Note: The following piece 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 20-year coaching career. He served as head coach at James Madison from 2004-08. You can follow him on Twitter: @DeanKeener1
The Dean’s List
Jan. 24, 2018
I. Inside the SoCon
With league play closing in on the halfway mark, we’re seeing that the regular season-title will go through Johnson City, Tennessee. The ETSU Bucs have been perfect thus far. After beating Western Carolina at home in front of over 5,400 fans, their balance and ability to defend are becoming very clear. There are still a lot of games to play and Wofford, UNCG, Furman and even Mercer have the ability to beat the Bucs, but it will take a total team effort.
Even with ETSU leading the way, it will be interesting to see how things play out. Unfortunately, injuries to key players continue to hurt teams and the league in general. No less than four potential first-team all-league players have missed time, including Mercer’s Ria’n Holland, Furman’s Devin Sibley and Samford’s Wyatt Walker and Christen Cunningham. But even with that, it’s exciting to know that Southern Conference basketball is alive and well.
II. Did You Know
• Larry Hunter is in his 47th year of college coaching and his 38th as a head coach. In fact, Coach Hunter was named Division III Coach of the Year in his first year as a head coach when he led Wittenberg (Ohio) to a national championship! Funny thing is, Wes Miller (UNCG) and Bob Richey (Furman) were still six years from being born!
• Bob Hoffman recently got win 500 as a head coach. Larry Hunter needs just three more wins to reach 700 for his career! Congrats to two terrific coaches
• Four SoCon teams appear in this week’s CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, which is the most for any conference in the poll
• With 34 league games in the books so far, just 15 have been decided by single digits. The other 19 games were decided by an average of almost 21 points per game
• All 10 SoCon teams are .500 or better at home for the season
• ETSU’s win streak of 10 in a row is tied for the third-longest in the nation
• Western Carolina has only played six home games (out of 19) this season. By far the fewest of any team in the league
• Fletcher Magee is currently fourth in Division I in 3-point field goal percentage and second in free-throw percentage
III. Scheduling – Is it Art or Science?
For a head coach, where do you start? Recruiting, creating a system of play, developing a positive culture, player development, and having the ability to work with the media as well as boosters. The list of duties at which a head coach needs to be competent goes on and on. But besides recruiting, scheduling is absolutely the critical component of keeping your job. If a program has players and schedules correctly, chances are the staff will keep their jobs or be able to move to the next one.
That said, scheduling is difficult. And it’s different for every team in every season. A coach must be able to put together a schedule that fits his team from year-to-year. For Southern Conference schools, it varies from taking over a program and simply needing a manageable schedule to the need to raise money for the athletic department (playing “buy” games) to attempting to fill out a home schedule with a certain number of games to satisfy the AD and fan base.
Southern Conference coaches and ADs did a nice job this season, save a few too many non- Division I games, when they put together their schedules. Across the board, members played outstanding schedules. Everyone is playing at least 14 home games with many having 16! Equally important, SoCon teams have played competitive schedules to help boast the league RPI to the mid-teens. The league captured three ACC wins and had a good showing against peer conferences.
IV. Scheduling – Part II
The NCAA allows teams to schedule 29 regular-season games if there’s no tournament or 27 games plus an exempt tournament that can include no more than four games. With Power 5 conferences moving toward 20 conference games, there could be a trickle-down effect.
As part of its agreement with ESPN on the new ACC Network, the ACC will move to a 20-game league schedule for the 2019-20 basketball season. ACC teams currently play an 18-game conference schedule. Increasing the number of conference games will provide more content for the new ACC Network. The move to a 20-game schedule coincides with the launch of the ACC Network in 2019. The Big Ten has already moved to 20 conference games. So here is why I think this could impact Southern Conference schools.
As an example, if Clemson plays in an exempt tournament, that only leaves seven games to schedule. Assuming they are in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and continue their rivalry game with South Carolina, that only leaves additional five games to schedule. Like most ACC schools, Clemson will want many of those open dates, if not all of them at home.
So how does this effect the SoCon? It’s going to become increasingly harder for SoCon teams to get these schools at home, and that’s sad. How much fun were the USC and Georgia Tech games at Wofford this season? To further complicate matters, many Southern Conference schools need to play “guarantee” or “buy” games. That is, they need to go to a Power 5 school for a one-time game and receive as much as $100,000. This money helps athletic departments’ bottom line.
If a Power 5 team only has a handful of games to schedule and is looking at “buying” a few to start the season, my guess is they will do it with lower-level schools/conferences, thus SoCon schools will lose out on the money and the opportunity to beat a Power 5.
This doesn’t even mention how Southern Conference coaches use the scheduling of a few ACC, SEC and Big Ten games in recruiting. Recruits are sold on the opportunity to play some of these high-major schools.
This new thinking may require Southern Conference teams to schedule more “mid-major” teams during the nonconference season. No doubt, this will be an interesting challenge for SoCon coaches in the coming seasons. This is definitely something to watch at a school near you.
V. SoCon Ladder
This is becoming very difficult as things continue to be refined on a weekly basis. ETSU is the one constant as the Bucs are riding high and look to be the team to beat. No doubt, this ladder could look different in early February, but for now here are the selections as of Jan. 24:
- ETSU – The Bucs continue playing outstanding team basketball with seven players averaging between 7.1 and 14.0 ppg. They are riding a 10-game winning streak (and have won 14 of last 15) and look like the team to beat as we close in on the halfway mark of conference play
- UNCG – You have to like everything about the Spartans. They are defending much better this season and winning close games (5-1 in games decided by five points or fewer). They will be at or near the top of the ladder all season. This is a team that can challenge ETSU
- Wofford – The Terriers have won six in a row and are capable of beating anyone in the league. Do not sleep on this group – Fletcher Magee is the star, but they are far more than a one-man show
- Furman – It’s obvious that the Paladins will be near the top all season. After back-to-back loses, they had just five turnovers in their win over Samford last weekend. This speaks to their veteran play and skill level. But the injury to Devin Sibley obviously hurts
- Mercer – The Bears started 0-3, but then got to .500 only to lose a heartbreaker at UNCG last Saturday. Ria’n Holland (hand) is out, but they just need to hang tough and keep fighting. This group has enough firepower to make some real noise
- Samford – Even through the injuries, Scott Padgett has continued to keep this group focused. Except for a blowout at Mercer, the Bulldogs have been good
- Western Carolina – This group is young, but solid. I firmly believe they will be in the top six (receiving a bye) come tournament time. But to get there, they would be well-advised to start shooting a bit better from the field
- VMI – The Keydets schedule was unkind as they opened league play against all the top teams. They have continued to fight and won a big rivalry game last Saturday when they beat The Citadel at home. After hosting Wofford on Jan. 24, six of their next eight are on the road. That’s not good for anyone in conference play, but you know they will play hard and be a problem for every opponent
- The Citadel – In the midst of a three-game road swing, things have been tough. But they come home for three straight starting Jan. 29, only to get ETSU, Wofford and Furman in that order. Can you say “brutal?”
- Chattanooga – A limited roster and injuries have decimated the Mocs roster. But Lamont Paris is the real deal and is getting the most out of this group. No way this is the 10th-ranked team in the Southern Conference, but they will be slotted here until they can pull off a few wins
Until the next “Dean’s List” on Feb. 7, follow me on Twitter: @DeanKeener1