UNCG (2-11) @ Richmond (8-6)

When: Friday, December 30 4 pm
Where: Robbins Center (9,071)
TV: None

Richmond Athletics

UNCG Notes
Last Game: VCU (L 68-80) Recap
PPG: 64.2
RPG: 34.8
APG: 11.1
Leader Points: Trevis Simpson (15.4)
Leader Rebounds: Aaron Brackett (5.4)
Leader Assists: Kyle Randall (2.2)
FG %: 37.6
3 Pt %: 29.9
FT %: 61.6

Richmond Notes
Last Game: Liberty (W 77-61) Recap
PPG: 70.6
RPG: 30.0
APG: 12.0
Leader Points: Darrien Brothers (13.9)
Leader Rebounds: Darrius Garrett (6.4)
Leader Assists: Cedrick Lindsay (4.1)
FG %: 43.9
3 Pt %: 38.7
FT %: 75.7

Thoughts
The good news ... Richmond ranks almost at the very bottom of the NCAA in rebounding. UNCG has done very well in rebounding all season long. Hopefully this is one of the areas that the Spartans can take advantage of the Spiders. Also, teams have shot a little over 70% from the free throw line this season. While this has very little to do with either of today's participants, maybe UNCG can finally start to shoot well from the free throw line.

The bad news ... Richmond is a very good shooting team that doesn't turn the basketball over often. The Spartans haven't been a poor defensive team this season. However, the stats show the Spiders to be very good on the offensive end. UNCG will have to play with great focus to come away with a win.

Scanning the SoCon - Week 8

Scanning the SoCon - Week #8

1. Davidson
2. Charleston
3. Elon
4. Western Carolina
5. App State
6. Wofford
7. Furman
8. Ga Southern
9. Chattanooga
10. UNCG
11. Citadel
12. Samford

What is on your Wish List for your team this holiday season?

UNCGBasketballFan - My wish is for a better shooting performance night in and night out from the Spartans. UNCG hasn't been able to consistanly knock down shots most of the year. I feel like if UNCG averaged shooting 45% for the season instead on 37.5%, the record would look a lot better.

Rams Outlast UNCG

UNCG 68 - VCU 80

News & Record Recap
UNCG Athletics Recap
VCU Athletics Recap

Halftime: UNCG 34 - VCU 38

UNCG Stats
Leader Points: Trevis Simpson (20)
Leader Rebounds: David Williams (9)
Leader Assists: Derrell Armstrong (5)
Team FG: 26-65 (40.0%)
Team 3 Pt: 6-22 (27.3%)
Team FT: 10-15 (66.7%)
Rebounds: 31
Turnovers: 14

VCU Stats
Leader Points: Bradford Burgess (21)
Leader Rebounds: D.J. Haley (7)
Leader Assists: Rob Brandenberg (3)
Team FG: 27-48 (56.3%)
Team 3 Pt: 5-18 (27.8%)
Team FT: 21-26 (80.8%)
Rebounds: 30
Turnovers: 15

Thoughts:
UNCG again came out and took the fight to an opponent. However, the the story remains the same. UNCG took care of the ball really well for most of the game, with the exception of a four minute span. That span gave the Rams just enough breathing room to escape with a hard fought victory.

The good news is that the Spartans continue to have some of their best outings of the season. Unfortunately this good play is coming during a very difficult stretch of games. I still think that victories are coming for this team. They are playing too well to not start seeing the rewards for their hard work.

Virginia Commonwealth (8-3) @ UNCG (2-10)

When: Thursday, December 22 7 pm
Where: Greensboro Coliseum (7,617/23,500)
TV: ESPN3/Spartan All-Access

VCU Athletics

UNCG Notes
Last Game: @ Duke (L 63-90) Recap
PPG: 63.8
RPG: 35.1
APG: 10.9
Leader Points: Trevis Simpson (15.0)
Leader Rebounds: Aaron Brackett (5.5)
Leader Assists: Kyle Randall (2.3)
FG %: 37.4
3 Pt %: 30.2
FT %: 61.3

VCU Notes
Last Game: UAB (W 68-49) Recap
PPG: 68.2
RPG: 32.6
APG: 12.5
Leader Points: Bradford Burgess (14.3)
Leader Rebounds: Juvonte Reddic (6.4)
Leader Assists: Darius Theus (4.9)
FG %: 41.1
3 Pt %: 35.5
FT%: 72.8

Thoughts:
VCU shoots the ball well and rebounds well.The Rams are going to press after every made basket. It will be very important for UNCG to play sound defense and try to get out on the break often to try to back VCU off of its press. It will be important for UNCG to avoid some of the problems they had last Friday night by keeping the ball out of the corners in perfect trap position for VCU. Also, look for UNCG to attack VCU with a press of its own. UNCG and VCU are the only 2 teams this year to have 20+ steals in a game versus a D1 opponent.

UNCG has shown a lot more energy as of late when playing at home. Hopefully a sizable crowd can give UNCG a boost to pull off a big upset.

Go Spartans !!!

Duke Pulls Away From Spartans

UNCG 63 - #7 Duke 90

News & Record Recap
UNCG Athletics Recap
Duke Recap

Halftime: UNCG 34 - Duke 45

UNCG Stats
Leader Points: KyleRandal (12)
Leader Rebounds: Trevis Simpson (6)
Leader Assists: Korey Van Dussen (4)
Team FG: 24-59 (40.7%)
Team 3 pt: 4-13 (30.8%)
Team FT: 11-22 (50.0)
Rebounds: 27
Turnovers: 14

Duke Stats
Leader Points: Mason Plumlee (15)
Leader Rebounds: Ma. Plumlee, Mi. Plumlee (13)
Leader Assists: Cook, Rivers, Ma. Plumlee (2)
Team FG: 29-54 (53.7%)
Team 3Pt: 10-21 (47.6%)
Team FT: 22-32 (68.8%)
Rebounds: 46
Turnovers: 18

Thoughts:
Regardless of outcome, I really liked how UNCG played last night.I thought they caught Duke napping and came out as the aggressor. The team seemed push the ball up the court at every opportunity. It seem like UNCG players are having fun and playing very loose. It's a trend I hope continues.

Unfortunately, free throw shooting is still a problem with UNCG. The Spartans missed the front end of several first half 1-and-1 opportunities that could have really closed the gap. However, it's hard to get down on the guys for bringing that much energy to the floor of a top 10 opponent. I still think success is coming soon.

Scanning the SoCon - Week 7

Scanning the SoCon - Week #7

1. Charleston
2. Davidson
3. Elon
4. Western Carolina
5. Ga Southern
6. Wofford
7. App State
8. Chattanooga
9. Furman
10. UNCG
11. Citadel
12. Samford

What do you think about replacing a coach midseason, as UNCG just
did?

DavidsonCats- I hate to see a mid-season coaching switch. This one needed to happen. Several Spartan players were making idiotic statements in social media outlets, the team was stinking up on the court, and the fans were grumbling. Good luck to UNCG in their coaching search.

UNCG (2-9) @ #7 Duke (9-1)

When: Monday, December 19 7 pm
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314)
TV: FSN-South

Duke Athletics

Preseason Preview

UNCG Notes:
Last Game: East Carolina (L 62-71) Recap
PPG: 63.9
RPG: 35.8
APG: 10.6
Leader Points: Trevis Simpson (16.0)
Leader Rebounds: Aaron Brackett (5.7)
Leader Assists: Kyle Randall (2.3)
FG %: 37.2
3 Pt %: 30.1
FT %: 62.5

Duke Notes:
Last Game: Washington (W 86-80) Recap
PPG: 79.2
RPG: 33.7
APG: 12.7
Leader Points: Austin Rivers (15.8)
Leader Rebounds: Mason Plumlee (9.7)
Leader Assists: Seth Curry (3.3)
FG %: 49.7
3 Pt %: 40.9
FT %: 66.4

Pirates Storm back to Defeat UNCG

UNCG 62 - ECU 71

UNCG Athletics Recap
ECU Athletics Recap

Halftime: UNCG 26 - ECU 28

UNCG Sats
Leader Points: Trevis Simpson (24)
Leader Rebounds: Aaron Brackett (10)
Leader Assists: Aaron Brackett (3)
Team FG: 26-69 (37.7%)
Team 3 Pt: 5-24 (20.8%)
Team FT: 5-8 (62.5%)
Rebounds: 40
Turnovers: 18

ECU Stats
Leader Points: Miguel Paul (17)
Leader Rebounds: Darrius Morrow (13)
Leader Asists: Miguel Paul (4)
Team FG: 24-56 (42.9%)
Team 3 Pt: 5-19 (26.3%)
Team FT: 18-32 (56.3%)
Rebounds: 40
Turnovers: 14

Thoughts:
I really thought UNCG brought a lot of energy to the floor. ECU's press really hurt the Spartans. Coach Miller talked about it after the game. He said that they really hadn't prepared much for it, and it showed. However, the guys have had a rough week. Hopefully they can take plenty of "positives: away from this game.

