Llanos happy he remained with Clarkson
POTSDAM — Even though former Clarkson men's basketball coach Adam Stockwell talked him into coming, Felix Llanos was not planning on a long stay in Potsdam.
Llanos, a senior from Queens, said he originally planned on just staying at Clarkson for one year and then trying to find a school at a higher level than Division III.
But Stockwell, a Belleville native, made such an impression on Llanos that he wound up staying at Clarkson, even after Stockwell left for another coaching job after his freshman season. Stockwell currently coaches at Hamilton College.
“(Stockwell) told me I'd be doing really well at this school and a lot of stuff was going to happen,” Llanos said. “It was something no coach ever told me before. It was something that made me want to come here. Once I got here, he taught me so much before he left that it was something I applied in everyday life skills. I guess this school was the best pick for me because of the coaches and the program and everything here.”
Clarkson's coach for most of Llanos's career has been Mark Gilbride, who gave him a starting job as a sophomore and has watched the 6-foot-1 shooting guard emerge as one of the top players in the Liberty League.
Llanos scored his 1,000th career point in a game against Union on Jan. 20 and is averaging 19.6 points per game this season.
“He's doing everything,” Gilbride said. “He's leading us in scoring. He's got a great assist-to-turnover ratio. He's leading us on and off the court. He's first on the team in taking charges. He wants to have a great senior year and he's having one and working hard to do it. It's a lot of fun to see.”
The addition of Potsdam natives Jerry and John Coleman to the Clarkson basketball team has helped Llanos and the Golden Knights get off to an 11-4 start and a 4-2 conference record. Clarkson has never been better than 7-7 in Liberty League games in Llanos's career.
“Both those guys work so hard,” Llanos said of the Colemans. “They help me so much. It takes so much pressure off me as a player. John is one of the best offensive rebounders I've ever seen and Jerry is one of the scrappy players on the team. It's opened up a lot of shots for me and opportunities for other players to get shots.”
Llanos knew Jerry, a senior, before this year, but had no idea that one of Clarkson's best baseball players also could play basketball.
“I knew he was a tremendous baseball player,” Llanos said. “Once he got on the court and I saw the way he could play, I knew we had to have him on the team, and John (a freshman) as well.”
Coming from Queens, Llanos said he had to adjust to Potsdam's weather and to the lack of things to do, compared to life in New York City. But that helped him, because it kept him in the gym as much as possible.
“The nice thing about him is he's the hardest worker and he's improved a lot every year,” Gilbride said. “He goes hard in every drill. He works in the offseason. He's in the weight room, getting in extra shots, doing anything he can to be as good as he can.”
Last summer, Llanos was part of an exchange program and got to spend time in Uganda and Kenya and also played some basketball in Italy. He hopes to have a career overseas next season.
“It was a humbling experience, being able to see what they have and what we have out here,” Llanos said of his trip to Africa. “It made me feel like I should work a little bit harder to earn the stuff I have here.”
■ Clarkson defeated Liberty League rival St. Lawrence University, 65-62 on Jan. 10 at SLU and hosts the Saints in the final meeting of the regular season on Tuesday. The Saints are 8-8 overall this year and 4-4 in conference play. One of SLU's top players, Massena native Garrett Sharlow, has missed eight games overall, and four straight, with an injury.
