The Miami Dade College men’s basketball team hopes to get an offensive boost this year from Darius Perkins, who was team’s leading scorer last fall before being ruled academically ineligible.
Perkins, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound combo guard, who averaged 18.8 points a game last year, said he worked hard in the classroom this past spring semester to have his eligibility reinstated.
“I feel relieved to be back on the court,” said Perkins, a business administration major. “It was pretty much unbearable to not be able to play.”
The Sharks struggled through a tough season last year, finishing with a 10-20 record; they were winless in Southern Conference play (0-12). Much of their struggles can be attributed to the team’s inconsistent roster, which boasted 14 players at the start of the season and ended with only nine eligible players at season’s end.
Perkins, who played in high school at Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory, in Broward, is expected to give the team some much-needed scoring punch.
“It’s a good feeling, you know, we struggled last year in the second half of the season just because we weren’t able to score the ball, and Darius shoots it so well,” said Sharks head coach, Stephen Cowherd, who called Perkins one of the best shooters in the State.
Perkins’ scoring ability is prolific enough that several Division I schools such as Utah State, Penn State, Minnesota University, and Iowa University, are scouting him.
For now, though, Perkins is focused on helping the Sharks rebound after a tough season.
“We will be better than last year,” Perkins said. “I know what it takes now and it’s harder on me, but I am ready for it.”
The Sharks start the regular season Nov. 1 against Rise Academy at 8 p.m. at the Theodore R. Gibson Health Center at the Kendall Campus.
