Teams who just missed the cut for Last Chance U
This list of teams is all who make good TV but are not going to be exactly what the directors are looking for. The sheer amount of JUCO’s makes this list extremely hard to pare down to just five teams. These teams that are going to be selected are going to have to keep the viewers’ attention.
There are going to be teams who are left out and probably your favorite team, that doesn’t mean they are not good enough, it just means they do not have the right criteria for what the directors are looking for. This list was created with zero previous knowledge of who the directors are thinking about selecting. The following list of schools are teams that were in consideration but did not make the final cut.
Ranger College in Texas is a great JUCO program that puts a ton of players into the four-year college ranks. Billy Gillispie the former coach of Texas A&M was their latest coach, however, he has moved on to Tarleton State. If Gillispie would have still been the coach for Ranger they would have been a great team to be featured on the show. Especially given the high profile of Gillispie, his multiple NCAA tournaments as a coach, and his subsequent fall from grace. It would have made for great TV.
Tallahassee and Florida Southwestern are two great schools that win a lot, but they don’t bring a lot of craziness and that is not something the directors are looking for. These are two of the best schools in the country every year because all they do is win. Florida Southwestern is in Fort Myers, FL, and is the best team in the JUCO ranks seemingly every year. Tallahassee currently has one of the more coveted players in the country for the 2021 class in El Ellis. Neither of these schools does anything too crazy for the directors to pick them. Winning should be celebrated and not always with a TV show.
Western Nebraska would make for good TV as their team plays fast and is flashy. They have placed several players into the power conferences and 4-year schools. They have had some of the best JUCO players in the country the last few years with Dru Kuxhausen, Jervay Green and Teddy Allen. Allen was the best scorer in the JUCO ranks a season ago before heading on to Nebraska. The school is giving some kids a chance again to make their dreams come true at the Division one level, but they still lack the craziness that many of the JUCO’s picked do.
Casper College in Wyoming is in the same conference as Western Nebraska and they have just recently become a JUCO power. They like many of the other honorable mentions do not have much craziness and they win. Lately, they have been winning a lot and winning, as mentioned, doesn’t always make for great TV.
Vincennes is the last school considered for the list. They are yet another JUCO powerhouse but like most of these schools they are stable, and they win a ton. They don’t have a really great story that is made for TV unless people just want to watch a team win. Vincennes has put a lot of talent into the major four-year college ranks and a lot of those players have been successful. Vincennes is a great program like many of these other schools mentioned they just are not flashy enough for TV.
Not being flashy or good enough for the TV program is not a knock on any of these programs. The honorable mention schools are some of the best JUCO programs in the country and they are going to be around for a long time. Anyone who has ever watched Last Chance U knows that is not what the program is looking for. I would rather have a great program who wins and stands on its own merit than having to be popular because of a TV show.