ECU (4-4) @ UNCG (2-8)

When: Friday, December 16 7 pm
Where: Greensboro Coliseum (7,617, 23,500)
TV: None/Spartan All-Access

ECU Athletics

Preseason Preview

UNCG Notes:
Last Game: @ Florida State (L 60-75) Recap
PPG: 64.1
RPG: 35.4
APG: 11.0
Leader Points: Trevis Simpson (15.2)
Leader Rebounds: Aaron Brackett (5.3)
Leader Assists: Kyle Randall (2.4)
FG %: 37.1
3 Pt %: 31.2
FT %: 62.5

East Carolina Notes:
Last game: UMass (L 58-63) Recap
PPG: 70.4
RPG: 39.5
APG: 14.3
Leader Points: Miguel Paul (16.1)
Leader Rebounds: Robert Sampson (6.5)
Leader Assists: Miguel Paul (5.6)
FG %: 41.7
3 Pt %: 31.6
FT %: 62.9

MocsMania Q&A

I've been in contact with Jon over at MocsMania this week talking about the coaching move. We decided to do a little Q & A over on his site. Normally I would just link to it b/c I want him to get the site traffic. However, I think this one is important enough to post in it's entirety over here too.

BTW, still go over and check out Jon's site. Even though it's from a UTC perspective, he really pays attention to the entire SoCon. Lots of cool stuff there.

What do you think the breaking point was for Dement that caused him to be fired midseason?

I'm not sure if there was any one thing that brought this on now. Dement has spent the last two seasons on the hot seat. However, a widely accepted rumor has been that former AD Nelson Bobb gave Dement a contract extension right before he left. So the new AD has been forced to stick with him whether she believed in him or not. This year was the last year of that deal. I guess AD Kim Record decided she couldn't wait any longer. Fall recruiting hadn't went as well as hoped and I can only guess that this was a move to try to shore it up as quickly as possible.

Were you in favor of making the move now?

I think there are some advantages to making it now. First, if you think Miller is a possible candidate then this is a great time to see what he's got. Also, It may give UNCG something to sell to spring signees. I think it would be a good sales pitch for Miller to say, "I took a 2-8 team and finished 15-15. We're building momentum." Also, if Miller is obviously not ready, UNCG has just given itself a 3 month head start on other programs that will be making a change at the end of the year. They can already get in contact with possible candidates and, maybe have one in place much earlier in the process than other schools.

What do you think about Miller?

Honestly, I don't know enough about him to give this a good answer. He seems to have been born to be a coach. He was a walk-on at UNC (after being on scholarship at James Madison) that turned himself into a starting PG and team captain. So, you know he has some leadership qualities. He apparently has some very good prep school connections in the northeast and is credited with picking up current freshman Nick Paulos. So, he does have some upside. Plus, he's only 28. When you think about some of the rising stars in coaching right now (Brad Stevens, Shaka Smart, etc.) most got their first big break at around the same age. Not sure if Miller can be as successful as those guys here at UNCG. If the administration thinks he might have some of those guys in him, might as well give him a shot.

Are there any candidates out there to take the job long term? Is Miller the long term answer?

Well, here's where things get a little tricky. I don't think there are any other candidates. I think Miller has been the guy all along and will continue to be the guy beyond this year as far as the athletics department is concerned. There are wild flying rumors that several people that hold "clout" with the university are graduates of UNC and have been dreaming of a Tarheel running the show at UNCG. However, I wonder (if these rumors are true) will these people will be inclined to give increased financial support to the program. That is something G is sorely needing right now. If this is happening this simply to get a home game with UNC at the Greensboro Coliseum, then I am beyond outraged.

However in the fictitious world where an actual search takes place after this season, three names absolutely scream at me as possible coaching candidates. One is former WFU and South Carolina HC (and Greensboro resident) Dave Odom. I have no idea if he'd be interested based on desire to coach again or based on extreme budget restrictions that come with the job. However, he's spotted quite frequently at our games and maybe the success of other big name coaches (Bobby Cremins, Cliff Ellis) at other mid-major jobs might entice him. Who knows? I think there has to be a phone call made to him.

The second person has to be former Charlotte HC Bobby Lutz. He is currently having a successful stint as an assistant coach at NC State. I've heard that he is making more money at that position than I think we will be offering for our HC spot. So, if money is his issue then we have no shot. If he wants to move back to the big chair, then he might be willing to listen. Plus, he's a NC native. Again, I think it's a call that needs to be made.

My final suggestion is completely off the grid. However, geographically and financially it would make sense. I think that local Guilford College coach Tom Palombo would be a great choice. He's coached Guilford to 4 straight DIII NCAA tournaments (including back-to-back final fours). He's coached 2 of the last 4 DIII National players of the year and has a 104-19 coaching record the last 4 years. His team this year is already 7-2 (one loss to Davidson). The question is can he recruit to the D1 level. Also, is he comfortable staying at that level or does he have the ambition to move up to a bigger challenge. I've seen his teams play and I think he could definitely be a coaching star.

What about the defection of Cody Henegar? Why do you think he left the team?

I haven't heard a lot about this except that he was unhappy with his role on the team. I've heard he had some defensive limitations that kept him from seeing a lot of playing time. Not sure about the truth to that, though. Cody seemed to have a nice "face the basket" game and would have probably figured heavily into the rotation next year. So, I hate to see him go. I absolutely expect there to be at least another defection or two before the dust settles. And maybe that is a good thing. Whatever was going on up until now wasn't working at all. Something had to change. So, if some guys feel like they need to be other places to succeed, then so be it. I wish Cody and who ever else leaves good luck.

How do you think the Spartans will respond to all this? Let's face it. They've been a wreck, between the blowout loss to UNC-A&T, and the Twitter crisis, and now this. Do they have anything left in the tank to make a run in the SoCon and go from 0-3 in league play into contention for a bye from the North?

Its hard to imagine things can get much worse. I mean, with the way they've treated their fans, I guess the team could just jump into the crowd and start randomly punching people like they were in NBA. But that's getting off point. I think we've already started to see a much better UNCG team. Ever since Drew Parker was inserted into the starting lineup at PG, the team has played much better. I'm not sure how the coaching change is going to play with the team now. I think there are at least one or two of the guys that had mentally given up on Dement. Maybe a new message will cause them to bring a different attitude to the court. I may be wrong, but I think UNCG can realistically go 10-10 over it's last remaining games this season. And that would be a very successful run for coach Miller.

"I Picked a Hellava Day to Quit Drinking"

Okay. So, it's no secret (based on my last post) that I have been pissed about some things surrounding the UNCG basketball program. So, I decided to act like a 8 year old and take my blog and go home. But I really enjoy doing this blog. Mostly because I love to talk about UNCG basketball and no one in my house wants to hear me do it out loud. So, I have been quietly working on some new ideas. Ideas like not doing games stories, but instead doing a lot of opinion pieces about all different types of topics.

However, this afternoon's news about Mike Dement has caused me to have to change course. So, I will have a bunch of new posts coming soon about a ton of different things. One will certainly be about this coaching move. While I think there were some real reasons to make this move now, I hate to see Dement not succeed with UNCG. So, I will take this little space here to wish him success where ever he ends up and thank him for his time and effort. Also, good luck to interim coach Wes Miller.

One more thing ... thanks for all of the emails and comments. While I don't like to let other's opinions or thoughts motivate me, getting great feedback has certainly been nice. So thanks. And ... if you don't like reading my site or things that are said on the message board, then don't fucking read it and stop whining about it.

Dement out as UNCG Coach

Mike Dement and UNCG have parted ways. According to this press release from the UNCG athletics department, Wes Miller will take over as interim Head Coach. The release points out that a national search for a men's coach will be conducted.

Also, it appears Sophomore forward Cody Henegar has left the team. I don't have a link to any article stating this information. But I've had it told to me from a couple of places. So, I feel comfortable writing it. I know nothing in the way of what happened to cause him to leave. If I find something, I'll let you know.

Open Letter

I am writing this as simply an open letter to all followers of the blog.

I graduated high school in 1997 and went off to college at NC State. I spent a year there studying engineering. While there, I attended almost every basketball game in historic Reynolds Coliseum. The atmosphere was always electric. I did some of the camp outs to get good student seats and went to games early just to get to stand on the bleachers behind the team benches. I even stood out in sleet one afternoon for a couple of hours to get tickets to the postseason NIT games.

