
Northern coach Ryan Cordova said Duda wanted to adjust to college life his first year, and felt comfortable and wanted to try out for the team.
“He’s been in the gym quite a bit this spring,” Cordova said. “He was a good scorer while he was at Española. I anticipate, taking a year off is going to be tough, but he’s working hard to get there.”
The remaining players come from across the country — stretching from South Florida to Washington State — and even overseas.
The trick, Cordova says, is reading all of the emails that come through, which can reveal hidden talents that are looking for somewhere to play.
“It’s hard for us to get a 6-6 guard here,” Cordova said.
Sometimes, a friendly connection can come in handy to find players.
Aaron Chavez, the head coach at Bakersfield Community College in California, grew up in Española and went to elementary school at McCurdy, and graduated from Mora High School.
His connection with Cordova helped in landing Northern a pair of transfer players. Coming to Northern will be Deandre Pemberton — a 6-foot-6-inch guard/forward, originally from Hollywood, Fla., who averaged 10 points and six rebounds last year for the Renegades — and Tony Counts — at 6 feet, 7 inches, who had more than seven rebounds per game.
“Tony is more of a post,” Cordova said. “But he’s really athletic, he runs like an antelope.”
Another connection comes through Jay Collins, a Farmington graduate who now coaches Northwest College in Powell, Wyo. That helped land Gabe Gutierrez to Northern, bringing a 6-foot-4-inch guard who averaged 11 points per game
Cordova also signed Conner Kelly, a transfer guard from Yakima Valley College — Cordova called him a scoring guard — and his taller brother Collin.
Northern adds height with four players from Life Christian Academy in Central Florida, which does not have statistics from last year publicly available. Those names include 6-foot-8-inch Tynell James, 6-foot-7-inch Rasheed Jimenez, 6-foot-1 Jordan Vanderhorst and 6-foot-1 Joseph Brown.
Cordova said they also add a 7-foot center from the Dominican Republic, and Guillem Garcia from Spain.
Rounding out the class is Malik Petty, a point guard from Chicago who averaged more than 20 points his senior year and scored over 1,000 for his career as a 3-time all-conference selection.
Cordova also said that Carlos Quintana and Diego Ortiz are working out for Northern. They might add one more player, but are mostly done for the season.
“I feel good about it,” he said. “I feel like we can put together a very explosive team. A team that can put a lot of points on the board very quickly.”
The Eagles will return starters and key players from last season including center Damione Thomas, guard Jamal Harris, and wing Joe Saterfield.
“We’ve refilled the glass,” Cordova said. “And we’re ready to see what we can do.”