Ford Fieldhouse at GRCC /Justin Mills
The Grand Rapids Community College men's basketball team, led by second-year head coach Joe Fox, is back on the courts this season with a 3-3 start.
With challenging games ahead in the coming weeks, the team aims to capitalize on the lessons learned from recent losses on the road.
As the 2023-24 season unfolds, the team continues to display promising potential despite all the fresh faces on the court. While the season is still early, Fox already has his endgame in mind.
“Our hopes for the season are always consistent,” Fox said. “We want to put ourselves in a position to compete for a conference championship and to win a regional so we can qualify for the national tournament. Our roster is almost a total reset from last year, so patience and building are key.”
Fox took the helm in the 2022-2023 season, and the team's execution has undergone a positive transformation. After finishing last season with a laudable 23-6 record, this fresh start contrasts with their struggles in past years. Since the 2019-2020 season, the Raiders have been on a downward trend, securing a mediocre 16-15 record. The team had a pandemic-stunted 5-9 season in 2020-2021 and a losing 2021-2022 performance, where the team managed just a 10-19 overall.
The Raiders began their three-game losing streak on the road at Lake Michigan College, followed by consecutive losses in the NCMC Tournament, up against Milwaukee Area Technical College and Cuyahoga Community College.
Highlighting the juggling of a student’s academics, sports and work life, Fox is aware of the dynamic barriers the Raiders face on and off the court.
“I think the biggest obstacle we face is always ourselves,” Fox said. “Can we choose team over individual success? Can we skip social gatherings to spend an extra night studying? Can we get into the gym and push ourselves every day? You have to be mentally tough to survive at this level, and that can be a hard grind when you have to balance school, life, basketball and bills.”
The next opportunity to support the team at home will be on Friday, Nov. 17, promising an exciting game against the Kellogg Community College Bruins as they strive to build momentum and continue their upward trajectory that began last season. Fans of the Raiders can catch the team in action at the Ford Fieldhouse on GRCC’s downtown Grand Rapids campus at 111 Lyon St. NE.
For more information about the team's schedule and tickets, visit the GRCC Athletics website.
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