At the end of that freshman year, I had come to the realization that NC State wasn't the right university for me. Don't mistake this for me failing out. I had very good grades. I just didn't like the class sizes and didn't enjoy the professors. It wasn't a good fit and it was time for a change.

That fall I transferred to UNCG and instantly fell in love with the place. One thing that I did bring with me from NCSU, though, was my love for attending basketball games. I'm not sure I missed very many of them over the course of 3 years. While friends would stay at home to watch Duke or UNC on a random Wednesday night, I would go over to little Fleming Gym and cheer on the Spartans.

Since graduating in 2001, I've managed to make it to huge portion of the games. I've had season tickets for the past 4 years. I've been to so many road games that I've lost count. I've watched G play in the preseason and postseason NIT. I dragged my very pregnant wife to the SoCon tournament a few years ago because I was convinced the Spartans had a run in them.

I started this blog in November of 2008 basically because there was nothing in the way of an Internet presence for UNCG with the exception of a small message board. I thought it would be cool to start a dialogue about my university's basketball program with anyone that would listen. I wanted this site to be a cheerleader for UNCG basketball and to show people that there were people associated with this school that actually rooted for UNCG's basketball team. Since starting the blog, I have had the chance to meet a bunch of people associated with the program. Also I've met some normal, nice folks who just come out to the games and like to talk basketball. I have met a network of other UNCG fans through a now vastly expanded message board. I have had the chance to talk basketball with a bunch of different blog and websites all over the country and to spread the word that UNCG fans care about their basketball program. I am very thankful for and proud of all of these things.

At the very top of this site there is a disclaimer that basically states that everything that is written here is mostly my opinion with some unchecked facts mixed in for fun. I will help everyone to read between the lines that I am an early 30's, partially balding, white guy that possesses absolutely zero talent in the sport of basketball. I have never played or coached a single minute of meaningful basketball in my entire life. I have tried to convince others much smarter about the sport than me to write here, but all have declined. So, it simply has been me writing based on knowledge I've gained sitting in front of the TV or court side. I've mixed in some tongue-in-cheek clips with movie lines that summed up how I felt from time to time. I've tried not to veer off into anything that wasn't somehow related to UNCG basketball.

In the time since I started this blog, I've became a father, got a major promotion and started a new side career. All of this has left with very little free time to actually devote to the day-to-day updates that come during the actual season.

At the start of this season, I decided to really commit to this blog and site. I wanted to really work hard to keep it up to date and looking good. I even decided to pay more attention to my twitter account. I really wasn't aware of how much of an information tool that has become lately.

Two nights ago, I watched my Spartans get beaten substantially by our cross town rivals, NC A&T. The meltdown afterwards by this fan base has been quite intense. I have been right in the middle of it. I hated losing, but the manner in which it happened was completely shocking. I have since made some angered comments over this site, twitter and the forum which probably skirt the line of bad taste. For that, I accept the blame.

However, I have spent more time that I care to add up today exchanging emails with people discussing comments made by current and former UNCG players over twitter about all of posters over at the forum. According to the things that I read, most of the posters are not true fans, haters, jock sniffers and fair weather groupies. It is quite obvious that the forum (and by extension this blog) is not appreciated or welcomed by the team.

Thus, I have decided to take some time away from posting anything in the forum and I will not be updating the blog indefinitely. I do not want to spend any time or effort on something that is not in the best interest of the program that I absolutely care about. I may start back at some point, but right now I think it's best to step away for a bit. I don't make any money off of this site and certainly spend way too much time on it that could be spent in other places. I have always written here because it was fun. After reading those things today, doing this instantly lost all of its appeal. I apologize if my reasoning seems a little juvenile or thin skinned. I just think it's the right time to make this move. I really hope this is just temporary and I'll have a change of heart soon. But who knows.

So, until the next post ...

Go Spartans !!!

Dear Mike ...

... FIX IT !!!

That Could Have Went Better

UNCG 65 - NC A&T 87

News & Record
UNCG Athletics
NC A&T Athletics

NC A&T (3-3) @ UNCG (2-3)

When: Monday, November 28 7 pm
Where: Greensboro Coliseum (7,617/23,500)
TV: None/Spartan All-Access

NC A&T Athletics
Dawg Pound (Blog & Forum)

Preseason Preview

Note: Tonight's game is being called an A&T home game. I'm sure that will mean that all UNCG home game festivities will be taken away from the Greensboro Coliseum. However, since it's being played at the coliseum and not the Aggies actual home court, I refuse to look at this as a road game. In the eyes of the NCAA Selection committee or the RPI this is a home game for UNCG and I will treat it as such for this blog.

Spartan Notes:
- Last time out, 21 second half points from freshman Nick Paulos sparked UNCG to a 72-60 victory over Towson in the consolation game of the Maui Invitational "Mainland" bracket.
- After tonight's game, UNCG will jump into December conference play as they travel to App State (12/1) and Western Carolina (12/3). The Spartans will return home next Monday (12/5) to face rival Elon.
- Last season, a late 9-0 A&T run help vault the Aggies over UNCG 82-70. Aloysius Henry posted a double-double (12 pts & 15 rebs) in that contest. Kyle Randall scored 23 points.
- This season, Trevis Simpson leads UNCG in scoring (12.0). Henry leads the team in rebounding (5.0) and Randall leads in assists (2.6).
- For the season, UNCG is shooting 38.7% from the field, 33.3% from behind the arc and 56.5% from the free throw line.

Aggie Notes:
- Last time out, Nic Simpson's 14 points propelled A&T to an easy victory over visiting Barber-Scotia College, 88-53. Austin Witter also scored 14 points to go along with 11rebounds.
- NCA&T is ranked in the top 25 in the nation in points, rebounds and assists per game.
- Simpson leads A&T in scoring (12.5). Witter leads the team in rebounds (6.0) and Marc Hill leads in assists (4.7).
- For the year, A&T is shooting 42.3% from the field, 31.5% from behind the arc and 73.6% from the free throw line.

My Thoughts:
UNCG has had 8 days off since it's their last game in Murfreesboro. Hopefully the time off has given the guys time to re-charge their batteries and find their offensive rhythm.

Go Spartans !!!

Scanning the SoCon - Week #3

Scanning the SoCon - Week #3

SoCon Ranking
1. Davidson
2. College of Charleston
3. Western Carolina
4. App State
5. Elon
6. Chattanooga
7. Wofford
8. Ga Southern
9. UNCG
10. Citadel
11. Furman
12. Samford

Spartans Earn a Split at Mainland Regional

UNCG 60 - MTSU 82

Daily News Journal (Murfreesboro)
UNCG Athletics
MTSU AThletics

Recap:
A 15-0 run by Middle Tennessee State with 14:03 left in the second half turned what was a close game into a blowout. Marcos Knight (17 pts) and JT Sulton (16 pts) led MTSU. Aloysius Henry (12 pts, 7 rebs) was one of only 2 Spartans (Korey Van Dussen, 11 pts) to score in double figures.

Extra Points:
- UNCG out rebounded MTSU 31-29. They also had 12 offensive rebounds to MTSU's 9.
- Every UNCG player saw action in the game.
- The Spartans struggled from the free throw line again. UNCG made just 50% (9-18) of their free throws. Middle Tennessee State shot 77.8% (28-36) from the free throw line.
- The Spartan managed to tally just 10 assists while turning the ball over 23 times.

UNCG 72 - Towson 60

UNCG Athletics
Towson Athletics

Recap:
After a sluggish first half, Nick Paulos (25 points) helped UNCG to run away from Towson in the second half at the consolation game of the Maui Invitaitonal "Mainland" bracket. Kyle Randall (10 pts) and Trevis Simpson (10 pts) also scored in double figures for UNCG. Robert Nwankwo led the Tigers with 17 points.

Extra Points:
- After shooting 10% (1-10) from behind the 3 point arc in the first half, UNCG shot 52.9% (9-17) in the second half. Nick Paulos was 6 of 11 alone.
- After struggling from the free throw line on Saturday, UNCG went 12 for 18 from the line today.
- Korey Van Dussen had 8 steals and 6 rebounds fo the game.
- UNCG forced Towson into 28 turnovers.
- The Spartans dished out 16 assists to only 12 turnovers for the game. UNCG only turned the ball over once in the 2nd half.
- There were 2 technical fouls issued to the Spartans on Sunday. Aaron Brackett picked up one and the UNCG bench was also assessed one.

