By BRYAN GRISHAM

CSCC Sports Information Director

Halloween is now, just a fading memory and the calendar has turned to November. For many local sports fans this means that it is time to head out to the gym and take in a little roundball action as the Cleveland State Community College Cougars and Lady Cougars hit the hardwood this week to officially tip off the 2009/2010 Basketball season.

The Cougars will hit the floor first as they play host to the Bryan College Lions junior varsity squad tonight at 7:00 p.m. at L. Quentin Lane Gymnasium, while the Lady Cougars will tip off their season on Wednesday night as they also host the jv Lady Lions of Bryan College starting at 6:00 p.m. Both teams will travel to Georgia on Saturday for a pair of games with Emmanuel College.

Head Coach, Lee Cigliano and his pack of young Cougars are fired up and ready to go after a long and sometimes hectic schedule of preseason practice and scrimmages finally come to an end. The Cougars will be searching for a new identity as the season progresses as only two players with any court time to speak of and one starter return from last year's squad that finished as Conference runner-up with an impressive 20-9 record. Gone are more than 50 percent of the Cougar offense as Chauncey Thompson and Ryan Westbrooks have moved on to four year schools. Center Willie Smith will once again patrol the paint for the Cougars while Shanad Hallinquest will be the other returning member from last season. Guards FuQuan Harper, Tony Bates, Devin Boyd, D.J. Jones, Stephen Cook and Jesse Taylor will all vie for playing time in the backcourt while J'Quan Martin, Justin Garner and Brandon Carpenter will help Smith in the paint.

Coach Dan Lumpkin and his Lady Cougars are eager to wash away the bad taste of last season as the four returning sophomores along with a very talented freshman class hit the floor for the first time on Wednesday. Preseason results have been mixed according to the long time Lady Cougar mentor as nagging injuries have hampered progress.

Sophomores LaSuela Person, Tiffany Johnson, Christian Page and Latasha Sheppard will lead the way while freshmen Mariah Lawrence, Takeya Day, Stephanie Anderson, Kierra Johnson, Taylor Neil, Katlyn Eldridge, Jasmine Wilson and Andraya Tears will all be in the mix to start the campaign.

The injury list is a long one for this time of the year as Person (back), Kierra Johnson (foot), Tiffany Johnson (ankle) and Sheppard (knee) all have missed time.

Both the Cougars and Lady Cougars have been battling a number of injuries and illness which has hampered practice, but coach Cigliano and coach Lumpkin have been reasonably happy with the overall progress of their respective teams to this point and are anxiously awaiting the first game.