The Columbia College (Mo.) Cougars have one of the top men’s college basketball programs in the country in the National Association of Intercollegiate ranks.
The Cougars have won a total of 61 games in the past two seasons, and athletes from the St. Louis area have been leading the way. This season, Columbia is currently 26-2 and ranked No. 4 in the country in the latest NAIA poll. They are also 17-1 and in first place in the American Midwest Conference.
There are six players from the St. Louis area on the team and all are big contributors.
The top scorer is 6’0″ senior guard Devin Griffin (Belleville Althoff), who is averaging 17.3 points a game. Griffin was named the AMC Player of the Week after leading the Cougars to two victories last week. He has been the team’s leading scorer for the past two seasons.
Former Webster Groves standout Derrick Dilworth is averaging 13.4 points a game.
Chantiel Stanciel, a sophomore point guard from McCluer High, averages 7.5 points while leading the team in assists and steals.
Wendell Crowder, a 6’1″ senior at Cardinal Ritter, averages 5.4 points and provides energy off the bench, as does his former Ritter teammate Eric Clark, a 6’4″ junior.
New to the team this year is 6’6 freshman forward Malik Ray, an explosive athlete from McCluer High. He is averaging 4.3 points.
All of the area players come from winning programs. Dilworth helped Webster Groves to a state championship in 2008, while Clark and Crowder were teammates on Cardinal Ritter’s Class 3 state championship team in 2010.
The Cougars enjoyed a dream season in 2013 when they finished 35-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Tournament. Columbia was undefeated throughout the regular season and was ranked No. 1 in the country for much of the year.
