Note: The following piece was prepared by Dean Keener, who provides commentary on Southern Conference men’s basketball broadcasts. "The Dean's List" will appear every two weeks from Jan. 8 until the Southern Conference basketball tournament in March.
Keener played collegiately at Davidson before embarking on a successful 20-year coaching career. He served as head coach at James Madison from 2004-08.
Keener and play-by-play announcer Darren Goldwater's next broadcast is January 23 on ESPN3 when UNCG visits Samford. You can follow him on twitter: @DeanKeener1
The Dean’s List
January 22, 2014
I. Inside SoCon Hoops
The Southern Conference is void of a true superstar this year, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The prevailing thought by many fans is that a team – or league – needs a superstar. That is, a player who can dominate a game and carry his team on a regular basis. I don’t necessarily think that’s always the case. Sure, it’s fun when a player like Stephen Curry rolls into town and visits a SoCon school – the arenas are full and the atmosphere is at an all-time frenzy. But this season has already shown us that great parity can also make for some really good action and excitement. Make no mistake that great coaching (like we have in the Southern Conference) and great effort from all the teams can make it really fun.
With the conference season in full swing, there have been some terrific games (four league games have gone to overtime thus far) as well as some wonderful individual performances: Z. Mason has five double-doubles in six league games, De’Mon Brooks is healthy and averaging a conference-leading 23.4 ppg in league games, Lucas Troutman dropped 28 points and 12 rebounds on Davidson and Nicholas Paulos set a school and conference record for 3-pointers without a miss going 9-for-9 against Davidson. And no doubt there will be many more.
So, no superstar, no problem. The SoCon race is going to remain exciting throughout, and while there is bound to be some separation at the top in the coming weeks, the fight for those elusive first-round byes (top 5) should go down to the last weekend.
And then it will get really good in Asheville, especially without a star to dominate the weekend!
II. Technology and College Basketball
As a young coach trying to break into the profession in 1988, “technology” was much different for me than those starting off today. Phones weren’t smart and were only as mobile as the length of the cord. There was no texting or electronic mail, only hand-written notes to recruits, their families and high school coaches (AAU was in its infancy stages). Programs would spend a ton of time designing notecards and other stationary items in order to “stand out” with prospects. And without the internet, there wasn’t twitter, Facebook or any recruiting websites, just newspapers and recruiting services that were typed and sent by regular U.S. mail.
Video technology, while thought to be cutting-edge in 1988, was also very different. Where in the past, colleges had relied on personal scouting reports and word of mouth from other coaches, videotapes had become the new norm. Cable television was starting to explode; therefore you could copy a few games from television. There were also companies that acquired tapes throughout the season and you could buy from them. But the thing most schools did was exchange VHS tapes with common opponents.
As the film exchange coordinator, I would send out requests in the fall to all of our opponents for the season. I would ask that they send their game tapes by overnight express mail or by bus the day after their game. This took an extraordinary amount of time and planning in order to get all the tapes a head coach wanted, but it ensured that we would be able to properly scout an opponent.
I remember staying up all night putting together edits of our opponents using VHS tapes. Using single-deck VCR’s I would constantly fast forward and rewind the tape in order to watch a play. I would then copy it onto the “edit tape” which was connected to another VCR.
I will never forget a particular time during my first year in coaching. I was the graduate assistant at Drake University and was in charge of film exchange. We were in Laramie, Wyoming on New Year’s Eve preparing to play the University of Wyoming on January 2, 1989; therefore I had requested that a recent game tape be sent to me there. When the tapes did not arrive at the hotel, I called the coaching staff from the requested school and they informed me that they had sent it by bus! I went to the local Greyhound bus station on New Year’s Day and waited for over four hours until the bus arrived with game film of the University of Wyoming. It’s simply what you did as a graduate assistant in order to get the job done.
New digital technology now allows coaches to maximize their preparation time. There are several comprehensive platforms available for video editing, game planning and analysis. Coaches can also extend technology beyond their offices and access video from any computer or tablet. Assistant coaches and/or video coordinators can log on and manage film quickly and efficiently while viewing statistical breakdowns with related video from anywhere at any time. And most importantly, they can share this information with players by e-mail. My how technology has changed in the last 25 years!
III. The SoCon Ladder
The ladder remains fluid, although the top and bottom are starting to solidify. It’s the middle of the pack that is going to take some time to play itself out.
1. Elon – The Phoenix finally captured a signature win, beating Davidson in Belk Arena last week. This was no small feat as the Wildcats had won 23 straight conference games at home dating back to 2010-11. But they couldn’t continue their winning ways falling to #16 UMass at home on Saturday. Thursday’s game at UTC looms very large!
2. Davidson – Even with the home loss to Elon last Thursday, something tells me the Wildcats will continue trending in the right direction. Would you expect anything else from a Bob McKillop-coached team? That said, I’m still concerned they are not defending well enough to be an elite conference team.
3. UTC – Without question, the hottest team in the SoCon. Z. Mason, Ronrico White, Casey Jones and Gee McGhee are all healthy and exceeding expectations. And keep in mind the Mocs only play Davidson (away) and Elon (home) one time each this season. That may very well play into their regular season finish.
4. Western Carolina – This veteran group had hit a nice stride until Monday’s loss at Wofford. After beating Samford at home last Saturday, they moved to 8-0 at the Ramsey Center, but the Terriers put an end to their overall win streak. As previously mentioned, their success will be determined how they play on the road during conference play.
5. UNCG – Wes Miller has his troops primed and ready to win some games in league play. They won three straight until Davidson stopped them on Saturday. The frontcourt of Kayel Locke and Kyle Cain, the explosion of freshman Tevon Saddler and the shooting of Nicholas Paulos suggest the Spartans should remain in the thick of things.
6. Wofford – After a quirk in the schedule (the Terriers played UTC back-to-back), the Terriers bounced back in a big way with a huge home win against Western Carolina on Monday. With Chattanooga and Western Carolina out of the way and just one game each with Davidson and Elon remaining on the conference schedule, the Terriers have a chance to move up in the standings.
7. Georgia Southern – Frontcourt play not as big a factor in league play, therefore the Eagles continue to hang around most games, but it won’t be easy as four of their next six are on the road.
8. Furman – Niko Medved is getting everything he can out of this group. A thin frontcourt limits what the Paladins can do on both ends of the floor. That said, it will not surprise me to see them pull an upset or two in the coming weeks.
9. Samford – The Bulldogs played well on Saturday at Western Carolina only to come away disappointed. They now have four of their next six in the friendly confines of the Pete Hanna Center. This young group needs to take advantage of opportunities before them.
10. Appalachian State – Their last go around in the Southern Conference is not going around very well. The win at home on Saturday against Georgia Southern was much needed and may provide the necessary jolt they need.
11. The Citadel – They are so very close. The Bulldogs have been in every league game thus far, losing twice in overtime. There are defining moments in every team’s season – when will the Bulldogs moment hit?