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Bloomfield College Bears Dominate the Court

Nick Davidson
Bloomfield College Athletics

The Bloomfield College men's and women's basketball teams are rolling, both on top of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.  The captains of the Bears men's team got here via different paths.  6-foot-6 junior forward Nick Davidson had a brilliant senior season at Rancocas Valley High School and has emerged as this year's leading scorer on the Bears.  Rakwan Kelly, a 6-4 junior forward, transferred to Bloomfield after playing at Division 1 Mississippi Valley State.  Davidson, Kelly and women's 6-1 sophomore forward Bobbi Floyd are all pursuing degrees in the communications field. 

The three forwards sat down with SportsJam host and Bloomfield radio instructor Doug Doyle to talk about the season and their careers.

Bobbi Floyd
Credit Bloomfield College Athletics
Bobbi Floyd is aggressive on the boards for the Bloomfield Bears

Floyd transferred from Delaware State University and praises the work of Bears coach Dave Caputo.  She says everyone is impressed with her ability to get down the court in a hurry:

If I could name a player that I play like, I would say Candace Parker, she's a diverse player. She's a rebounder first, and then a scorer, but she's more a defender."

Floyd, who is from Las Vegas, Nevada, says she actually loved cheerleading more than hoops at one point when she was younger.

"My whole life I was a cheerleader until my freshman year in high school, I missed cheerleading tryouts because it was in the summer, so I wasn't trying to play basketball, I was trying to cheer and wear my little skirt and cheer for my brother because he was actually a football player..but I missed that tryout and my dad said "You're not going to sit home all day, you're going to play a sport." So I tried out for basketball and I happened to be good at it, so I stuck to that game."

Rakwan Kelly
Credit Bloomfield College Athletics
Bears forward Rakwan Kelly's leaping ability helps him elude taller defenders

Rakwan Kelly scored more than a thousand points in his high school career and was hotly recruited by some high level universities, but a leg injury curtailed immediate stardom. 

Since transferring to Bloomfield College, Rakwan has earned the CACC's Defensive Player of the Week honors and impressed the crowds that remembered him lighting up the court at Hudson Catholic and Newark Tech.

Kelly says winning an CACC championship would mean a lot to him because he wants to prove to his old coach at Mississippi Valley State that he's got the goods:

"I left a Division 1 program and came to a Division 2 program and I want to rub that in my old coach's face."

Kelly says coach Gerald Holmes' style of play feeds into the team's strength:

"I don't think a team can outrun us, our style is up tempo, up tempo and up tempo the way coach says he wants us to play. We run so much and that fits my style of play."

Nick Davidson, Bobbi Floyd and Rakwan Kelly
Credit Doug Doyle for WBGO
Bears basketball forwards Nick Davidson, Bobbi Floyd and Rakwan Kelly are all doing air shifts on WBCR, Bloomfield College Radio.

Nick Davidson was one of the team's leading scorers last season, but he thinks this year he's grown into a more complete player:

"I'd say confidence goes a long way in how I've played at Bloomfield from my freshman year til now. I wouldn't think anybody could stop me. That's the mindset I come into every game."

Davidson is averaging nearly 18 points a game, which includes a 31-point performance this season.  But the Lumberton, NJ native says it's about the team:

"If I score 5 points and we win the game, I'm the happiest guy on the bus. A win is a win in my eyes."

Click above to hear the entire SportsJam with Doug Doyle interview with Nick, Rakwan and Bobbi.

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Doug Doyle has been News Director at WBGO since 1998 and has taken his department to new heights in coverage and recognition. Doug and his staff have received more than 250 awards from organizations like PRNDI (now PMJA), AP, New York Association of Black Journalists, Garden State Association of Black Journalists and the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists.