June 15, 2021 – Toccoa, GA –
After a heartbreaking loss to Southeastern Baptist College in the NCCAA DII South Region championship, Toccoa Falls College is under pressure to come out the gates stronger than ever, with head coach Leonard Epps saying, “To lose at the buzzer in the regional championship is tough but I’m very proud of my guys. We will be back and better!!” Coach Epps and Toccoa Falls have been going after new talent all off-season with the addition of plenty of new talent that is seen via Twitter. With this new talent, the next season for Toccoa Falls is looking to be an exciting adventure.
Coach Epps is attacking the recruiting scene in a way that has not been seen in NCCAA basketball in quite some time. Locked and loaded, the Screaming Eagles are looking to do much more than making the conference championship. In the gut-wrenching loss against Southeastern Baptist, Toccoa Falls was dominated on the board and got picked apart by the Southeastern bench. To combat this, Coach Epps has recruited some solid talent in hopes of adding a new spark to the team and depth. Two big pick-ups for Toccoa Falls to help them on the glass are Braylon Hawkins, who has experience with coach Epps, and “Big O” Orpheus Rankins, who was on Southeastern Baptist’s squad this past season grabbing 12 rebounds in this win against Toccoa Falls in the conference championship game.
After sitting around 9 points and seven rebounds on the season, Coach Epps is very excited about Orpheus Rankins being included in the exciting recruiting class that Toccoa falls is rounding up. Another addition that Coach Epps was thrilled about was a local kid by the name of Kenny Colwell. Kenny Colwell is known as a deadeye shooter, winning the 3point contest at the Northeast Georgia All-star showcase. During our interview, Coach Epps said, “He can flat out shoot the ball. It is going to be fun to watch him and Luke Gilsdorf go at it in some shooting competitions this year.” Kenny is going to add a much-appreciated shooting to the team and could end up being a key contributor for a bench that was outscored 24-5 in the championship game.
Now with the new season coming to fruition, there is a lot of buzz going around about this team. While discussing this exciting new year, Coach Epps said, “There’s a lot of excitement around here on campus you know, after making the conference championship game and losing by one point… and you know a lot of the fans and students know the type of team that we are coming in with, and the expectation is to compete for the national championship.” Although he says he is not shying away from those expectations, his personal goal for this season is to win the regional championship claiming “you’ve got to crawl before you can walk.” With these recruits, Toccoa Falls is looking to take the next step in its program. With a combination of the incoming freshman set to make an impact, along with already proven studs such as CJ Mitchell and Luke Gilsdorf, there is a high level of excitement throughout all facets of the team. Being so close to victory has lit a fire under Coach Epps and Toccoa Falls to meet their expectations and exceed them.
