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
 
I. Inside SoCon Hoops

The college basketball season is underway but not without plenty of starts and stops. Games are being added and deleted at break-neck speed. Unfortunately, everyone associated with college hoops will need to have patience as games have been and are going to continue to be postponed, rescheduled and cancelled during this unprecedented season.
 
I’ve heard the national media placing blame with the NCAA and Dan Gavitt, the Senior Vice President of Basketball for not starting the season later. I don’t know Gavitt, but he’s not at fault for the pandemic nor for games being cancelled. While the NCAA is the governing body, there are 33 Division I conferences. The Ivy League chose not to participate in winter sports; thus, the other 32 conferences are playing men’s basketball and very few (if any) have the same protocols and guidelines. Some of this has to do with dealing with public and private institutions, as well as needing to navigate different state executive orders. If a school wants to shut things down, it has every right. Duke cancelled the remainder of its nonconference schedule on Dec. 9. Let’s also not forget, colleges are attempting to keep some normality for the student-athletes (while doing what they can from a safety standpoint), but make no mistake, this is about getting to the NCAA tournament. There is too much as stake and March Madness must go off this spring or the course of many athletic departments could change forever.
 
While SoCon teams have been able to get games in since the Nov. 25 start date, Saturday, Dec. 5, was really the first day that I thought the league flexed its muscles as Furman won at the College of Charleston, Chattanooga beat Northern Kentucky and Samford went to Belmont and sprung the upset. Prior to that, UNCG had a good win over Little Rock, but lost an opportunity against Louisville when that game was cancelled. Mercer is really the only league member that has had multiple quality wins as Greg Gary’s group won at Georgia Tech and then later beat Georgia State at Hawkins Arena and pulled out a thriller at Georgia Southern. The Bears are no longer in hibernation!
 
Entering play Dec. 16, SoCon teams have won over 72 percent of games thus far this season. While there are several non-D-I games included in that record (20 of 59 games), it’s great to see the league is taking care of business. I just wish there were more Division I games being played, but I understand that SoCon coaches are simply trying to play. Teams have about 10 days to capture key wins to increase individual and conference NET rankings.
 
Three teams could enter 2021 undefeated. Regardless of the opponents, that would be a terrific feat based on the current environment. But as we all know, preparing for and winning the conference tournament is what’s most important. It’s my opinion that league play will be very competitive, but with potential starts and stops it’s anyone’s guess at this point how things will play out.


II. Did You Know?

- UNCG center Hayden Koval is among the nation’s leaders in blocked shots at over 3 per game. That’s impressive.

- As you may have heard, back in mid-November, the NCAA announced it was relocating 13 sites around the country scheduled to host preliminary rounds of the 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship to a single geographic area due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

- The governing body is in “preliminary talks” with Indiana and the city of Indianapolis to host the 68-team March Madness tournament during dates in March and April. Indianapolis was already set to host the Final Four from April 3-5.

- Early round matchups were previously set to take place in Idaho, Texas, Michigan, Rhode Island, Kentucky, North Carolina, California, Kansas, Colorado, Minnesota, New York and Tennessee. 

- The new plan is intended to limit travel and provide a safe and controlled environment for practice and game venues, medical resources and lodging for teams and officials.

- A hardcover book detailing the history of the Southern Conference and written by former Commissioner John Iamarino is available for purchase. “A Proud Athletic History: 100 Years of the Southern Conference” can be purchased at SoConSports.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Mercer University Press and other retailers. The book includes more than 200 pages of history, stories and photos chronicling the league's first century of athletic and academic excellence. Iamarino was the eighth commissioner of the Southern Conference from 2006-19.
 

III. 6 Observations Thus Far

1. The Mercer Bears are for real! Ross Cummings is healthy. Equally, transfers Neftali Alverez, Felipe Haase and Leon Ayers III are as good as advertised.

2. Furman coach Bob Richey’s group is also very good. The Paladins are currently No. 3 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.

3. Samford’s win at Belmont was a terrific win for the league and Bucky McMillian and staff as they build the program in Birmingham. They also played very well at Georgia.

