ETSU

Southern Conference Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:38:50 -0500

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Conference Rank: 17th

10 year average: 19th

All-Southern Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Stephen Curry	Davidson	Jr
G	Donald Sims	Appalachian St	So
G	Tony White	Charleston	Jr
F	Nicchaeus Doaks	Chattanooga	Sr
F	Jermaine Johnson	Charleston	Sr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
CHN All-Americans Stephen Curry Mid-Major All-Americans Stephen Curry* *Mid-Major POY		Points: Stephen Curry 25.1 Rebounds: Jermaine Johnson 8.5 Assists: Cameron Wells (Citadel) 3.8

Southern Conference Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

40	Davidson	Southern	1	NCAA
116	Appalachian St	Southern	2
141	Charleston	Southern	3
169	Chattanooga	Southern	4
205	Georgia Southern	Southern	5
216	UNC Greensboro	Southern	6
239	Furman	Southern	7
269	Elon	Southern	8
278	Wofford	Southern	9
292	Samford	Southern	10
293	Western Carolina	Southern	11
324	Citadel	Southern	12

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the SoCo? (soon)

Other Southern Content

Conference Media/Coaches Poll

Other

Rise & Fall: Patriot

Top SG's: Stephen Curry

Top Non-BCS Players: Stephen Curry

State of '08: Tennessee

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:22:22 -0400

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Duke or Carolina? BC or UMASS? Gonzaga or Washington.. or Washington State? What is the best program in each state? While there's not much competition in Hawaii.. there are great debates to be had in loaded regions like California, North Carolina, and Texas. The State of '08 is a ranking of every program in every state.. based mostly on recent success (the last five years) mixed in with subjective factors such as conference prestige, historical success, and overall program direction.

For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

TENNESSEE

MEMPHIS - Whatever blueprint John Calipari follows seems to work. In his eighth year at Memphis, the Tigers advanced to the National Title game after making back to back Elite Eights. At UMASS, it also took eight years for him to reach the Final Four.

TENNESSEE - The Vols are in the midst of a good run under Bruce Pearl, three NCAA Tournaments in a row including back to back Sweet Sixteen trips. Before Pearl arrived, Tennessee hadn't made the Tourney in five years.

VANDERBILT - Vandy has been a consistent winner the last five seasons under Kevin Stallings. There's been four 20-win seasons, 5 postseason trips, and a pair of Sweet Sixteen runs. After winning 26 games last year (the 2nd best in school history), the team's first round loss to Siena was a bit of a downer.

BELMONT - Long-time coach Rick Byrd is suddenly the leader of a mid-major power. Belmont has made three NCAA Tournaments in a row, and is once agan favored to win the Atlantic Sun in 08-09.

AUSTIN PEAY - Dave Loos is nearing 20 years at APSU, a time in which the Govs have consistently been one of the top teams in the OVC. In the last decade, there hasn't even been a sub-.500 finish in conference play. In the last six years, they've made 2 NCAA trips and one NIT.

6. MIDDLE TENNESSEE - Before Kermit Davis took over in 2002, MTSU was coming off a brutal season that included just 4 D1 wins. While Davis hasn't led the Blue Raiders to the Big Dance, the program has made amazing strides under his leadership. Last year, the team advanced to the Sun Belt finals, and many feel they are that league's team to beat in '09.

7. CHATTANOOGA - Just as Davidson is the current Southern Conference darling, Chattanooga was once the league's team to beat. The last decade has been a bit more pedestrian however, with just a lone tourney trip in 2005, though the team came close in '03 & '04 as well. The last few teams have been mediocre, with win totals boosted by playing an oddly high amount of D2 teams.

8. EAST TENNESSEE STATE - With the exception of a horrible 2005 campaign, ETSU has been one of the A-Sun's most consistent winners. In 2004, the Bucs won the league title, in 2007 they dominated the regular season before falling to Belmont in the finals, and they were solid once again in 2008.

