Mercer

Poll: This Year's Surprise Team So Far?

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:28:17 -0500

Atlantic Sun Basketball Preview: 08-09

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:11:48 -0500

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Conference Rank: 28th

10 year average: 25th

All-ATLANTIC SUN Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	James Florence	Mercer	Jr
G	Courntey Pigram	ETSU	Sr
G/F	Shane Dansby	Belmont	Sr
F	Marcus Allen	Jacksonville	Sr
F	Jonathan Rodriguez	Campbell	Jr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
Mid-Major All-Americans Courtney Pigram Jonathan Rodriguez		Points: Jonathan Rodriguez 20.9 Rebounds: Jonathan Rodriguez 10.1 Assists: Rob Quaintaince (FGCU) 5.3

ATLANTIC SUN Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

109	Belmont* **	Asun	1	NCAA
156	Stetson	Asun	2
176	Jacksonville	Asun	3
227	East Tennessee	Asun	4
248	Lipscomb	Asun	5
275	Mercer	Asun	6
296	Kennesaw St	Asun	7
302	Campbell	Asun	8
313	Florida Gulf Coast	Asun	9
320	USC Upstate	Asun	10
344	North Florida	Asun	11

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the Atlantic Sun?

Other ATLANTIC SUN Content

Conference Media Poll

Belmont Favored in A-Sun Media Poll

Interviews

Rick Byrd: Belmont Head Coach

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Rise & Fall: A-Sun

State of '08: Georgia

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 11:52:12 -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.

Up today: Georgia. For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

GEORGIA

GEORGIA TECH - After making the National title game in 2004, and being good again in 2005, Paul Hewitt was on the verge of entering the coaching stratosphere. But the past few seasons have been disappointing, and Tech should once again finish in the bottom half of the ACC. In Hewitt's eight seasons, the Jackets have never finished below 7-9 in ACC play.. and going 7-9 in the ACC is more impressive than winning most conference titles.

GEORGIA - The Bulldogs are coming off one of the more shocking seasons in NCAA history. After a completely sub-par season, which included a 4-12 SEC record, the team somehow managed to run through the SEC Tournament, knocking off 4 other postseason teams along the way. But don't be fooled by that March magic, Georgia still hasn't really recovered from the mess that Jim Harrick created, and 2008-09 should be similar to last year (at least in terms of the 4-12 SEC record..)

GEORGIA SOUTHERN - Although Georgia Southern hasn't made the NCAA Tournament since 1992, the program has been consistently solid in Jeff Price's 9-year tenure. In 2006, he guided the Eagles to the NIT, where they lost to Charlotte in the opening round. Last year was another solid campaign, which included 13 wins in the Southern Conference, and upset victories over highly touted UAB and Cleveland State.

GEORGIA STATE - The Panthers haven't had much success since making the move from the Atlantic Sun to the CAA. In three years in the more competitive league, GSU has hovered around the bottom of the standings and rarely been competitive against the better teams. But there was serious improvement last year, a win over George Mason, and a ton of close losses (including a one-point loss in the CAA tourney). 2008-09 could be Georgia State's best season since Lefty Driesell's imprint was still on the program.

MERCER - After an impressive 2003 campaign in which the Bears went 14-2 in the A-Sun, the program's fortunes have steadily gone down hill. Since that time, Mercer hasn't even won a game in the A-Sun tournament. Even worse, Mercer has finished behind D1 newcomer Kennesaw State each year since the Owls joined the A-Sun in 2006.

6. KENNESAW STATE - Considering the Owls are only entering their 4th full season of D1 basketball, the results haven't been half bad. They've finished 7-9 in the Atlantic Sun the past two seasons, and knocked off conference leader Belmont (a Top 100 team) in January. The next step for the program is to find a way to win some games away from home.

7. SAVANNAH STATE - From 2003 to 2006, this was simply the worst program in the country. I'm sure many fans remember the embarrassing 0-28 season of 2005. But there's been major improvement in the last two years including 10 D1 wins in 2008. Last year's RPI of 254 trumped in-state rivals Georgia State, Kennesaw State, and Mercer. I give Kennesaw the nod though due to their conference alignment, and because the Savannah State's horrible run isn't far enough in the past.

