Note: The following piece was prepared by Dean Keener, who provides commentary on Southern Conference men’s basketball broadcasts. This is the first of a three-part series previewing the 2014-15 season in the Southern Conference. Part II will run Oct. 30, with Part III set for Nov. 13.
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. You can follow him on twitter: @DeanKeener1
Inside SoCon Basketball: A New Era Begins
This is the first of three-part series on Southern Conference Men’s Basketball
Welcome back to The Dean’s List! Last season, I was afforded the opportunity to talk all things basketball in the Southern Conference. We even touched on some national topics to help provide hoop junkies with information, rules and facts pertinent to the college game today. I’m excited that the league has asked me to do it again and look forward to getting things started with the upcoming season.
While we may be in the middle of football season, that doesn’t mean we can’t start talking about college basketball. In fact, with three new league members, there is a different level of enthusiasm within Southern Conference men’s basketball as we prepare for the 2014-15 season. There is a sense of newness within the league and every member believes they can make a move toward the upper tier. Each team has begun practice and with the beginning of non-conference play rapidly approaching, there is a feeling among each that this could be the year they represent the league as conference champion. For the fourth consecutive year, the season will culminate in Asheville, North Carolina and ExploreAsheville.com Arena at the U.S. Cellular Center. The nation’s oldest league tournament, the Southern Conference Tournament, was first held in 1922 and 2015 marks the 95th edition of this postseason event!
For the SoCon, there’s been no shortage of news and excitement as it relates to hoops during the past six months. In fact, with the new members and a full round-robin schedule in place, anticipation is high. Make no mistake, realignment affected the Southern Conference in a big way the past two years, but Commissioner Iamarino and his staff lured three quality institutions within the geographic footprint of the league – and they all happen to play basketball at a pretty high level! We will get into detail about ESTU, Mercer and VMI later, but it’s safe to say that all three are entering with a good bit of momentum. Each program is coming off terrific seasons that culminated in post-season play. And speaking of post-season play, maybe the biggest selling point of realignment for the league are half of the 10 men’s teams participated in the postseason in 2014. This included Wofford and Mercer each appearing in the NCAA Tournament. Who could forget the No. 14 seed Mercer Bears upset of No. 3 seed Duke on national television, which provided one of the signature moments of March Madness. Among other things, it earned them an ESPY for “Best Upset.” No doubt, things look bright for the league now – and into the foreseeable future.
In Part I of this pre-season preview, we will look back at last season, take a very quick look ahead and talk five off-season facts to get you up to speed on important league happenings. I’m excited for SoCon hoops and look forward to providing you with information that will keep you updated throughout the year. With that, we begin the 2014-2015 Dean’s List:
A look back at the 2013-14 season
Before we get into this year, let’s take one last look at the 2013-2014 season. Davidson was the prohibitive favorite and didn’t disappoint with an outstanding year, their last as a member of the SoCon. The Wildcats ran off 12 straight wins to end the regular season and finished with a 15-1 record in league play. They defeated Samford in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference tournament, but the ‘Cats couldn’t complete the three-peat as conference champions losing to Western Carolina 99-97 in a thrilling overtime game in the semifinals. By virtue of winning the regular season title, the Wildcats did receive an automatic invitation to the NIT where they played the University of Missouri.
Elon was also considered one of the favorites to capture the crown in their final season in the league with four 1,000 point scorers. The Phoenix were up and down in December and January, but hit a nice stride late in the season. Yet, they fizzled in the conference tournament, losing in their first game to Western Carolina in the quarterfinals. The Phoenix did not participate in postseason play.
Along the way, Chattanooga put together a 10-game winning streak in January and was a nice surprise in Will Wade’s first season at the helm. It took some time, but the Mocs eventually caught on to a new system of play and created “Chaos” for many league opponents. They finished 12-4 – good enough for second place in league play - and were invited to the CIT where they played ETSU in the first round.