9. TENNESSEE TECH - The Golden Eagles haven't won their conference tournament in over 40 years, but they've come close in the last decade. From 2000-2003, Tech was one of the best teams in the OVC but they couldn't get over the postseason hump. The last five years have been up and down however, and this year could be one of the downers.

10. LIPSCOMB - From 2002 to 2004, this was one of the country's worst program. But after those initial growing pains, this young program has made nice progress in the A-Sun. 2006 was the program's best season with 21 wins, a 143 RPI, and a close loss to Belmont in the conference title game. This year, expectations are a bit muted.

11. TENNESSEE STATE - In the early part of the decade, Tennessee State was one of the country's worst programs. But a lot of progress has been made, and last year was the first time in a decade that the Tigers won an OVC Tournament game. Not only did TSU win one game, but they made it to the conference championship.

12. TENNESSEE-MARTIN - Over the last 20 years, UTM has hovered between bad and worse, with only 2 winning seasons in that period. But last year was surprisingly mediocre with a 15-16 D1 record and 11-9 OVC finish. Now, there's suddenly high expectations for the first time, and some publications are projecting a league title.

* Note: An unfinished version of this article, with the wrong ranking (Lipscomb in 12th) was originally posted, but it has since been corrected.

Last: South Carolina - Next: Texas

State of '08: The Introduction (& State list/links)

Three Stars of the Day: Reed, Harris, Taylor

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 10:28:12 -0500

Three Stars of The Day

We handpick the best performances of the day, whether it be stat lines that make you drool, or clutch performances. Either way, its our way of showing the love:

Andrew Reed - ETSU

The best game of his four-year career, 24 points and 12 rebounds, helped the Bucs beat Appalachian State

Paul Harris - Syracuse

The sophomore set season highs in points (19) and rebounds (15) as the Cuse beat Northeastern

Carlos Taylor - Montana State

Hit the game-winning shot with 4 seconds to go as the Bobcats beat Oregon State in Corvallis

Other Top Performers

Josh Alexander - SFA - Hit five threes, all in the second half, as the Lumberjacks improved to 11-1 with a win over SMU

Divaldo Mbunga - Montana State - Taylor hit the final blow, but Mbunga led all scorers with 23 points and added 6 rebounds

Barry Stewart - Mississippi State - Led the Bulldogs with 24, and added 7 assists against Missouri

Previous Stars of the Day

December 29th - Brian Roberts, Dayton

December 22nd - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis

December 21st - Andrew Brown, Lafayette

December 20th - Levance Fields, Pittsburgh

December 19th - Jordan Hill, Arizona

December 18th - Tim Pollitz, Miami (OH)

December 17th - Darnell Dials, Eastern Kentucky

December 16th - Ty Lawson, UNC

December 15th - Demetric Bennett, South Alabama

December 13th - Jack McClinton, Miami

December 12th - Lee Cummard, BYU

December 11th - Bryan Mullins, SIU

December 10th - Ben Nwachukwu, Columbia

December 9th - Dane Watts, Creighton

December 5th - Drew Lavender, Xavier

December 4th - Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

December 3rd - DJ White, Indiana

December 2nd - Jerryd Bayless, Arizona

December 1st - George Hill, IUPUI

November 30th - Craig Brackins - Iowa State

November 29th - Ryan Anderson, California

November 28th - James Powell, UCSB

November 27th - Stephen Curry, Davidson

November 26th - Michael Bramos, Miami (OH)

November 22nd - Michael Beasley, Kansas State

November 21st - Kyle Singler, Duke

November 20th - Patty Mills, Saint Mary's

November 19th - Matt Causey, Georgia Tech

November 18th - Daniel Hackett, USC

November 17th - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis

November 16th - JJ Hickson, NC State

November 15th - Jon Brockman, Washington

Top 144 Previews | 2007-08 Preview & Awards | Interviews | Discuss the Preview

Southern Conference Coaches Poll

Press Release — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 07:33:12 -0400

Southern Conference Coaches Predicted Order of Finish
(Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams)

North Division
Team (First Place Votes) Total Votes
UNC Greensboro (10) 60
Appalachian State (1) 47
Western Carolina 42
Chattanooga 35
Elon 26

South Division
Team (First Place Votes) Total Votes
Davidson (10) 60
Georgia Southern 48
College of Charleston (1) 43
Wofford 35
Furman 24
The Citadel 15
First place votes in parentheses.

