Williamsburg Sun

Thomas Nelson Community College issued the following announcement on March 3

In discussing his team’s success in the 2021-22 season, Thomas Nelson men’s basketball coach Chris Moore didn’t mention a single player.

He certainly could have. Javion Majette was the conference player of the year. His twin brother, Jaquan, scored 33 points in the New South Athletic Conference championship game victory and was a first-team all-conference selection. Juwuan Brown was another first-team selection, and Kaiden Mines was named to the second team.

Those players, and many others, played pivotal roles as the Gators went 16-1 overall and won their first conference title since 2015.

“Culture. I think culture,” Moore said was the key. “One of the things that I’ve learned at all of the stops that I had before coming to Thomas Nelson was the importance of building culture.”

The players refer to their home gym, Bethel High School, as “The Swamp.” Moore added the players like to say they get their mentality “out of the mud.”

“Which means we get it from the ground up,” he said.

He also said the culture also includes understanding it takes selflessness, resiliency, perseverance, hard work and teamwork.

“When everybody bought in to what we were trying to build, and what we were trying to do, it made everything else work on the same accord,” Moore said. “I think the key to our success really was just culture.”

In the week following Thomas Nelson’s 96-79 victory over Carolina Christian College for the conference title, the college community came together twice at the Hampton campus to celebrate their success.

Early season wins over the Apprentice School and Richard Bland, and a close loss to Virginia State University in a scrimmage hinted at the possibility of a great season. In mid-December, the Gators suffered  their only loss of the season, 90-71 to Sandhills Community College in North Carolina, the 10th-ranked team in the country. They bounced back the next day with an 86-71 over No. 12 Monroe College-Bronx, starting a nine-game winning streak.

“The beauty of (the loss) was that my guys responded so well,” he said. “It was a testament to their character and their resiliency. I knew that we were going to be good for the rest of the season.”

Don’t think the success will make Moore complacent. He wants to do even better next year, and would like to be a consistent presence on the state and national levels. He wants people to “notice the great work that we have and the great situation we have at Thomas Nelson.”

He already is reloading for the 2022-23 season.

“I’m always looking to get better, he said. “I’m looking to bring in better pieces. I’m looking to bring in bigger pieces.”

Championship game recap

If the visitors from Winston-Salem, N.C., thought they were seeing double, that was understandable. The Majette twins combined for 53 points in leading the Gators’ victory. Jaquan hit seven 3-points on the way to 33 points, and added seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. Javion added 20 points, four rebounds and six assists. Also coming up big were Quishawn Brevard (15 points, five rebounds, five assists); Langston (11 points, three assists, four rebounds); and Brown ( seven points and 12 rebounds).

After trailing early in the game, the Gators took a 40-36 lead at the half. They came out strong in the second half, needing less than four minutes to increase the lead to 53-42. It was 68-49 with 11 minutes to go, and the Gators coasted from there in front of a nearly full house at Kecoughtan High School.

Honored before the game were sophomores Mines, Amar Hawkins, Langston, Michael Cunningham and William Steger.

Moore’s assistant coaches were Malcolm ”Zeke” Avery, Theotis Porter, Alex White and Jamaal Solomon, a former player.

Original source can be found here.