UNCG (1-2) @ Middle Tennessee State (3-0)

When: Saturday, November 19 6 pm
Where: Murphy Center (11,802)
TV: None

MTSU Athletics
MTSU Forum (Scout)

Preseason Preview

Spartan Notes:
- On Thursday night, UNCG opened the home portion of their schedule with a 71-58 win over UNC Pembroke. The NCAA Division II school used their size to play a close first half before the Spartan methodically pulled away in the 2nd half. Trevis Simpson led the way for UNCG with 22 points, including a career high 4 three pointers. Kyle Randall also scored 12 points and handed out 5 assists.
- Today's game is part the Maui Invitational tournament's "mainland" bracket. The Spartans have already played 2 opening round games against Georgetown and Tennessee. The winner of today's game will play the winner of the contest between Belmont and Towson for the bracket championship. The losers of the 2 contests will square off in the consolation game that will also be played at MTSU's Murphy Center.
- All 13 of UNCG's scholarship players have seen game action this season. 12 of the 13 have played in all 3 regular season games.
- After this weekend's games, UNCG will take over a week off before returning to action in the Greensboro Coliseum against NC A&T.
- Simpson is averaging a team best 14.3 points and 4.0 rebounds. David Williams in leading the team in rebounds (5.7) and Kyle Randall leads in assists (1.7)
- After 3 games, UNCG is shooting 37.8% from the field, 31.4% from behind the arc and 55.1% from the free throw line.

Blue Raider Notes:
- Last time out, Iowa State transfer LaRon Dendy scored 16 points and pulled down 13 rebounds as Middle Tennessee State stunned UCLA at home 86-66. The Raiders shot an amazing 71.9% from the field that included going 10-11 from behind the arc.
- MTSU's game against UCLA was their only opening round game for this year's Maui Invitational.
- The Blue Raiders were selected to finish 2nd in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference in preseason predictions.
- Dendy is leading MTSU is points (15.3) and rebounds (9.3). Bruce Massey leads the team in assists (3.7).
- For the season, the Raiders are shooting 53.7% from the field, 46.2% from behind the arc and 63.9% from the free throw line.

My Thoughts:
I think this weekend's games should give UNCG fans a much better feel for this season's team. The first two games were on the road at power conference teams and last night's game was against a DII school. Those are not good indicators for this team. This weekend's games will be against other mid major programs.

MTSU shoots the ball very well and judging from the stat line against UCLA, can get very hot from behind the arc. The Spartans need to carry over the defense they played in the second half on Thursday night. They will also need Trevis Simpson, Kyle Randall and Nick Paulos to continue shooting the ball as well as they did in the 2nd half also.

The Blue Raiders are ranked in the Mid-Major top 25. SO, UNCG will have to play very well on the road to come out with a victory.

Go Spartans !!!

Spartans Pull Away from Pesky Braves

UNCG 71 - UNC Pembroke 58

UNCG Athletics
UNCP Athletics

Recap:
After a slow start, the Spartans finally started to settle into a game for the first time in 3 games. By the time the second half rolled around, Trevis Simpson and Aloysius Henry helped to put away a very pesky Division II team. Simpson's 22 points led UNCG

Extra Points:
- UNCG out rebounded the Braves by 10. It was the 2nd time in the first 3 games that the Spartans. David Williams seemed to find every offensive rebound in the 2nd half.
- I can see why Taylor Hoffer has been finding himself getting more playing time this season. He was definitely the most physical player on the court.
- It was good to see Kyle Randall step up and make some big shots early in the game. Kyle has been really struggling this season and I hope this game will give him more confidence.
- UNCG shot 81.3% (13-16) from the free throw line.

UNC Pembroke (2-1) @ UNCG (0-2)

When: Thursday, November 17 7 pm
Where: Greensboro Coliseum (7,617/23,500)
TV: None/Spartan All-Access

UNCP Athletics

Preseason Preview

Spartan Notes:
- Last time out, Georgetown used a 15-3 run before halftime run out to a 41-16 lead at the break. The Hoyas defeated UNCg 86-45. Hollis Thompson led Georgetown with 19 points. Trevis Simpson scored all of his team high 11 points after halftime.
- Tonight is the first of 12 home games UNCG will play this season.
- Tonight is the first timeUNCG has played a Non-Division1 team in the regular season since November 17, 2008. That night UNCG hung on to defeat Webber International 90-78 behind Landon Clement's 26 point outburst. The game was played at Fleming Gym.
- Simpson leads UNCG in scoring (10.5) . Derrell Armstrong leads in assists (2.0) and David Williams leads in rebounds (5.5)
- For the year, UNCG is 36.1% shooting from the field, 25% from behind the arc and 42.4% from the free throw line.

Braves Notes:
- Last time out Shahmel Brackett made a 3 pointer with 20 seconds left to defeat Fayetteville State 75-73. Brackett led the Braves with 21 points.
- Brackett leads the team in scoring (14.0). George Blakeney leads the Braves in rebounds (9.7)
- Through 3 games, the Braves are shooting 44.7% from the field, 37.5% from behind the arc and 70.6% from the free throw line.

Hoyas Destroy Helpless Spartans

UNCG 45 - Georgetown 86

Stay tuned ...

UNCG (0-1) @ Georgetown (1-0)

When: Monday, November 14 7 pm
Where: Verizon Center (20,674)
TV: MASN

Georgetown Athletics
Georgetown Blog
Georgetown Forum

Preseason Preview

Spartan Notes:
- Last time out, UNCG was blasted by Tennessee in the opening round of the Maui Invitational. Trae Golden led the Vols with 29 points. Korey Van Dussen led UNCG with 12 points. Trevis Simpson and Derrell Armstrong chipped in 10 apiece for the Spartans.
- Tonight's game will be UNCG's first against the Hoyas. This game is also an opening round game for the Maui Invitational. The Spartans are part of the "Mainland" bracket and will conclude play this coming weekend at Middle Tennessee State.
- The Spartans defensive problems from last season spilled over into it's opening game. Tennessee shot a blistering 64.6% from the field and hit 15 3 point attempts.
- For the season, UNCG is shooting 41.5% from the field, 30% from behind the arc and 40% from the free throw line.

Hoya Notes:
- Last time out, Georgetown shook off a slow start to thrash Savannah State 83-54 in their home opener. Henry Sims scored a career high 19 points for Georgetown, which led only by 3 early in the second half before going on a huge run to win easily.
- Georgetown was involved in a high profile altercation this summer during an overseas trip to China. From video taken on cell phones, it appeared several Chinese players shoved a Georgetown player before things escalated into an all-out brawl.
- The Hoyas will continue their Maui Invitational with a first round meeting with #11 Kansas next Monday.
- Sims currently leads the Hoyas in scoring (19 pts) and assists (5.0). Otto Porter leads Georgetown in rebounding (8.0).
- For the season, Georgetown is shooting 66.7% from the field, 53.3% from behind the arc and 58.3% from the free throw line.

My thoughts:
Tennessee shot as well as any opponent UNCG is going to see this season. Oh wait ... Georgetown shot even better. That certainly is scary.

Let's face it, what I'm looking for out of UNCG tonight is progress. Better rotations, confident shooting and something that looks like team defense would all be an improvement over Friday.

Go Spartans !!!

Scanning the SoCon - Week #2

Scanning the SoCon - Week #2

SoCon Ranking
1. Davidson
2. Chattanooga
3. App State
4. Charleston
5. Western Carolina
6. Wofford
7. Ga Southern
8. Elon
9. UNCG
10. Furman
11. Samford
12. Citadel

Vols Make It Rain 3's

UNCG 63 - Tennessee 92

News and Record
UNCG Athletics
Tennessee Athletics

Recap:
Tennessee made baskets on their first 3 possessions to jump out to a quick 8-0 lead 1:09 into the game. UNCG never really was in the contest beyond that point. Trae Golden (29 pts) helped to push the Vols to a 49-30 halftime lead. A couple of Korey Van Dussen steals helped UNCG to get the lead down to 15 with just under 17 minutes to play. However, Golden converted a 3 point play to stop the run. after that, UT pushed their lead all the way up to 31 points before the final margin settled at 29.

Extra Points:
- Defense was a problem for UNCG last year and it has already proved to be a problem in the first game, this year. Tennessee shot 64.6% (31-48) from the field and 62.5% (15-24) from behind the arc. Obviously, that was not entire based on poor defense. Tennessee made some tough shots and their confidence spread throughout their team. I will hold judgement until I see more action. But this is a scary beginning.
- UNCG was 3 of 10 from the free throw line.
- The Spartans outrebounded the Vols and outscored the bigger SEC team in the paint.
- Coach Mike Dement's substitution pattern was odd and erratic. I thought the reason to play exhibition games and scrimmages was to help look at different combinations and figure out who should be playing. Instead, everyone on the UNCG bench (minus Brian Cole) got in the game. And this wasn't some instance of clearing the bench at the end of a lopsided game. All 12 guys played in the first half. I have no idea what was going on with the subs.