Preseason Coaches All-SoCon Team
Stephen Curry (Davidson)
Kyle Hines (UNC Greensboro)
Nick Aldridge (Western Carolina)
Louis Graham (Georgia Southern)
Jason Richards (Davidson)
Donte Minter (Appalachian State)
Jermaine Johnson (College of Charleston)
Thomas Sander (Davidson)
Shane Nichols (Wofford)
Drew Gibson (Wofford)

Davidson's Stephen Curry was voted preseason Player of the Year.

Daily Dribble: 12/02

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 11:38:11 -0500

Today's a big day.. college basketball reaches the national airwaves as Kentucky heads to North Carolina on CBS. Will be interesting to see how the Heels follow up their big win over Ohio State. The game I'm really looking forward to is Gonzaga vs Texas on ESPN. These are two of the most intriguing teams, due to youth and style of play. I love star power and its fun to watch Kevin Durant (22 & 10) improve on a day by day basis. North Dakota State got some big time pub last year when they upset Wisconsin in Madison. Though 4 of last year's wins were over non-D1 teams, the Bison's 16 overall wins was very impressive for a first time independent. This year, the team is off to another solid 4-2 start, and one of those losses was by just 4 points at Texas Tech. What's amazing is that outside of senior Andre Smith, no one else on the roster is older than a sophomore. Its too bad this team isnt affiliated with a conference this year, because they could do some serious damage in a league like the Big Sky or the Mid-Con. Towson's Gary Neal was a big story last year as the La Salle transfer lit up the CAA averaging 26 ppg once becoming eligible. Neal has been a bit more inconsistent this season, though he poured in 29 in last night's Tigers win over Vermont. He also had one of the season's first 40 point efforts when he lit up Samford for 41 in mid-Novemeber. Mixed in though, Neal does have 3 for 13 and 2 for 16 clunkers. Towson's 4-3 now and though they'll probably upset an upper-level CAA team or two, this is still a middle to bottom of the pack team in conference play. Navy's off to a surprising 6-2 start. Last year, the Midshippmen did win 10 games, but they were worse than their record suggests. 2 of those wins were against non-D1 schools, 1 was against independent Longwood, and 2 were against bad MEAC teams. This year's wins have been of better quality, and they were competitive in a 70-61 loss at Villanova. Junior Greg Spink, averaging 18 points per game, is one of the best players in the Patriot League. The assists leaderboard features some surprising names. At the top, Marist's Jared Jordan is no surprise, as he was #1 in this category last season. Mustafa Shakur at #2 is a big surprise. The Arizona point guard had never averaged over 4.7 apg despite playing 30 mpg the past three years. Thanks to a higher tempo offense, the addition of Budinger, and the return of Mclellan, Shakur is pouring in 8.4 assists per game. #3 in the country is freshman Ishmael Smith of Wake Forest. The Deacons really struggled at the point last year as Justin Gray wasn't suited for the job. Smith has been a major reason why Wake has started 5-1, averaging 12 points and 7.8 assists per game. Smith isn't the only freshman putting up impressive assist totals. Not surprising to see Mike Conley (6.6 per game) and DJ Augustin (7.2 per game) doing the job for Ohio State and Texas respectively. More surprising is ETSU's Dequan Tilley. Tilley's struggled to hit shots of any kind (6 of 22 from the floor, and 2 of 5 from the free throw line), but he is adding 7.8 assists per the Bucs first four games. He's helped the Bucs deal with the loss of everyone's favorite little sparkplug, star Tim Smith.