The Western Carolina Catamounts had all the ingredients for success (talent, experience, chemistry and coaching), but just didn’t have quite enough in the end for head coach Larry Hunter to capture that elusive title he is driven to bring to Cullowhee.
And then there were the Wofford Terriers. They simply played like a typical Mike Young-coached team just getting better and better throughout the season. The Terriers arrived in Asheville having won 10 of their last 12 regular season contests. They then proceeded to win their third tournament championship in the last five years, beating Western Carolina in the championship game on ESPN2.
Last season was exciting and created a ton of headlines along the way. De’Mon Brooks (Davidson) was voted Player-of-the-Year by the Coaches and Media, but he wasn’t the only player who had a great year. Z Mason (UTC) had a breakout senior year leading the league in rebounding and blocked shots. Jelani Hewitt (Georgia Southern) led the league in scoring and Trey Sumler (Western Carolina), Lucas Troutman (Elon) and Kyle Cain (UNCG) also had outstanding seasons! Make no mistake, the league had some terrific players who will be missed, but it only creates opportunities for others this season.
A very quick look ahead
We will go into great detail about each program in next week’s edition of The Dean’s List, but at this point I want to provide a quick snapshot of each Southern Conference member. Here is a top-line on each:
Chattanooga is primed for a big season in Will Wade’s second season. Casey Jones is one of the most versatile players in the Southern Conference. Ronrico White, Greg Pryor among several others will handle things in the backcourt while VCU transfer Justin Tuoyo is 6’10” and the perfect basket protector in the Mocs pressing system.
East Tennessee State enters the league with a Player-of-the-Year candidate in guard Rashawn Rembert. The 6’3” senior was an all-conference first team performer in the Atlantic Sun last year while making 108 3-pointers! The Bucs lost their starting frontcourt, but Ron Giplaye and 5th-year transfer Alex Bates, who is 6’9”, should be ready to step in.
The Furman Paladins struggled at times in Niko Medved’s first season in charge, but mostly because of injuries and a limited roster. This go-around looks to be much better with All-SoCon guard Stephen Croone leading the way. Larry Wideman, William Gates, Jr. and Kendrec Ferrara will also be counted on.
The Mercer Bears were the darlings of March Madness as they knocked off No. 3 seed Duke, but will have to do it this season with a new cast having lost over 71 percent of their scoring and 63 percent of their rebounding. Ike Nwamu is a high level athlete and will lead the way after being the Bears sixth man a year ago. Darious Moten and T.J. Hallice also look primed for a breakout senior seasons in Macon.
Samford was stock piling good young talent, but gone are former All-freshmen players Tim Williams, Isaiah Williams and Raijon Kelly as well as former head coach Bennie Seltzer. Seniors Tyler Hood and Michael Bradley need to have big years for first year head coach Scott Padgett.
The Citadel is arguably the most difficult job in Division I. That said, Chuck Driesell has worked hard to bring talent to Charleston. The backcourt of Marshall Harris III and Ashton Moore should be one of the best in the league and will ease the loss of Matt Van Scyoc. Brain White was on the All-Freshman team and will be counted on for leadership and scoring in the frontcourt.
UNCG has some talent and with all the changes in the league, they have a chance to move into the upper tier. But it will take a group effort and some improved play by their best players, Tevon Saddler and Kayel Locke to see real success.
No one will be more exciting to watch than the VMI Keydets. Period. The Keydets annually rank in the top 5 nationally in scoring. They will go 10 deep, but the backcourt of sophomore QJ Peterson and freshman Jon Elmore is of particular interest.
Western Carolina lost a ton of talent, but something tells me Larry Hunter will get this team to over-achieve. The Catamounts are really good at the Ramsey Center and I look for James Sinclair to be one of the top performers in the league.