UNCG (0-0) @ Tennessee (0-0)

When: Friday, November 11 7 pm
Where: Thompson-Boling Arena (21,678)
TV: FoxSportsNet*/ESPN3
* The game will be shown on a tape delayed basis in the triad & triangle for TWC subscribers.

Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Forum (Scout)
Rocky Top Talk (Blog)

Preseason Preview

Spartan Notes:
- Last time out, Trevis Simpson paced the Spartans with 18 points as UNCG crushed neighbor Greensboro College 91-48 in an exhibition contest. Simpson lead 4 Spartans in double figures as UNCG led by a comfortable 53-23 halftime margin.
- Almost every preseason prediction possible has placed the Spartans in the 4th spot in the North division behind Chattanooga, App State & Western Carolina.
- UNCG returns 4 of 5 starters from last year's squad.
- 2009-2010 leading scorer Brandon Evans is the only significant loss from last year's team.
- Evans averaged 11.9 points and 4.1 rebounds.
- UNCG finished last season with a record of 7-24.
- Trevis Simpson is the leading returning scorer with 11.8 points per game. Aaron Bracket led in rebounds (6.0) and Kyle Randall led in assists (3.4).
- Last season, UNCG shot 42.9% from the field, 35.6% from behind the arc and 69.0% from the free throw line.

Volunteer Notes:
- Last time out Tennessee hung on to beat the #2 ranked team in DII, Lincoln Memorial University, 76-67. The game was an exhibition contest. The Volunteers led comfortably until a late run by LMU cut their lead down to 4 with less than 8 minutes remaining. Tennessee was lead by Trae Golden with 22 points and 8 assists.
- Last season Tennessee finished 19-15 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
- Amid an NCAA investigation, former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl was replaced by Cuonzo Martin. Martin coached the last 3 seasons at Missouri State.
-The Volunteers have a lot of fire power to replace from last season's squad. Last year's top 2 scorers left early for the NBA. Scotty Hopson (17.3 pts, 3.3 rebs) and Tobias Harris (15.3 pts, 7.3 rebs) both left school early.
- The only major contributor to return is Cameron Tatum. He is the leading returning scorer (8.8), rebounder (3.1). He is also the leading returner in assists (2.3).
- Last season, The Vols shot 43.1% from the field, 30.0% from behind the arc and 68.4% from the free throw line.

My Thoughts:
UNCG beat up on Greensboro College in the exhibition game, but didn't shoot well from behind the arc. 3-15 will not cut it against a team from the SEC playing in its home opener. Part of the problem was that sharp shooting freshman Nick Paulos was injured. It's not certain whether Paulos will be available in Knoxville. If he isn't, others will have to step up and make shots.

The Vols are playing with a bunch of new pieces and a new coaching staff. They could be vulnerable for an upset as ever right now. But the Spartans will have to play well. A road win over a power conference team could be a major boost for a program looking to rebound from several lean seasons. I hope they can get it done.

Go Spartans !!!

Preseason OOC Opponent Preview - Duke

Duke
Location: Durham, NC
Conference: ACC (RPI #5)
Last Season: 30-4
Finish: 2nd (out of 12)
Postseason: NCAA Tournament (Sweet 16)
Last 10: 7-3
Coach: Mike Krzyzewski (32nd yr)

2011-2012 Schedule:
- 10/29 Bellarmine (Exh)
- 11/2 Shaw (Exh)
- 11/11 Belmont
- 11/12 Presbyterian
- 11/15 Michigan St
- 11/18 Davidson
- 11/21 Tennessee (Maui)
- 11/22 Maui Invitational
- 11/23 Maui Invitational
- 1/29 @ Ohio State
- 12/7 Colorado St
- 12/10 Washington
- 12/19 UNCG
- 12/30 Western Michigan
- 1/1 Penn
- 1/4 @ Temple
- 1/7 @ Ga Tech
- 1/12 Virginia
- 1/15 @ Clemson
- 1/19 Wake Forest
- 1/21 Florida St.
- 1/25 @ Maryland
- 1/28 St. John's
- 2/2 @ Va Tech
- 2/5 Miami
- 2/8 @ UNC
- 2/11 Maryland
- 2/16 NC State
- 2/19 @ Boston College
- 2/23 @ Florida St
- 2/25 Va Tech
- 2/28 @ Wake Forest
- 3/3 UNC

Additions:
- 6'-4" SG Austin Rivers - ESPN Rated 98 (Winter Park, FL)
- 6'-6" SF Michael Gbiniji - ESPN Rated 96 (Chester, VA)
- 6'-11" C Marshall Plumlee - ESPN Rated 96 (Warsaw, IN)
- 6'-1" PG Quinn Cook - ESPN Rated 96 (Hyattsville, MD)
- 6'-8" SF Alex Murphy - ESPN Rated 96 (South Kingston, RI)

Losses:
- Kyrie Irving (Early Draft Entry) - 17.5 pts, 3.4 rebs, 4.3 assists, 1.5 steals (11 games)
- Nolan Smith (Graduated) - 20.6 pts, 4.5 rebs, 5.1 assists, 1.2 steals
- Kyle Singler (Graduated) - 16.9 pts, 6.8 rebs
- Casey Peters ( Graduated) - 0.3 rebs (10 games)

Top Returners:
- Seth Curry - 9.0 pts, 1.8 rebs, 2.0 assists
- Andre Dawkins - 8.1 pts, 1.9 rebs

Preseason OOC Opponent Preview - ECU

East Carolina
Location: Greenville, NC
Conference: C-USA (RPI #8)
Last Season: 18-15
Finish: 7th (out of 12)
Postseason: CIT Tournament
Last 10: 5-5
Coach: Jeff Lebo (2nd yr)

2011-2012 Schedule:
- 11/11 Milligan
- 11/14 @ Campbell
- 11/17 Coker
- 11/22 App State
- 11/26 Chowan
- 11/29 @ Old Dominion
- 12/3 Charlotte
- 12/6 UMass
- 12/16 @ UNCG
- 12/19 Coastal Carolina
- 12/22 Garner-Webb
- 12/29 NC Central
- 12/31 Virginia-Wise
- 1/4 @ Southern Miss
- 1/7 UCF
- 1/14 Tulsa
- 1/18 @ UTEP
- 1/21 @ Houston
- 1/25 Southern Miss
- 1/28 @ UAB
- 2/1 SMU
- 2/4 Rice
- 2/8 Memphis
- 2/11 @ Marshal
- 2/18 @ UCF
- 2/22 @ Memphis
- 2/25 UAB
- 2/29 Marshall
- 3/3 @ Tulane

Additions:
- 6'-3" SG Paris Roberts-Campbell - ESPN Rated 84 (Mathews, NC)
- 6'-5" SG Paul Stone - ESPN Rated 75 (Danville, VA)
- 6'-3" SG Shamarr Bowden - JUCO (Greensboro, NC) 12.2 pts, 2.2 rebs
- 6'-6" SF Maurice Kemp - JUCO (Miami, FL) 16.8 pts, 9.9 rebs

Losses:
- Jontae Sherrod (Graduated) - 15.6 pts, 3.6 rebs, 1.9 assists, 1.1 steals
- Jamar Abrams (Graduated) - 10.3 pts, 4.1 rebs
- Brock Young (Graduated) - 9.6 pts, 2.5 rebs, 4.4 assists, 1.1 steals
- Chad Wynn (Graduated) - 2.9 pts, 1.7 rebs

Top Returners:
- Darius Morrow - 13.0 pts, 6.3 rebs
- Corvonn Gaines - 6.7 pts, 2.9 rebs, 3.1 assists, 1.6 steals

SoCon Previews

Charleston Post & Courier

4. UNC Greensboro
Last season: 7-24, 6-12 (5th in North)
Coach: Mike Dement, 327-360 overall, 122-163 at UNCG.

Players to watch: G Trevis Simpson, 6-4, so. (11.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg) G Kyle Randall, 5-10, jr. (9.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg); C Aloysius Henry, 6-10, sr. (9.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg).
Note: UNCG lost its first 15 games last season before rallying to win seven of its final 16, including two victories over Davidson and one over Appalachian State.

Fox News

UNC-GREENBORO: The Spartans won just six games in league play last year, and that number can be increased in the new campaign if the team can figure out a way to play well at the defensive end. UNCG surrendered over 80 ppg last season, and that is simply too many points, especially when there is not a consistent scoring presence on the roster. Trevis Simpson is the only returning player who averaged double figures last year and that total was just 11.8 ppg. As mentioned, if the Spartans are going to improve they will need to play much tougher defensively, but they will also need to get consistent efforts from guys like Aloysius Henry and Kyle Randall. Henry is a 6-10 center, but managed only 4.8 rpg last year, so clearly the big man needs to be more physical. As for Randall, he needs to shoot better than the mere 35.8 percent he hit from the field last season, resulting in 9.4 ppg. However, the guard did lead the team with 103 assists, so he is certainly capable of controlling the game on the floor for UNCG.Read more:

What to Expect for the Mid-Majors ...

