By Rawle Toney

REIGNING Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championship MVP, Stanton Rose Jr, will bounce off his National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division Two collegiate career on Friday December 11, against Lubbock Christian University (LCU).

Rose will face LCU in back-to-back games in two days, before lacing up another two games, in two days action against Dallas Baptist University on December 18 and 19; his final two games of the year.

In April, Rose moved to the San Antonio, Texas-based University of St Mary’s, after playing at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) level with Jacksonville College and Panola College.

Speaking exclusively with Chronicle Sport, Rose, who hails from the Berbice River community of Kwakwani in Region 10, said he was anxious to get back on the court, especially taking into account that he thinks he has something to prove.

The point guard noted that coming from Guyana and playing in the NJCAA, provided the much-needed help to first allow him to balance playing a tight schedule and the classroom; something he wasn’t used to doing while in ‘GT’.

He also stated that his stints at Jacksonville and Panola Colleges, proved to be the perfect catalyst to the NCAA level after receiving many offers, following his sensational historic performances at the CBC Championship, where he propelled Guyana to their first Senior Men’s crown.

Meanwhile, Rose was adamant, that at any given time, he can be called upon to represent Guyana, telling Chronicle Sport that “there’s nothing more beautiful in basketball for me, than putting on the colours of my country and making them proud.”

Rose wrote his name in Guyana basketball’s history books, when he, as an 18-year-old, captained the country to their first CBC Championship, when the tournament was hosted in Suriname.

The flamboyant player was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament for his sensational performances, which also included a tournament-high 41 points performance which came in Guyana’s 104–102 double overtime win against St Vincent and the Grenadines.

He totalled 106 points (third overall), led the tournament in steals totalling 15 at an average of 2.5 per game, was third in points per game (17.7), third in assists per game, eighth in rebounds per game and was the fourth best efficient player.

Stanton Rose placed his name amongst players like Lugard Mohan, Auric Tappin, Stanislaus Hadmon, Lorenzo Withrite and Leon Christian (just to name a few) as some of the most talented to ever suit-up for Guyana, but what separates him from the aforementioned great ‘ballers’ is that he was able to bring the ‘elusive’ John Yates trophy back to Guyana, and being the youngest-ever to do so.

For his exploits, Rose was named Senior National Sportsman-of-the-Year – the only basketball player in the history of the awards, to pick up the accolade.