SMITHFIELD - Perhaps the third time, or more precisely, the third year is the charm. At least Johnston Community College men’s basketball coach Roderick Ford believes so as the Jaguars launch the third season in the program’s history.

And JCC feels it has the abundance of talent necessary to be a factor in the upcoming National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region X standings. After playing in a tournament last weekend, the Jaguars open their home slate tonight (Wednesday), hosting Cape Fear Community at the AIG Center.

“We feel we should be a lot more competitive this season,” Ford said as he assessed the talent assembled on the gymnasium floor of the AIG center, preparing to establish his 2010-2011 roster following the recent Blue-White intrasquad scrimmage.

A total of 27 players battled for the 15 available spots on this year’s squad, with the reminder to be red-shirted.

Ford said, while he will be carrying 15 players on his active roster for home dates, only 12 will be utilized for road games. “We should be real competitive,” he said. “We will have 15 players ready to go, and will substitute them in waves: five players at a time, to keep the legs fresher.”

The Jaguars have reason to be optimistic this season, with four key returnees, led by Anthony Scarboro and Bobby White.

Scarboro finished 23rd nationally in field goal percentage, earned All-Region X honors and is a preseason All-Region X selection, and is getting a lot of looks from NCAA Division II and mid-level D-I schools.

White was the nation’s leader in assists at the JuCo Division II level, while center Adam Williams finished sixth nationally in rebounding among NJCAA D-II players. But what pleases Ford more than their athletic ability is all three are on pace to graduate.

“They could have already graduated,” Ford said, “but they wanted to come back for one more year and play together as a team.”

That trio will be joined by former Smithfield-Selma standout Jamel Pettiway, who is expected to one of the team’s key players. Pettiway is coming off a broken right foot that sidelined him most of the 2009-10 season.

“All of the players have been real competitive in practice,” Ford said. “And they have made great progress since we started practice in September.”

Also returning are Wayne County sophomores Marcus Kornegay and John Williams while candidates for the roster included 6-foot-6 Brandon Smith, a transfer from Aurora University in Illinois, Demarcus Quinnerly and Marcellus Dunn, a freshman from Cheraw S.C., all expected to be impact players this season.

Ford feels the team will be better conditioned than in previous years, citing cross-country running, weightlifting and Pilates as components of the Jaguars’ preseason and off-season workouts.

“We’re going to be running a triangle type of offense,” Ford said, “And we’ll be doing a lot of full-court pressing and man-to-man defense.” Ford emphasized the defensive scheme will be familiar to that utilized by Duke University.

“And they have really been hitting the books, showing me they are dedicated to their academics,” Ford said. “This is the squad that I have wanted since I took over the program in 2008.”

That 2008-2009 edition, the first under Ford and also the first in JCC history, produced only two wins. After a year of solid recruiting, that total improved to 13-18 last season. This year, Ford feels the Jags could contend if not for Region X supremacy, then for a post-season berth.

But doing so means enduring an early season schedule that includes four NJCAA national tournament participants from last season, as well as Region X powers Louisburg, Brunswick and up-and-coming Wake Tech.