Southern Conference
My pick: Davidson (South), Chattanooga (North)

Bob McKillop has a contender three seasons after Stephen Curry drew celebrities to Davidson's games. It's hard to envision a repeat of the 2007-08 campaign. But with seven of eight starters returning, including J.P. Kuhlman, the Wildcats should get back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since Curry left the scene. Chattanooga has four starters back from last season's squad.
Contenders: Charleston will challenge Davidson after adding highly touted recruit Adjehi Baru. In the North, Chattanooga will face tests from Western Carolina and Appalachian State.

X factors: Elon could be a sleeper this season.

Preseason MVP: J.P. Kuhlman, Davidson

Blue Ribbon Preview

Preseason OOC Opponent Preview - FSU

Florida State
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Conference: ACC (RPI #5)
Last Season: 21-10 (11-5)
Finish: 3rd (out of 12)
Postseason: NCAA Tournament (Swee 16)
Last 10: 6-4
Coach: Leonard Hamilton (10th yr)

2011-2012 Schedule:
- 11/11 Jacksonville
- 11/14 UCF
- 11/16 Stetson
- 11/20 South Alabama
- 11/24 UMass
- 11/30 @ Michigan State
- 12/5 Charleston Southern
- 12/11 UNCG
- 12/18 Loyola Marymount
- 12/22 @ Florida
- 12/30 Princeton
- 1/4 Auburn
- 1/7 @ Clemson
- 1/10 @ Va Tech
- 1/14 UNC
- 1/17 Maryland
- 1/21 @ Duke
- 1/25 @ Wake Forest
- 2/1 GA Tech
- 2/4 Virginia
- 2/8 @ Boston College
- 2/11 Miami
- 2/16 Va Tech
- 2/18 @ NC State
- 2/23 Duke
- 2/26 @ Miami
- 3/1 @ Virginia
- 3/4 Clemson

Additions:
- 6'-7" SF Antwan Space - ESPN Rated 94 (DeSoto, TX)
- 6'-3" SG Terry Whisnant - ESPN Rated 92 (Cherryville, NC)
- 6'-11" C Keil Turpin - JUCO (Normal, IL) 15.2 pts, 7.7 rebs

Losses:
- Chris Singleton (Early Draft Entry) - 13.1 pts, 6.8 rebs, 2.0 steals
- Derwin Kitchen (Graduated) - 10.4 pts, 5.8 rebs, 3.6 assists
- Andrew Rutledge (Graduated) - 1.3 pts (4 games)
- A.J. Yawn (Graduated) - 0.3 pts (7 games)

Top Returners:
- Michael Snaer - 8.8 pts, 2.7 rebs, 2.2 assist
- Bernard James - 8.6 pts, 5.9 rebs
- Deivdas Dulkys - 7.3 pts, 2.8 rebs

Preseason OOC Opponent Preview - NC A&T

North Carolina A&T
Location: Greensboro, NC
Last year: 15/17 (9-7)
Conference: MEAC (RPI #30)
Finish: 5th (out of 11)
Postseason: None
Last 10: 6-4
Coach: Jerry Eaves (8th yr)

2011-2012 Schedule:
- 11/11 @ Creighton
- 11/14 @ Iowa
- 11/17 @ Campbell
- 11/19 Chicago State
- 11/23 Johnson & Wales
- 11/25 Barber-Scotia
- 11/28 @ UNCG
- 12/3 @ NC Central
- 12/10 @ Evansville
- 12/13 @ UCF
- 12/15 @ St Mary's (MI)
- 12/18 @ Hawaii
- 12/21 @ Akron
- 12/23 @ Ohio
- 12/28 @ Houston
- 1/3 Carver Bible College
- 1/7 Bethune-Cookman
- 1/9 Florida A&M
- 1/14 Howard
- 1/21 @ Morgan St
- 1/23 @ Coppin St
- 1/28 Maryland-Eastern Shore
- 1/30 Deleware St
- 2/4 @ Bethune-Cookman
- 2/6 @ Florida A&M
- 2/11 South Carolina St
- 2/13 Savannah St
- 2/18 NC Central
- 2/25 @ South Carolina St
- 2/27 @ Savannah St
- 3/1 Norfolk St

Additions:
- 6'-4" G Jean Louisme - JUCO (Fort Myers, FL) 19.9 pts, 3.7 assists
- 6'-6" F Dominique Behonh-Tolley - JUCO (Cameroon, Africa)
- 6'-9" C Jacob Carson - ESPN Unrated (Goose Creek, SC)
- 6'-7" F Anthony Estes - ESPN Unrated (Washington, DC)

Losses:
- Thomas Coleman (Graduated) - 17.0 pts, 10.5 rebs

Top Returners:
- Nic Simpson - 13.3 pts, 2.4 rebs
- Marc Hill - 10.8 pts, 2.3 rebs, 3.1 assists

Scanning the SoCon - Week #1

This season I will be participating in a SoCon round table discussion with fellow Southern Conference bloggers over at Mocs Mania. He has titled the segment "Scanning the SoCon". I don't plan on re posting the whole article, just a weekly link to it. However, I will post my personal 1 through 12 ranking of the SoCon teams (he just posts the cumulative poll).

Scanning the SoCon - Week #1

SoCon Rankings
1. Davidson
2. Chattanooga
3. App State
4. Western Carolina
5. Ga Southern
6. UNCG
7. Charleston
8. Elon
9. Wofford
10. Furman
11. Samford
12. Citadel

Preseason OOC Opponent Preview - Middle Tennessee State

Middle Tennessee State
Location: Murfreesboro, TN
Last Year: 16-16 (10-6)
Conference: Sun Belt Conference (RPI #23)
Finish: 2nd in East Division (out of 6)
Postseason: None
Last 10: 6-4
Coach: Kermit Davis (9th yr)

2011-2012 Schedule:
- 11/11 Austin Peay
- 11/13 @ Loyola Marymount
- 11/15 @ UCLA
- 11/19 UNCG
- 11/20 Towson/Belmont
- 11/22 Cumberland
- 11/26 @ Austin Peay
- 12/1 @ Tennessee State
- 12/4 Akron
- 12/7 @ UAB
- 12/10 Tennessee-Martin
- 12/13 Belmont
- 12/21 @ Ole Miss
- 12/29 Florida International
- 12/31 South Alabama
- 1/5 @ Troy
- 1/7 Louisiana-Lafayette
- 1/12 @ Florida International
- 1/14 @ Florida Atlantic
- 1/19 Arkansas State
- 1/21 @ South Alabama
- 1/26 Troy
- 1/28 @ Vanderbilt
- 2/2 @ North Texas
- 2/4 @ Denver
- 2/9 Western Kentucky
- 2/11 Arkansas-Little Rock
- 2/18 Florida Atlantic
- 2/23 @ Louisiana-Monroe
- 2/25 @ Western Kentucky

Additions:
- 6'-7" PF Jaquez Rozier - ESPN Rated 76 (Waynesboro, GA)
- 6'-1" SG Raymond Cintron - JUCO (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 19.8 pts, 3.6 rebs, 4.7 assists
- 6'-2" SG Marcos Knight - JUCO (Rentz, GA) 12.3 pts, 5.8 rebs
- 6'-3" SG Bruce Massey - JUCO (Germantown, MD) 13.5 pts, 7.2 rebs, 6.8 assists

Losses:
- James Washington (Graduated) 14.8 pts, 2.3 rebs, 2.8 assists
- Trevor Ottley (Graduated) 5.7 pts, 5.2 rebs

Top Returners:
- Jason Jones 13.1 pts, 4.8 rebs
- JT Sulton 9.3 pts, 5.0 rebs

Preseason OOC Opponent Preview - UNC Pembroke

UNC-Pembroke
Location: Pembroke, NC
Conference: Peach Belt Conference (NCAA DII)
Last year: 18-12 (9-9)
Finish: 3rd (out of 7)
Postseason: DII NCAA Tournament
Last 10: 5-5
Coach: Ben Miller (4th yr)

