Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) men’s basketball Cliff Gatonye Dominique Josephs
Cliff Gatonye is a 6’6 junior transfer from Dakota County Technical College in Minnesota; he is originally from Nairobi, Kenya . Gatonye helped DCTC achieve a 20-12 record this past season, qualifying them for the NJCAA DII National Tournament for the first time in school history.
“Cliff has a high motor. He has great size but can run the floor and step outside and shoot the three if he needs to,” remarks head coach Donnie Bostwick , “He reminds me of Emmanuel Adoyi which is a very high compliment. He can play at a three, four or five position and will bring experience and size to our team next season.”
While averaging 20 minutes per game, Gatonye averaged seven points and five rebounds per game. He shot for over 48% overall and 37% from the three point line.
Dominique Josephs is a 6’9 center transfer from Colorado Christian University , his hometown is Ocho Rios, Jamaica . As a sophomore at NCAA Division II Colorado Christian, Josephs played a backup role averaging 11 minutes per game. During those 11 minutes he was very productive and shot an impressive 53% from the floor and averaged around five points per game and three rebounds per game.
Before transferring to CCU to play basketball, Josephs played two years of football in junior college. To make the transition from football to basketball he lost 60 pounds in the process. Coach Bostwick believes Joseph’s size will be a needed asset, “This season he showed an amazing jump in his game. If he can make that same progress then he will be a force for us the next two seasons. One of our weaknesses since I arrived at SAGU was our lack of size when reaching the NAIA Tournament. Dom gives us a big body with a good upside.”
Gatonye and Josephs will be part of a large incoming class for the Lions. They will join Josh Williams, Dareny Sims, Lance Tipton, Colt Summer, Kennton Williams, Adrian Palacio and Darian Davis will all be new faces on the bench for the 2016-2017 season.
The Lions are coming off of a season where they went 20-13. For the fourth year in a row they made it to the NAIA National Championships in Kansas City, Missouri.
Southwestern Assemblies of God University is a private, Christian university located 30 minutes south of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Waxahachie, Texas. The university was established in 1927, and now offers more than 70 associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees on campus or online. More information is available at www.sagu.edu or by calling 1-888-YES-SAGU.
Contact: Natalie Tristan, SAGU SID, [email protected]
