Community College Vs Junior Colleges

[OldTimer]

A comment was made on a post in this board on the Pratt CC posting comparing CC with JC's with the statement if effect that JC's were superior teams..citing Dallas CC.

I may be wrong but I don't believe Dallas CC doesn't give ships, I DON'T KNOW that Tarrant County CC even has athletics. I was VP for finance and administration at El Paso CC and it didn't even have athletics until the year before I left in 1988 when they installed baseball and softball programs costing about $350,000 in one year. EPCC had 19,000 FT and 9,000 PT students.

I was in the same position at Pratt Community College in the early 1980's and I can guarantee you that the Jayhawk conference is very strong in BB and FB. Pratt dropped FB in the early 1980's so their primary sports are BB and baseball. Pratt last year came within one game of being in the national JC tournament in Hutchinson KS...losing to a team they had beat twice earlier in the year. The year before I went to Pratt they were in the national JC BB tournament also.

It's easy to mispeak based on the knowledge you have locally in particular when you are not familiar with Kansas or Az. I am not familiar with AZ bb but would believe their athletics would be strong based on their closeness to the California talent.

[meangreenacct]

I agree, I'm not sure how that arguement can be made. Ben Bell came from San Jacento Community College in Houston, so obviously it would be a mistatement to say community colleges are somehow inferior to the competition. Also I'm pretty sure Isaac Hines came from Collin County Comm. College, so we do have a history of using quality C.C. players.

[foutsrouts]

Yeah, the JC vs CC comparisons don't really work across the board. Florida and California CC's have some very strong athletic programs as does the aforementioned San Jacinto. The DCCCD basketball programs are non-scholarship NJCAA D-3, so they are usually a bit weaker than some of the higher classified JC/CC programs. The best player I recall out of the DCCCD was a guy named Ollie Hoops who tore up the court many moons ago at Richland College. Kind of an easy basketball name to remember.

[GrandGreen]

The terms "Junior College" and "Community College" have nothing to do with the level of athletics at the institution. The term "Community College" came into vogue in the last few decades and denotes the source of the primary funding and focus of the school. Community Colleges being supported by taxes from the surrounding communities and created to serve the local area. Many schools that used junior college in their name have changed to using community college to better identify the local support and mission of the college. In reality there is little distinction between the two names and they are interchangeable.

[Green to the Bone]

I, for one, hope JJ scours every junior/community college for hundreds of miles.

To destroy the notion that CCs don't produce good athletes, or that they're inferior to JCs (Yes, I know the distinction between CC and JC is nonexistent; I went to a CC), consider this:

-- 43 former Juco players were on NBA pre-season rosters this year; 10 of those were from Texas JCs.

-- Nate Archibald, Artis Gilmore, and Dennis Rodman were all Juco players (Rodman at Cooke County JC, Texas).

-- 141 former Juco players are on Major League baseball squads. Former Jucos include Curt Schilling, Mike Piazza, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and Albert Pujols.

-- Richland College in Dallas County, a baseball phenomenon, plays in NJCAA Division III -- that means no scholarships -- but has had four players drafted by MLB and two others signed as free agents since 1999. They've also sent three others to unaffiliated minor league teams.

Richland's baseball story is worth noting for UNT's future. The Thunderducks (is that a great name, or what?) were the Div. III national champions in 2002, '03, and '04, runners-up in 1999 and 2000, and national tournament competitors in '95, '96, and '05, when they finished fifth. Since 1998 they've had 15 All-Americans and two national players of the year, and have sent 60 players on to senior colleges, including A&M and Texas Tech. They sent two to NCAA D1 schools in 2006-07, one to Ole Miss and another to Tech.

And every player on every one of those teams was turned down in one way or another by NCAA D1 colleges.

The point of this is twofold:

1. Never run down CC or JC players. Rodman and Clemens are two scary dudes.

2. If and when UNT decides to play this new and exciting sport called baseball, I've got your head coach right here:

Richland College Baseball Coaches

Head Coach Joe Wharton

Head Coach Joe Wharton (35), native of Dallas, Texas, is entering his 10th season at Richland. He has compiled a 343-193 (.640%) overall record with a 133-58 (.700%) record in conference. He led Richland to back to back to back National Championships in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Richland finished second in 1999, 2000, and 5th in 2005. He has led the Thunderducks to the World Series in six of the last eight years. He was named District C coach of the year by the National Junior College Athletic Association and Regional Coach of the year by Diamond Sports in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. Wharton was named NJCAA National Coach of the Year in 2002, 2003, and 2004.

In the last nine years, he has coached 55 All-Conference players, 39 All-Region players and 15 All-Americans.

Wharton graduated from R.L. Turner High School in Carrollton, Texas in 1989. He earned 1st Team All District Honors in both is junior and senior year. As a senior, he hit .410 and was 9-1 on the mound with a 1.35 ERA.

Wharton attended Lubbock Christian University for two seasons where he hit a combined .350 and collected 23 doubles, 9 triples, 6 homeruns, and was 30-37 in the stolen base department. He compiled a 6-4 record on the mound recording 13 saves in 45 games. He struck out 77 batters in 51 innings. L.C.U. advanced to the NAIA World Series in 1991 held in Lewiston, Idaho where they finished 5th.

He played his final two seasons at Baylor University. Wharton tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his knee three days after signing with Baylor and so was limited his junior season. He appeared in 16 games compiling a 3-3 record while striking out 33 batters in 32 innings and recording 4 saves. His best game came against the University of Texas in Austin on April 17th, 1992 in pitching two shutout innings of relief while striking out five in picking up the save. As a senior, he hit .345 with 12 doubles, 5 triples, 4 home runs, and also swiped 9 bases. He appeared in 21 games on the mound and had nine starts in which he won each start. In 85 innings pitched, he gave up 69 hits and struck out 85 batters while walking only 29 and ending up with a record of 10-3 with 3 saves.

He led the Southwest Conference with a 2.54 ERA and was third with 10 wins. He was selected 1st team all Southwest conference his senior year and was voted Baylor’s MVP in 1993. He was nominated for the Golden Spikes Award which goes out to the Nation’s Top collegiate player. Wharton is believed to be the only collegiate pitcher in NCAA history to post a victory over two number one ranked teams in the country in consecutive weeks. He beat #1 Texas 7-4 on April 10th, and on April 17th, he beat then #1 Texas A&M 2-1. Baylor ended up 41-17 on the year and qualified for the Regional tournament in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where they were eventually ousted by L.S.U., who went on to win the national championship.

The New York Yankees selected Wharton in the 18th round of the Major League draft in June of 1993. He spent parts of three years in the minor leagues before elbow problems would eventually end his career in 1995. Since 1999, Wharton has been an associate scout with the Kansas City Royals.

Wharton received his Bachelor’s of Business Administration from Baylor University in 1996. He received his Master’s of Science Degree in 1999 from Texas A&M - Commerce.

Wharton married his wife Monica in April of 1997. Monica is a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Manager at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. They have two daughters, Meaghan McKenzie (6), and Macyn Marie (4). Wharton’s parents, Don and Paula, reside in Farmers Branch, and he has one brother, Jeff who lives in McKinney with his wife, and four children.

Coach Wharton's Career Coaching Record

1998 27-29

1999 48-14*

2000 37-24*

2001 37-17

2002 40-17**

2003 37-24**

2004 49-16**

2005 39-24***

2006 29-28

Total 343-193

*World Series Runner Up

**World Series Champions

***World Series Appearance