Note: The following is Part I of a three-part series previewing Southern Conference men’s basketball for 2013-14. The season preview was prepared by Dean Keener, who provides commentary on Southern Conference men’s basketball broadcasts. Keener played collegiately at Davidson before embarking on a successful coaching career. He served as head coach at James Madison from 2004-08.
Keener and play-by-play announcer Darren Goldwater open the season on Nov. 11 when Davidson hosts Wisconsin-Milwaukee in a game that can be seen on ESPN3.
Part I: State of SoCon Men’s Basketball
For some, it’s fall and the middle of football season. For others, it’s the time of year to start thinking about hoops. To me, there is nothing more fun than preparing for another college basketball season. This will be particularly true in the Southern Conference this year, as it is a wide-open race. Sure, defending regular-season and tournament champion Davidson returns last year’s Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in De’Mon Brooks, but the Wildcats are sure to get plenty of competition from just about everyone.
During the past six months, there have been coaching changes, transfers – both in and out of the conference – as well as new arrivals on campus (freshmen). All this provides hope to each Southern Conference program. Every member has to feel it has a shot to move up in the standings from a year ago, yet only one will be guaranteed a slot to represent the league as conference champion in the NCAA tournament. Once again, the SoCon tournament will held in Asheville, N.C., during the weekend of March 7-11, 2014.
There is a lot to discuss in this series, including changes in membership. In my opinion, conference realignment is harder to understand than most IRS laws. It’s been done without regard to many long-standing rivalries and geographical alignments. It’s thrown out just about everything but money, which so many athletic departments are chasing. That said, the Southern Conference has not been immune from it as realignment filtered down to the mid-major level during the past year. Because of the changes, this season the SoCon will have one, 11-team division. This is a distinct change from the two divisions the conference had utilized in men’s basketball since the 1994-1995 season.
We will also discuss a new 16-game league schedule (down from 18 regular season games) that is now in place. This reduction in conference games may have allowed coaches the opportunity to add additional nonconference games, but it may not provide the balance needed to produce a “true” regular-season champion. Only time will tell if this was a positive move by the conference athletic directors and coaches.
In Part I of this series, we will be looking at a variety of items, including a recap of last year as well as a quick look ahead to this coming season (a more detailed analysis comes next week). As mentioned, we will also discuss the 16-game league schedule. Finally, we will take a look at the three coaching changes that took place in during the offseason in the Southern Conference.
Recapping The 2012-2013 Season
Last season, Davidson led the conference race from start to finish. The Wildcats had a powerful frontcourt, talented wings and solid point guard play. This, along with the coaching of Bob McKillop, proved to be too much for Southern Conference opponents during the 2012-2013 season. The Wildcats won 20 of 21 games against conference opponents, losing just one regular-season game at Georgia Southern. In fact, they finished the conference tournament riding a 17-game winning streak. They would push Marquette in the NCAA tournament before falling 59-58. They finished the year with a sterling 26-8 record.
The College of Charleston, in its final year in the Southern Conference, had a good run. In Doug Wojick’s first season at the helm, the Cougars finished strong before falling to Davidson in the conference tournament championship game.
Elon proved it belonged among the conference elite in Matt Matheny’s fourth season. His first recruiting class grew up and has become the cornerstone of the program. The Phoenix made its first postseason appearance at the Division I level, receiving a bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT), where they lost at Canisius.
Appalachian State won seven of its last 11 thanks in part to the play of senior Nathan Healy. No doubt, the Mountaineers were playing their best basketball of the season down the stretch and pushed Davidson in the conference tournament semifinals.
The league did have an influx of young talent. No fewer than 10 freshmen were considered for the all-freshmen team, led by Samford’s Tim Williams. In fact, there were six freshmen among the league’s top 30 scorers. For a league that has always done well with four-year players, this bodes well for the future of men’s basketball in the Southern Conference. It will be exciting to watch many of these young guys during their sophomore seasons.
A Quick Look Ahead To 2013-2014
In the coming weeks, we will dive into everything 2013-14. At this point, I think it’s safe to say that the conference race is wide open. While Davidson may enter the season as the preseason favorite, I truly believe five or six schools could take the crown this season. Alphabetically, here’s a very quick snapshot of each program:
Appalachian State was playing its best basketball of the year in the SoCon tournament and will look to build on that momentum and the confidence it gained in Asheville. How the Mountaineers fill the void of Nathan Healy will be interesting. No doubt, point guard Mike Neal is a big key to the Mountaineers’ success this year and may be the most important point guard to his team.
Chuck Driesell knew The Citadel job was going to be a difficult task when he took over three years ago. I’m not sure there is a more difficult job in Division I men’s basketball. That said, the Bulldogs lose do-everything center Mike Groselle, but return a solid core of guys, led by sophomore Matt Van Scyoc. The Bulldogs will be a tough out this season, especially in McAlister Field House.
Davidson has been a model of consistency. It has been among the top programs in the Southern Conference for many years. Even with all the Wildcats lost to graduation, this is still a rock-solid team led by De’Mon Brooks. Seniors Tom Droney and Chris Czerapowicz will be counted on to have solid senior seasons. A player to watch is Miami (Ohio) transfer Brian Sullivan.