2011-2012 Schedule
- 10/28 @ UNC (Exh)
- 11/3 Athletes in Action (Exh)
- 11/11 St. Andrews
- 11/12 Coker
- 11/15 @ Fayetteville St
- 11/17 @ UNCG
- 11/22 Wingate
- 11/26 Allen
- 11/29 Fayetteville St
- 12/1 Morris
- 12/3 Lander
- 12/12 @ Mount Olive
- 12/17 @ Flagler
- 12/19 @ Armstrong Atlantic
- 12/30 Shawnee St
- 1/5 Clayton St
- 1/7 Montevallo
- 1/12 @ North Georgia
- 1/18 USC-Aiken
- 1/22 Georgia College
- 1/25 @ Augusta St
- 1/28 @ Columbus St
- 1/29 @ Georgia Southwestern
- 2/2 @ Francis Marion
- 2/8 Augusta St
- 2/11 @ USC-Aiken
- 2/15 Francis Marion
- 2/18 Armstrong Atlantic
- 2/19 Flagler
- 2/25 @ Lander

Additions:
- 6'-0" G Griffin Pittman (Charlotte, NC)
- 6'-6" F Ben Jacobs (Four Oaks, NC)
- 6'-0" Guamain Rose (Whiteville, NC)
- 6'-7" F Brandon Winford (Goldsboro, NC)
- 6'-9" F Tyler Kordenbrock (Jacksonville, NC)

Losses:
- Chris Hargrove (Graduated) 11.2 pts, 5.0 rebs
- Lamar Cross (Graduated) 2.9 pts

Top Returners:
- Shahmel Brackett 15.3 pts, 4.3 rebs
- George Blakeney10.6 pts, 6.4 rebs

Spartans Punish Pride

UNCG 91 - Greensboro College 48

Game Story - UNCG Athletics
Game Story - UNCG Sports Blog

The Spartans hit their opponent with a 22-4 outburst right off the bat and by the end of the first 20 minutes lead by a huge margin (53-23). Trevis Simpson (18 pts) paced the Spartans, who had 3 other players score in double figures. Defense was the first half story as UNCG forced their neighbors from down the road into 15 turnovers and 37.5 % shooting. The game was played in a mostly full Fleming Gym.

This is UNCG's only exhibition game. They open the season on Friday night at Tennessee. That game will be broadcast on FSN-South.

Preseason OOC Opponent Preview - Georgetown

Georgetown
Location: Washington, DC
Conference: Big East (RPI #1)
Last year: 21-11
Finish: 8th (out of 16)
Postseason: NCAA Tournament
Last 10: 4-6
Coach: John Thompson III (7th yr)

2011-2012 Schedule
- 11/12 Savannah State
- 11/14 UNCG
- 11/21 Kansas (Maui)
- 11/22 Maui Invitational
- 11/23 Maui Invitational
- 11/28 IUPUI
- 12/1 @ Alabama
- 12/3 NJIT
- 12/10 Howard
- 12/17 American
- 12/22 Memphis
- 12/28 @ Louisville
- 12/31 Providence
- 1/4 Marquette
- 1/7 @ West Virginia
- 1/9 Cincinnati
- 1/15 @ St. John's
- 1/17 @ Depaul
- 1/21 Rutgers
- 1/28 @ Pitt
- 2/1 UConn
- 2/4 South Florida
- 2/8 @ Syracuse
- 2/12 St John's
- 2/18 @ Providence
- 2/21 @ Seton Hall
- 2/25 Villanova
- 2/27 Notre Dame
- 3/3 @ Marquette

Additions:
- 6'-9" SF Otto Porter - ESPN Rated 96 (Sikeston, MO)
- 6'-8" C Mikael Hopkins - ESPN Rated 93 (Hyattsville, MD)
- 6'-5" SG Jabril Trawick - ESPN Rated 93 (Jenkintown, PA)
- 6'-9" C Tyler Adams - ESPN Rated 91 (Brandon, MS)
- 6'-8" PF Greg Whittington - ESPN Rated 89 (Columbia, MD)

Losses:
- Chris Wright (Graduated) - 12.2 pts, 2.9 rebs, 5.3 assists, 1.4 steals
- Austin Freeman (Graduated) - 17.6 pts, 3.7 rebs, 2.4 assists
- Julian Vaughn (Graduated) - 7.8pts, 6.1 rebs
- Ryan Dougherty (Graduated) - 0.3 pts (8 games)
- Jerrelle Benimon (Transfer) - 1.3 pts, 1.8 rebs

Top Returners:
- Jason Clark - 12.0 pts, 4.1 rebs, 1.8 assists, 1.5 steals
- Hollis Thompson - 8.6 pts, 4.4 rebs

Secret Scrimmage List

Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports has posted his yearly list of known "secret" scrimmages. This year UNCG is only playing one of these because they are playing an open exhibition game against Greensboro College. The Spartans will be taking on UNC-Asheville this coming Saturday. In years past, UNCG has played UNC-Chapel Hill, Radford, High Point and Winthrop.

Thurs., Oct. 27
Cal State Fullerton at UCLA (Sports Arena)
Minnesota State at South Dakota State

Fri., Oct. 28
East Carolina at N.C. State
UT-Pan American vs. Sam Houston in Austin
Merrimack at New Hampshire

Saturday, Oct. 29
West Virginia at Xavier
Virginia at Vanderbilt
Davidson at Texas
TCU at Texas A&M
Seton Hall at Boston College
Wisconsin at DePaul
Colorado at Creighton
VCU at Virginia Tech
LSU at Rice
Georgia Tech at South Carolina
Charlotte at Wake Forest
Iona at Rutgers
Air Force at USC
Arkansas-Little Rock at Mississippi
St. Mary's at Arizona State
St. Bonaventure at Kent State
Boston University at Rider
Nevada at Cal Davis
Stony Brook at Central Connecticut
Weber State at Boise State
Hofstra at Hartford
Drexel at UMass
Northern Illinois at Drake
Portland State at Utah
San Francisco at Cal Poly
San Diego at Long Beach State
Houston Baptist at SMU
Delaware at Loyola (Md.)
North Florida at FAU
Quinnipiac at Northeastern
Youngstown at Bucknell
Ball State at Wright State
Fairfield at Brown
Canisius at Colgate
Long Island at Albany
Lipscomb vs. Southeast Missouri in Memphis
Appalachian State at Liberty
Mercer at Charleston Southern
Winthrop at Furman
Bowling Green vs. Loyola (Ill.) in Indianapolis
San Jose State at Sacramento State
Lafayette at Cornell
UNC Asheville at UNC Greensboro
High Point at William & Mary
Pepperdine at UC Santa Barbara
IPFW vs. Green Bay at Triton CC
Yale at NJIT
Bryant at Holy Cross
Tennessee Tech at Radford
Delta State at Tulane
Cal Poly Pomona at Cal State Northridge

Sunday, Oct. 30
Georgetown at North Carolina
Kansas State vs Marquette in Omaha
Georgia at Clemson
Ohio at Ohio State
Washington at Santa Clara
Central Florida at Florida
Indiana State vs. Indiana in Indianapolis
Western Kentucky vs. Alabama in Huntsville, Ala.
George Washington at Maryland
South Florida at Miami
Fordham at Villanova
Iowa State at Nebraska
Michigan at Toledo
Montana vs. Washington State in Idaho
Murray State at Middle Tennessee State
UW-Milwaukee at Northwestern
Western Illinois at Iowa
La Salle at Princeton
Elon at Richmond
UT Arlington at Wichita State
Wofford vs. Belmont in Knoxville
Lafayette at Southeast Louisiana
Gardner Webb at USC Upstate
Texas Southern at Texas State

Mon., Oct. 31
Alabama State at Troy

Wed., Nov. 2
San Francisco at Stanford
Radford at Longwood
William & Mary at Norfolk State

Fri., Nov. 4
Charleston Southern at South Carolina State

Sat., Nov. 5
Texas vs. Gonzaga in Denver
Marquette at George Mason
Baylor at Virginia
Georgetown at James Madison
St. Mary's at California
Chattanooga at Virginia Tech
Temple at Drexel
UMass at Seton Hall
Northern Colorado at Colorado
Tennessee State at Georgia Tech
Long Beach State at USC
Loyola Marymount at UNLV
Northeastern at Harvard
Cornell at Siena
Columbia at Hartford
Marshall vs. Miami (Ohio) in Oxford
Morgan State at Delaware
Liberty at Wofford
Iona at Quinnipiac
Army vs. UNH at Trinity College
Brown at BU
Texas State at Rice
Buffalo vs. Cleveland State in Erie
SMU at UT Arlington
Bucknell at Albany
Stony Brook at Yale
Navy at Howard
San Diego at UC Riverside
Arkansas-Little Rock vs. Stephen F. Austin in Shreveport
Colgate at LeMoyne

Sun., Nov. 6
American at Longwood
Kennesaw State at Gardner Webb
High Point at East Carolina
Merrimack at Bryant

ESPN SoCon Preview

You can watch the quick one minute video preview here. Since I don't have their paid subscription, I have no idea what they say about UNCG. However, I honestly don't think they know more about G than most of us do. They probably scanned the roster and made some boiler point predictions.

