APEX, N.C. – Citing personal reasons, Nolan Adams has tendered his resignation as men’s basketball head coach at Blue Lights College.

Hired in August 2022, Adams hit the ground running in filling out a depleted Thoroughbreds roster and making the team instantly competitive. In his first season, he guided BLC to a 7-5 record and a fourth-place finish in the NSAC, advancing to the conference tournament semifinals before falling to eventual champion Apprentice 97-88. Three members of Adams’ team were placed on the all-conference squad, led by first-team selection Wol Yak.

This season, Blue Lights is off to a 7-3 start including back-to-back wins over NAIA Morris College.

Adams came to Blue Lights from York College in New York City, where he was head coach for seven seasons. Prior to that, he was the head coach of the Borough of Manhattan Community College and the Polytechnic Institute of New York University.

“I’m forever grateful for all Nolan Adams invested into our program,” said BLC president Jacques Gilbert. “We grew as a result of his leadership. He will be missed. While this change in the middle of the season creates some challenges, we will see this as another opportunity to demonstrate our faith. The mission of Blue Lights College remains a priority. Our student athletes are committed to finishing the season strong.”

Gilbert named Denzel Johnson as interim coach. The Thoroughbreds open their NSAC schedule Saturday at Apprentice.

In Blue Lights’ lone game last week, Sam Benton, Jr. paced the Thoroughbreds with 21 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 7 steals and has been named New South Men’s Basketball Player of the Week. The 5’10” point guard filled the stat sheet while driving both the offense and the defense.

Congratulations to sophomore Sam Benton, the NSAC Player of the Week!

Image courtesy Craig Green/BLC Media

Sometimes, scouting an opponent can present challenges. Lack of game tape, roster turnover and other unforeseen circumstances can throw off a team and coach’s preparation for game day.

Enter the Livingstone College Blue Bears junior varsity squad, the latest challenge to Blue Lights College men’s basketball coach Nolan Adams and his young Thoroughbreds. Finding information on the Blue Bears, including their game-day roster, was difficult at times. “It was an X-factor. We didn’t know much about them,” Adams said postgame on the Thoroughbreds Sports Network.

Livingstone came to Hope Community Church Arena with a distinct size advantage over the Thoroughbreds. Of the eight players dressed for the Blue Bears, only one was listed under six feet tall, and five of them were at least 6’6″. “Just because they’re bigger than us doesn’t mean we have to adjust to them; they have to adjust to us,” Adams added.

Truer words were never spoken, as the Thoroughbreds used a 57 point second half to cruise to a 102-88 victory over the visitors from Salisbury, N.C. Sophomore forward Wol Yak was hot in the first half, scoring 25 of his game-high 31 points in the first 20 minutes.

“Wol really picked it up (for us) in the first half,” Adams said.

The Herd (5-2) led 45-40 at the break in a back-and-forth matchup. Livingstone held a 37-36 lead with 2:42 remaining until halftime. The lead was short-lived as sophomore point guard Sam Benton, Jr. hit a three-pointer to regain a 39-37 advantage that BLC never surrendered for the remainder of the game.

Despite the best efforts from Blue Bears guard James Nipper and forward AJ Shaw, the Thoroughbreds did just enough to hold off Livingstone in the final 20 minutes. Benton scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half, including three field goals from beyond the arc. Wol Yak and freshman guard Patrick Harrington (five points) both hit dagger threes in the final minute to put the exclamation point on the victory.

BLC got major contributions from freshmen Darquez Flowers (9 points, 13 rebounds), Jaye Bookhart (8 points, five rebounds) and the returning Kalil Baker (14 points, nine assists).

Benton, Baker, and Wol Yak missed the previous two games at Cape Fear Community College and Allen University with injuries. Sophomore guard Miigwaanhs Barrientoz remains sidelined with a calf injury and missed Tuesday’s game. The timeline for Barrientoz to return is unclear at this time.

The Thoroughbreds will travel to Charlotte on Thursday, November 30th in a non-conference showdown with Johnson & Wales University.

Story and image courtesy Craig Green/BLC Media

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Blue Lights College, with a short roster due to a number of injuries to key players, dropped its second straight game 90-35 Saturday at Allen.

Allen got out to a fast start leading 15-1 early on and then 46-19 at the halftime break. AU shot 52 % from the floor overall in the game and 42 percent from three. Allen then outscored Blue Lights 44-16 in the second half holding BLC to just 23 percent from the floor and 15 percent from three.

Thoroughbred starters Kalil Baker, Sam Benton and Miigwaanhs Barrientoz all missed action for the second game due to injuries, depriving BLC of almost 60 points.

The Yellow Jackets’ Austin James led all scorers with 14 points. BLC’s Wol Yak and Patrick Harrigton scored eight apiece.

Blue Lights drops to 4-2 on the season. Allen’s record remains at 0-2 as AU considered the game as an exhibition.

Blue Lights College freshman Kalil Baker led the Thoroughbreds to a three-win week and has been honored as the NSAC Player of the Week.

Baker averaged 28 points and seven rebounds while adding 3.3 assists per game in wins over Morris, Touro and Five Towns. The Rocky Mount, North Carolina forward is averaging 30.75 points per game on the season in helping BLC to its first 4-0 start in program history.

Congratulations to Kalil Baker, the NSAC Player of the Week!