Elon is primed for its best season ever since becoming a Division I member in 1999. The Phoenix has as much experience as anyone in the league as it is coming off its first postseason appearance at the Division I level. Seniors Lucas Troutman and Jack Isenbarger are two of the best players in the Southern Conference. Ryle Beaumont and Sebastian Koch are also talented and experienced seniors.
The Furman Paladins are a team that has some talent but will need to quickly adjust to a new head coach. The Paladins welcomed back Niko Medved, this time as head coach. Medved was part of a successful run as an assistant to Larry Davis. The Paladins have had their share of fits and starts during the past several years. Just when it has looked like they were on their way, some misfortunate seemed to befall them, and last season was no exception, as injuries decimated the roster in Jeff Jackson’s final year in Greenville.
Georgia Southern is a bit of a wildcard in the Southern Conference. They have talent, yet can the Eagles, with a new coaching staff, blend it all together? Without Eric Ferguson, the Eagles are missing a real go-to player. Guards Jelani Hewitt and Tre` Bussey will need to have exceptional seasons in order to keep Georgia Southern in the conference race.
I don’t think anyone knows what to expect from the UNCG Spartans this season. Gone is high-flying Trevis Simpson and his shot-a-minute ways. Powerful guard Darrell Armstrong has also completed his eligibility. The best news out of UNCG is Kyle Cain, a 6-8 transfer from Arizona State. Cain has the skill set to be an impact player from game one for the Spartans. He should team with sophomore Kayel Locke to form a very solid frontcourt tandem.
The current Samford roster has four players that have been SoCon All-Freshman, including last season’s Freshman of the Year, Tim Williams. Raijon Kelly is a rising star in this league and Bennie Seltzer saw signs of his guys “buying in” late last year. The second season can be a difficult management exercise as upper-class returnees mix with guys brought in by the new regime. But in this case, I think because Seltzer and staff brought in so many of their own freshmen last year (spring signees), their chemistry may just be ahead of normal situations.
Chattanooga has a chance to be the most entertaining team in the league. From a talent standpoint, Z Mason and Gee McGhee provide lots of firepower. More importantly, Will Wade brings an exciting style of play to the Roundhouse. They’ve branded the term “CHAOS,” which should have the fans in Chattanooga excited about men’s basketball.
Western Carolina has a core of five seniors that should be confident right out of the gate. The Catamounts also have Larry Hunter, one of the best coaches in the country. He has won 630 games in his career and will add to that total this season. The ‘Cats are led by All-Southern Conference guard Trey Sumler.
Wofford is a sneaky good program. In fact, only Davidson and Charleston have won more conference games since 2008. The Terriers welcome back Karl Cochran, Lee Skinner, Arries Smith and Spencer Collins, among others. This core group gained valuable experience last season and looks to move back to the upper tier of the league.
16-Game Schedule
It will be interesting to see if the reduction in league games has any effect on the regular season. The coaches voted on a reduction in league games before realignment hit. They had wanted to play everyone in their division home and away and then play three teams in the other division home and the other three away, thus eliminating much of the concern they had for true divisional champions. After Charleston left, they decided to keep the 16-game schedule and have just one 11-team division.
So to recap, all conference teams will play 16 Southern Conference games this season. With the elimination of the North and South divisions, each team will have home-and-home series with six conference schools and will play the remaining four members just once (two home and two on the road) during the regular season.
Scheduling is a difficult animal, particularly at the mid-major level. There are a lot of factors that go into a team’s schedule (facility availability, mandated number of home games needed for ticket revenue, “big games” for recruiting, and most importantly, the need to garner “winnable” games). As a fan, you must understand that every team needs to build a different type of schedule – no two SoCon programs are at the same stage. Thus, they have different scheduling needs/philosophies.
Allowing SoCon coaches more freedom in their nonconference scheduling was thought to help pay dividends at the end of the year with potentially better RPIs. But with several members choosing to play multiple non-Division I games, it may impact the tournament champion’s NCAA seeding come Selection Sunday this year.
Coaching Changes
This offseason saw the most head coaching changes (three) in the Southern Conference since 2009. No doubt, each rookie coach will have his challenges, but each one seems to be a solid choice to lead his respective program in the coming years.
The key with any coaching change is how the players respond to a new system and terminology. The quicker players respond and “buy in,” the better chance for early success.
Will Wade comes to Chattanooga after an ultra-successful run as an assistant at VCU under Shaka Smart. No doubt, he will attempt to bring much of the “HAVOC” style of play that he learned under Smart. And he has some talent to work with right out of the gate. Chattanooga has enough experience and talent to make some noise this season.
Former College of Charleston assistant Mark Byington returns to the Southern Conference after a one-year stint as an assistant at Virginia Tech. But his stay in the league this time will only be for one year, as this is the Eagles’ final year before moving over to the Sun Belt Conference. Byington also has some talent to work with in Statesboro, but without the services of Eric Ferguson, the going will be a bit more difficult.
Niko Medved returned to Furman this spring. He comes from Colorado State, where he had been an assistant for the past six years. Previously, he was an assistant to Larry Davis at Furman, where they had some real success. The Paladins’ backcourt is solid. In fact, I believe they have a top-four backcourt, but the key to their success is post play, where they are very thin and inexperienced.
Please check next week for Part II: “Power Rankings and Five Big Questions”