4. ETSU AD Scott Carter announced that ETSU in partnership with Pepsi will provide complimentary ESPN+ accounts for Buccaneer men’s and women’s basketball season ticket holders that are not able to attend home games. Good for them!

5. It’s been difficult to use stats thus far as there is such a discrepancy in the number of games teams have played as well as the competition to date. I don’t think we will really see individual and team stats that matter until the conference season kicks in.

6. I guess coaches don’t like wearing masks with a suit. Most coaches I’ve seen are now in casual pants, polos, sweaters, but not suits.

IV. Graduation Rates

The Southern Conference exceled in the NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) scores released back on Nov. 17. Seven of 10 men’s basketball programs met or exceed the average.
 
Developed by the NCAA as part of its academic reform initiative, the GSR is used to assess the academic success of student-athletes. The GSR measures graduation rates at Division I institutions and includes students transferring into the institutions. The GSR also allows schools to subtract student-athletes who leave their institutions prior to graduation as long as they would have been academically eligible to compete had they remained.


V. Scheduling

Scheduling for SoCon team has always been always been difficult, but this season has been something beyond anything a coach or athletic administrator could have ever imagined. The on-the-fly realities will continue to define this college basketball season.
 
What I dislike is that non-Division I opponents are filling a good bit of the schedules of Southern Conference teams. I get it as coaches need games, but to date a third of all games have been non-Division I. When Furman lost the Richmond game, they quickly pivoted and got the College of Charleston, which is a great move – and was a good win!
 
Simply put, the players will need to remain flexible and relish every game not knowing when they may play again.


VI. New Year’s Resolutions
 
It’s hard to believe, but 2021 is just two weeks away. With that, our annual New Year’s Resolution list is back. I think I have found some pretty realistic goals for each program as we enter the New Year:
 
The Citadel – Keep shooting it with confidence. The Bulldogs are currently 5-0 and while they have only played one Division I school, they have a chance to get to 7-0 as games against Longwood and Presbyterian are on the schedule prior to league play. They are shooting 43 percent from 3-point range!
 
ETSU – Remember they are still the hunted. Even with all the change (new coach, several new players), the Bucs are still the hunted – both in conference and out of conference. Jason Shay needs to keep reminding his team of this, especially in the early going.
 
Furman – Continue following the lead of coach Bob Richey and staff. The Paladins are good – really good. They have all the ingredients for success. They have talent, depth, coaching and great chemistry. They simply need to keep playing team ball.
 
Mercer – Don’t change a thing! Greg Gary and staff have done a terrific job adding talent and developing those within the program. They are playing better than any SoCon team right now.
 
UNCG – Put their record aside. This Spartans team is really good. There are good players in this program and the Spartans are well-coached. They will be fine. They just need to concentrate on playing well and not worry about records.
 
Samford – Stay focused on the process! First-year coach Bucky McMillian has the Bulldogs playing well. Equally, he is creating his culture and a style of play that he wants to employ. There is enough talent in the program that they could very well be a factor in the league race this season
 
Chattanooga – Continue to blend the old with the new. Fourth-year coach Lamont Paris continues to put things together, but it’s with a combination of returning players and transfers. Stefan Kenic leads the returning core while grad transfer Josh Ayeni and Malachi Smith have been good newcomers (transfers) in the early going.
 
VMI – Patience. I know that’s hard as a coach, player and fan, but the Keydets have played some good basketball at times this season; they just need to continue to have patience as this group jells.
 
Western Carolina – Continued confidence. The Catamounts are a confident bunch and rightfully so. Mason Faulkner is playing at an all-conference level and the supporting cast (Xavier Cork, Matt Halvorsen, Tyler Harris) is pretty good as well.
 
Wofford – Understand that it’s going to be a bit of a process. The Terriers have lost a lot over the past few years, but they still have lots of talent. They will be just fine if they understand it may take some time to find their way to the top of the league. They can play with anyone in the Southern Conference – close loses to Richmond and South Florida have proved that!
 
 
We will start the SoCon Ladder as well as talk about happenings in the Southern Conference and college basketball in our next edition of “The Dean’s List” on Jan. 6, 2021. Happy Holidays to all. Be safe.
 
Follow me on Twitter: @DeanKeener1