Last: Florida - Next: Illinois

State of '08: The Introduction

Coaching News: Brady in at Arkansas State & More

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 15:31:22 -0400

Multiple sources are reporting that Arkansas State has hired former LSU coach John Brady. Brady replaces Dickey Nutt, who resigned after 13 years leading the Indians. Brady was fired by LSU in the middle of the season, with the Tigers struggling to an 8-13 start. Known more for his recruiting prowess than in-game coaching skills, Brady did lead LSU to the Final Four just two years ago. There was some recent rumblings that Nolan Richardson, the long time Arkansas coach, would get the job.. but talks fell through. Out west, Idaho has fired George Pfeifer after two seasons and a 12-48 record. Those numbers might seem horrible, but the Vandals went 10-46 in the two prior seasons as well. This is not a job that many will be clamoring to fill.. Lastly, the Macon Telegraph reported today that former Missouri State head coach Barry Hinson was seen at Mercer, perhaps in-line for the vacant job.

Georgia Southern 61 - Mercer 59

Press Release — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 10:18:56 -0500

MACON, Ga. --- Junior Louis Graham (West Palm Beach, Fla.) scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half and Georgia Southern won at Mercer for the first time since 2000, holding on for a 61-59 victory over Mercer Monday evening at the University Center.

Graham notched his second double-double of the season by adding a career-high 17 rebounds. He also set new personal-bests with three assists and four steals, and had three blocks.

He was joined in double figures by senior Donte Gennie (Tallahassee, Fla.) who totaled 16 points. Junior Dwayne Foreman (Apopka, Fla.) added a game-high eight assists.

The Eagles tallied 15 steals as a team and forced 20 turnovers.

Mercer’s James Florence led all scorers with 19 points.

“Every time we come over here it’s (close),” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “The game’s important to both teams but they always get up to play us.”

Tied 29-29 at the half, GSU controlled the early going in the second half with a 10-4 run thanks to six from Graham and four from senior Jimmy Tobias (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.).

The Eagles’ largest lead after that point was only five, on one occasion. Mercer battled back and took the lead with 6:29 remaining after four straight from Brian Pfoal.

A subsequent 1:32 scoreless drought by both teams was broken by a ‘3’ from Gennie and a lay-in from Graham put GSU up by four, 55-51, with 3:56 remaining.

Mercer answered with baskets by Florence to knot the score again but two Graham lay-ups sandwiched around a Mercer free throw gave the Eagles a three-point lead.

The game was tied for the final time on a trey by Mercer’s Ross Alacqua with 58 seconds left. Both teams had a chance to take the lead on their next possession, but a miss by Florence gave Georgia Southern the ball with 16 seconds left. Gennie converted a tough shot with 14 seconds on the clock and a ‘3’ by Florence at the buzzer failed to draw rim.

“It was a close game but I’m proud of our guys for finding a way to win a defensive-type game,” said Price. “I left our upperclassmen in the last four minutes and said ‘It’s your game to win’ and we did.”

Graham and Gennie combined to score the team’s final 13 points of the contest, spanning the last 7:19. Prior to Gennie’s game-winning shot, Graham hit three-straight shots.

“I thought we had to get the ball inside because we were shooting so poorly and I thought Louis came up huge,” Price added. “He made some big baskets and some huge rebounds. We have to get it done in there if we’re not shooting from the perimeter, but it is a team thing and we have to find a way to make shots. We were getting open but we just weren’t knocking them down.”

Georgia Southern dominated the first four minutes and the last four minutes of the first half, but in between it was all Mercer.

The Eagles jumped out to a 9-2 lead behind four points from junior Ryan Hynes (Paso Robles, Calif.) and a ‘3’ from Gennie. Hynes started and finished the run with a lay-up.

The Bears took over from there, rallying with seven straight points to tie the contest, then following two Tobias free throws, reeled off nine more points for a 17-11 lead.

Lay-ups from Gennie and Graham cut the deficit to two, but a trifecta by Alacqua and a jumper from Shaddean Aaron gave the Bears their biggest lead of the game, 25-15.

GSU went to work on Mercer’s nine-point advantage (26-17), starting with a Gennie 3-pointer, then a thunderous dunk from sophomore Anthony Marshall (Lake Worth, Fla.) off an alley-oop pass from the hands of Foreman.

Mercer answered with a free throw, but a 7-0 run put the Eagles back on top, 29-27. Freshman Antoine Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) capped the rally with a rainbow ‘3’ from the right-wing.

“We have to find a way to score better and we did it in the first half out of our defense,” said Price. “We started pressing and the press really helped us get going offensively and get some easy baskets. We’re just missing so many open shots and that’s very unlike our team. We’ve always been a high-powered offensive team and we’re not making shots.”

The Eagles return to action Saturday, completing the home-and-home series with a road contest at Winston-Salem State. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m.

- GSU -