Rose looking for move to NCAA despite mixed season

Mar 28, 2020 Sports

By Calvin Chapman

Kaieteur Sport recently caught up with Stanton Rose; Guyana’s youngest ever senior men’s basketball team captain, who led the charge during the Golden Arrowhead’s first triumph in the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) championship in Suriname, 2018, where he was the event’s MVP.

Rose layups for the Ponies during a NJCAA game last season.

Stanton Rose in action for Panola Ponies.

The 20-year-old currently attends the Panola College in Texas, USA, where he is on a sport scholarship majoring in Business Management.
Luckily, this star player’s season with the Panola Ponies was completed before the Coronavirus pandemic but, as he explains it, it could’ve gone a bit better.
Rose, who is an integral part of the team where he led last season in rebounds, steals and assists in the NJCAA Division 1 outfit, shared with Kaieteur sport that the Ponies started off the season on a high but they lost some pace in the back end of the competition, finishing with a 19-12 win-loss record.
“To me, I think I could’ve done more but with the system we had, I think I limited myself to make others around me feel comfortable with my unselfish style of play. I played hard every game without a doubt, something that recruits from the NCAA teams pointed out.
The 6’ 2” forward from Kwakwani further disclosed that he was being looked at by division one teams, namely, “Texas State, Chicago State, California Bakersfield and University of Texas Arlington (UTA) but they lost interest due the fact that the Ponies finished the season poorly.”
However, Rose, shared some good news, after highlighting that he may seal potential moves to St. Mary’s or Berkeley, both of which are top universities, while his coach, Aaron Smith, has pledged to help get him into the NCAA, citing his tremendous potential.
Rose disclosed that since the coronavirus pandemic, he hasn’t practiced or worked out, “This is a serious virus and I am not taking any chances. I am indoors maintaining social distancing. All my classes are online as well so I am keeping up with school. There will be more than enough time for me to work out after this thing is over.”
Later this year, Guyana is scheduled to defend their CBC men’s championship title with Jamaica having come forward as a candidate to host the tournament.
However, while the CBC has not announced whether the regional tournament will follow suit like other Caribbean sports events including the 49th CARIFTA games and the CWC regional 4-day, it won’t be much of a surprise if the tournament which is usually contested in June-July biennially, is pushed back to a later date.