In his first season with BCU, Denver Cobb helped navigate the team through a series of adverse obstacles to again set milestones, including consecutive Defensive Players of the Year when Cletrell Pope earned the honor and set a MEAC single-season record with 22 double-doubles. For the first time ever, BCU was pegged as the Preseason Favorite in the MEAC. The Wildcats placed three on the All-Conference Preseason team.
BCU just posted its second ever three-win November. Coupled with 2017's 4-3 mark in the month, the Wildcats have posted their best consecutive Novembers in program history. All this came despite losing All-MEAC pick Isiah Bailey to a season-ending injury.
To cap the month, BCU defeated cross-county foe Stetson at home, 84-74, to mark the first time in series history that the Wildcats won Volusia County bragging rights in consecutive years.
In its 72-70 home victory against FAU on Dec. 1, BCU claimed its first victory over a Conference USA opponent, and the win carried the most quality of its first four, as FAU entered with a NET ranking of 90.
The Wildcats finished the month where neither the remaining All-MEAC picks, Shawntrez Davis and Soufi Diakite, played together. It again ended with a milestone in a 74-66 road win at Boston U on 12/21. It was BCU's first win in last game before Christmas break since 2009, December true “road” win since 2010, December non-conference road W since 2009, win against the Patriot League, men’s D1 Florida program to win at Case Gym, and the first time BCU shot over 60% from 3 since Feb. 3, 2014 vs. SCSU (83.3%).
As the calendar turned to January, the nation became acquainted with first-year Wildcat Cletrell Pope. In a road contest at Morgan State, he registered career-highs of 24 points and 22 rebounds that put him in rare company. He was just the 8th player in the nation to post a 20/20 game in the season, and joined Western Michigan’s Seth Dugan as the only players with at least 24 points and 22 rebounds (Dugan totaled 32 on Nov. 6).
No player in the NCAA since March of 2016 had produced 24/22 with at least 10 offensive rebounds, and only eight others have done so since 2010-11.
Pope went on to earn Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-MEAC honors. He was second in the country with 22 double-doubles, and led the nation with 4.32 offensive boards per-game. He pulled down 7.84 defensive rebounds per-game to rank 13th overall and lead the MEAC, and was third in the country with a 12.2 total rebound average. Pope's 377 total boards was fourth-most in the nation and set a BCU Division 1 record. It also placed him 5th all-time in school single-season rebounds.
Malik Maitland earned Second Team and Davis was named to the Third Team.
BCU led the MEAC in rebounding average (41.10) and was third nationally. The Wildcats also paced the conference with 13.58 offensive rebounds per-game (eighth nationally), an average of 27.52 defensive rebounds (27th nationally), and three-point defense of 30.2% (18th nationally).
The Wildcats were second in field goal defense (41.3%), steals (7.5 per-game), and rebounding margin (3.4).
BCU had a 10-4 home record that matched last year’s win total. The 20 wins represent the highest two-year total since 2009-11, when the Wildcats won 11 home contests each year. Those years, however, the Wildcats could play up to four non-Division 1 foes.
BCU finished 9-7 in the conference, and Cobb helped Ryan Ridder to 32 wins through his first two seasons leading the Wildcats. That is tied for first in BCU history for a Head Coach’s first two seasons, along with his predecessor, Gravelle Craig. Ridder’s 21 MEAC wins is best in the first two-year span.
Denver Cobb joined Bethune-Cookman from Texas Tech University where he served as the Assistant Director of Player Development and Assistant Defensive Coordinator. The Red Raiders went 27-10 and landed in the Elite 8, good enough to garner a #6 final ranking. TTU finished #3 in defensive efficiency, and Cobb helped in developing All-American Keenan Evans, who signed with the Detroit Pistons, and Zhaire Smith, the 16th overall pick in the NBA draft by the 76ers. Smith was the first non-ESPN Top 100 recruit to develop into a first round draft pick after the freshman year of high school.
Prior to TTU, Cobb spend two seasons as an assistant at Rocky Mountain College (NAIA) where he coached three All-Americans, a Frontier Conference Defensive Player of the Year, and six all-conference players. In 2017, Coachstat.net named Cobb as the #4 small college assistant coach in the country.
From 2012-15, Cobb served as the Associate Head Coach at Bethany College, leading the team to a 51-37 record. Bethany produced an All-American, eight all-conference players, a Defensive Player of the Year, and rewrote the record books in a stellar 2013-14 season.
Cobb got his first taste of Division 1 hoops as a graduate assistant at USF. Under Big East Coach of the Year Stan Heath, Cobb and the Bulls had a 2011-12 season to remember with 12 conference wins and a berth in the Big Dance.
Cobb broke into coaching under Steve Ridder at Embry-Riddle in the 2010-11 season. The Eagles won both the regular season and tournament crown for the Sun Conference and led the nation in defensive field goal percentage (.375).
He was born and raised in Daytona Beach, Fla., earned his bachelor’s of science in Aerospace Studies from Embry-Riddle in 2009, and completed his master’s degree in Physical Education from the University of South Florida in 2012.
As a player at ERAU, he was the team captain from 2007-2009 and he made national tournament appearances in 2005, 2006, and 2008. Throughout his playing career, Cobb's teams averaged 27 wins per season and each year his teams were nationally ranked. In 2006 his team finished 31-3 and was ranked #1 in the country heading into the national tournament.
In his four-year playing career, Cobb is only one of four players in Embry-Riddle history to score over 1,500 points and make over 250 career three-pointers. He made the Sun Conference All-Conference team in 2008 and 2009.