Wofford will be the easy pick by most to repeat as conference champions. The Terriers return just about everyone from last year’s championship team. Karl Cochran, Lee Skinner and Spencer Collins could start for anyone in the league. Add Eric Garcia, Jaylen Allen as well as Justin Gordon and the Terriers look like the team to beat.
Five Off-Season Facts
After a somewhat hectic offseason of realignment, coaching changes, rumors, transfers and other player departures, things have settled down and we can now prepare for the upcoming season. While there will be tons of headlines (good and bad) in the coming months, here are Five Off-Season Facts to help you catch up on SoCon men’s basketball as we enter a new era:
1. Realignment: With conference realignment mostly done at the Division I level, there are 14 schools in new places during the 2014-15 season. Three are in the Southern Conference. The league welcomes back long-time members East Tennessee State and VMI from the Atlantic Sun and Big South, respectively. The league also added Mercer University from the Atlantic Sun Conference. This group provides renewal of some long-standing rivalries, but more importantly, each program is well-coached and full of talent. They also have good facilities and outstanding fan bases that will only add to the excitement of the league.
2. Scott Padgett moves over one seat: The former NCAA champ at Kentucky and eight-year NBA veteran takes over at Samford for Bennie Seltzer. Although he has just five years of experience at the collegiate level (none as a head coach), he has already steadied the ship at Samford. He will have his work cut out for him with a re-built roster, but something tells me he is up to the task in Birmingham. Director of Athletics Martin Newton had to get this hire right after missing on Seltzer and it looks like he did in a big way. It will be fun to watch how Padgett builds the Bulldogs; I just wish he had the Williams (Tim and Isaiah) and Raijon Kelly to help him in the near term.
3. Mike Young is still at Wofford: Young was mentioned as a finalist for the College of Charleston job in late August, but opted to stay at Wofford. The well-respected veteran coach has built a small dynasty in Spartanburg the past 5 years winning the conference tournament and participating in the NCAA Tournament three times.
This will be Coach Young’s 26th year at Wofford (13th as head coach) earning him the title of the longest tenured coach in the league. While it’s surprising that he has not been poached by a school from a power conference, he is the perfect fit for Wofford and a big reason the Terriers enter this season as the prohibitive favorites to repeat as conference champions.
4. Full Round Robin conference slate: For the first time in 21 years, the Southern Conference will play a full double-round robin schedule. That is, everyone will play each member home and away for a total of 18 league games. If there was a silver lining in realignment, it’s that we can say good bye to an unbalanced conference schedule and have a true regular season champion by the time we hit Asheville. There aren’t many Division I conferences that can say that these days. No more griping by coaches or fans that someone is not deserving of a particular seed in the post-season tournament. And, we will also have just one regular season champion, not two divisional winners!
5. Transfers and other departures: There was plenty of movement during the spring that needs to be pointed out. At Samford, All-SoCon forward Tim Williams and All-freshman guard Isaiah Williams departed making life a bit tougher for new head coach Scott Padgett. Sharp-shooting Connor Miller also transferred. Gee McGhee averaged 10 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for Chattanooga, but decided to transfer to Murray State. The Mocs do have talent that can ease the loss. Kyle Cain left UNCG to pursue a professional career and is currently playing in Israel. The hard working forward made an impact in his only year in Greensboro and will be missed. The Spartans did get some much needed good news when freshman Tevon Saddler, who had announced that he was transferring, decided to return for his sophomore season. Adonis Rwabigwi left Furman in June. The 6’8” native of Rwanda, made 20 starts as a freshman last season. Finally, Matt Van Scyoc left The Citadel. He averaged 14.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 2013-14 for the Bulldogs.
Unfortunately, changing schools has become a way of life in college basketball. With over 675 transfers in Division I since last season, no program (or conference) is immune and it’s tough when players decide to go elsewhere. But that opens the door of opportunity for the next generation of players in this league and it will be fun to watch who the next star in the Southern Conference becomes.
Next week: Part II, Power Rankings and Five Questions that Need to Be Answered