The Post University men’s basketball team already had a local connection with Brendan Phelps coming on as an assistant coach for Marc Kuntz.
The Eagles now welcome back two former NVL boys basketball greats, Tyshon Rogers and Don Jarrett Jr. Rogers was a standout for Nick Augelli at Crosby High School and Jarrett starred for Kennedy High School. Here’s more about each player:
Tyshon Rogers
Rogers is still the NVL’s all-time leading scorer with 2,248 points. He was a four-year varsity starter, and he won both the John Gilmore (NVL’s top senior) and Billy Finn (Waterbury’s top senior) awards.
“We’re very excited to have Tyshon join the program,” Kuntz said in a press release. “Having a local player with the resume he has increases our following.”
Rogers played for Paris Junior College and Odessa Junior College for one year apiece before moving on to Post. Rogers is a junior and will have two years of eligibility with the Eagles.
Don Jarrett Jr.
D.J. was known to rain 3-pointers down on NVL opponents during his time with Kennedy. He will have a chance to do so again in Waterbury, this time with the Post Eagles.
Jarrett played for Casper College in Wyoming for two years. He drained 55 3-pointers during his freshman season with the Thunderbirds, then buried 53 more treys as a sophomore. Jarrett is a junior at Post.
“We have Don Jarrett who will be eligible second semester and with Tyhson we now have two former Waterbury players who can represent their home city at Post University,” Kuntz said in the release.
Eric Knox
The former Bristol Central runner has come in on the ground floor with the University of Saint Joseph men’s cross country program.
The team is in its first season of competition, and the freshman Knox was named to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll after running in the program’s inaugural cross country meet. Knox finished 32nd out of 80 runners in the Trinity College Bantam XC Invitational last Saturday.
Knox ran the 5K course in a time of 19:29.1 and was the top finisher for USJ, which is offering men’s sports programs for the first time since becoming a co-ed school.
Cole Phelps
The former Wolcott big man is a stalwart on the offensive line for Central Connecticut State University.
Phelps has started both games at right guard for the Blue Devils this season. He started all 12 games last season and appeared in six games as a freshman. Phelps helped the 2017 CCSU offense run for almost 185 yards per game, according to his biography on the team website. Phelps helped the Blue Devils secure their first 1,000-yard rusher since 2014, and he also helped protect CCSU quarterbacks from oncoming rushers. The Blue Devil offensive line allowed just nine sacks in 11 regular season games, which tied for ninth nationally for fewest sacks allowed.
Phelps has also been a standout off the field. He made the Northeast Conference Fall Academic Honor Roll as a freshman and as a sophomore.
CCSU lost 42-6 to Football Bowl Subdivision foe Ball State on Aug. 30, then came back for a 55-0 victory at home over Lincoln, Pa., on Sept. 7.
Eli Parks
One week after being named the top offensive player in the Northeast-10 Conference, Parks toted the ball a career-high 30 times in a 24-22 home loss to Bentley on Sept. 7.
Parks ran for 135 yards, or an average of 4.5 yards per carry. His longest gain of the day went for 39 yards. Parks also hauled in two passes for 26 yards. He was named to the Northeast-10 Conference Weekly Honor Roll for his efforts.
Parks has carried the ball for 47 of his team’s 79 attempts and run for 262 of his team’s 451 yards. He is averaging 131 yards per game, 5.6 yards per carry and has scored four touchdowns.
Statistics and information compiled from the team website of each athlete.