If I'm wrong, some one let me know.

Welcome New Poster John

I have made no secret over many posts that I honestly don't have enough time to keep up with the blog all by myself. I now have a toddler. I ref high school lacrosse and field hockey several days a week and almost every weekend. While I long ago went all in to be the best possible UNCG fan that I could be, there are just times that I can't make it to all of the games. People who read this site deserve more.

With that in mind, I have invited a few people to come on board with me and begin posting here. I think it will be great for readers to get a different perspective than just mine. Added bonus is that people won't have to always struggle to read through my awful writing style.

The first person to accept my invitation is John. I've known him for a couple of years through the UNCGfans forums and my season tickets are close to his at the Greensboro Coliseum. He's a Spartan alum and a die-hard fan just like me. Plus, he's just a generally nice guy.

So, I look forward to reading his posts just like everyone else. Welcome to the blog, John !!!


UPDATE: I think I'm gonna have to change the title graphic. It seems like it should be plural. Unless I can change the perspective around from implying that I am the the UNCG basketball fan to I am writing this blog for the UNCG basketball fan. Ha. I think I like that idea better. Incoherent rant over.

Big Men Lead Gold Past Blue

The Gold team had the big men and powered their way to a 62-53 victory in the Blue-Gold scrimmage on Sunday. Aloysius Henry had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Aaron Bracket scored 10 points and had 14 rebounds. Nick Paulos lead the Blue squad with 15 points.

The UNCG Athletics website has their recap here. UNCG Sports Blog has an even better recap here.

Blue-Gold Game Set for Sunday

UNCG will be playing their Blue-Gold game this coming Sunday at Fleming Gym on campus. Game time is set for 4 pm and it will be played as a full game. Admission Will be free.

Preseason OOC Opponent Preview - Tennessee

Tennessee
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
Conference: Southeastern Conference (RPI #6)
Last year: 19-15
Finish: 5th in East Division (out of 6)
Postseason: NCAA Tournament
Last 10: 4-6
Coach: Cuonzo Martin (1st yr)

2011-2012 Schedule
- 11/3 Carson Newman (Exh)
- 11/7 Lincoln Memorial (Exh)
- 11/11 UNCG
- 11/16 Louisiana-Monroe
- 11/21 @ Duke
- 11/28 @ Oakland
- 12/3 Pitt
- 12/10 Austin Peay
- 12/14 @ College of Charleston
- 12/20 UNC-Asheville
- 12/23 East Tennessee St
- 12/29 Citadel
- 1/2 UT-Chattanooga
- 1/4 @ Memphis
- 1/7 Florida
- 1/12 @ Mississippi St
- 1/14 Kentucky
- 1/18 @ Georgia
- 1/21 UConn
- 1/24 @ Vanderbilt
- 1/28 Auburn
- 1/31 @ Kentucky
- 2/4 Georgia
- 2/8 South Carolina
- 2/11 @ Florida
- 2/15 Arkansas
- 2/18 @ Alabama
- 2/22 Ole Miss
- 2/25 @ South Carolina
- 2/29 @ LSU
- 3/3 Vanderbilt

Additions:
- 6'-5" SF Josh Richardson - ESPN Rated 90 (Edmund, OK)
- 6'-1" PG Wesley Washpun - ESPN Rated 88 (Cedar Rapids, IA)
- 6'-6" SG Quinton Chievous - ESPN Rated 84 (Chicago, IL)
- 6'-8" C Yemi Makanjuola - ESPN Rated 80 (Lagos, Nigeria)
- 6'-8" PF Dwight Miller - JUCO (Nassau, Bahamas) 8.2 pts, 5.4 rebs
- 6'-5" G Ryan Kilmartin - App State Transfer (Charlotte, NC) Appeared in 1 game in 2009-2010
- 6'-8" PF Rob Murphy - Lipscomb Transfer (Brentwood, TN) Appeared in 4 games in 2009-2010

Losses:
- Scotty Hopson (Early Draft Entry) 17.0 pts, 3.3 rebs
- Tobias Harris (Early DraftEntry) 15.3 pts,7.3 rebs
- Melvin Goins (Graduated) 7.9 pts, 3.1 rebs, 2.8 assists
- Brian Williams (Graduated) 6.8 pts, 7.4 rebs, 1.4 assists
- Josh Bone (Graduated) 3.2 pts, 1.8 rebs
- John Fields (Graduated) 2.6 pts, 3.0 rebs
- Steven Pearl (Graduated) 1.9 pts, 1.6 rebs

Top Returners:
- Cameron Tatum - 8.8 pts, 3.1 rebs, 2.3 assists
- Skylar McBee - 3.0 pts, 1.0 rebs

Preseason OOC Opponent Preview - Greensboro College

Greensboro College
Location: Greensboro, NC
Last year: 12-15 (4-8)
Conference: USA South Athletic Conference (NCAA DIII)
Finish: 5th (out of 7)
Postseason: None
Last 10: 3-7
Coach: Bryan Galuski (7th Season)


2011-2012 Schedule
- 11/3 @ UNCG (Exh)
- 11/15 Johnson & Wales
- 11/16 Guilford
- 11/18 Bridgewater
- 11/27 Piedmont
- 12/3 @ LaGrange
- 12/7 @ Emory & Henry
- 12/17 @ Johnson & Wales
- 12/19 @ Covenant
- 1/1 @ Oneonta St.
- 1/4 @ Ferrum
- 1/7 @ Maryville (TN)
- 1/11 NC Wesleyan
- 1/14 @ Shenandoah
- 1/16 Allen University
- 1/18 Averett
- 1/21 Chris. Newport
- 1/24 @ Methodist
- 1/28 Ferrum
- 2/1 Emory & Henry
- 2/4 @ NC Wesleyan
- 2/8 Methodist
- 2/11 @ Chris. Newport
- 2/15 @ Averett
- 2/18 Shenandoah

Additions:
- Donald Anderson (Concord, NC)
- Darius Beresford ( Jonesboro, GA)
- Michael Brewington (Burlington, NC)
- Lawrence Butts (Campbell, AL)
- Devonta Davis (S. Petersburg, FL)
- CJ Griffin (Gates County, NC)
- Tracy Jester (Atlanta, GA)
- Jonathon Johnson (Greensboro, NC)
- Raheem Martin (Mocksville, NC)
- AJ Mussington (Tallahassee, FL)
- Anthony Stowe (Gastonia, NC)
- Brian Thomas (Castalia, NC)

Losses:
- Daren Dexter (Graduated) 15.6 pts, 6.8 rebs, 2.9 assists
- Lewis Owenby (Graduated) 6.9 pts, 5.4 rebs
- Adam Powell (Graduated) 7.9 pts, 2.8 rebs

Top Returners:
- Damian Dixon - 11.1 pts, 3.8 rebs, 1.8 assists
- TJ Holman - 7.3 pts, 2.0 rebs
- Chakiris Moss - 6.2 pts, 2.9 rebs, 2.7 assists

Preseason OOC Opponent Preview -Intro

I have to admit that I really enjoyed going through and looking at all of the SoCon teams from a statistical stand point and from a gains and losses stand point. Therefore, I have decided to go a step further and do this with all of UNCG's out of conference (OOC) opponents. So starting today, I am going to write 1 similar preview post a day.

New UNCG Sports Blog

Calvin Walters is the sports editor for UNCG's school newspaper, The Carolinian. He has started a new UNCG sports blog. There is a very good recap of UNCG's basketball kick-off event that took place this past Sunday, as well as some great pictures from the event.

I plan on putting it into my daily rotation of web sites to check. Hopefully all of you will do the same. Good luck with the new site, Calvin !!!

Rivals Preseason SoCon Prediction

Rivals has posted their Southern Conference predictions for the upcoming season. Nothing too ground breaking here. I'll just repost their predicted order of finish.

ORDER OF FINISH
North Division
1. Chattanooga
2. Western Carolina
3. Appalachian State
4. UNC Greensboro
5. Elon
6. Samford

South Division
1. Davidson
2. College of Charleston .
3. Wofford
4. Georgia Southern
5. The Citadel
6. Furman

SoCon League Preview - Wofford

Wofford
Last year: 21-13 (14-4)
Finish: Tied 1st South Division (SoCon Tournament Champ)
Postseason: NCAA Tournament
Last 10: 8-2
Coach: Mike Young (10th yr)

OOC Games:
@ Georgia, Emory & Henry, @ Wisconsin, @ Bradley, Tulane, Virginia-Wise, Jacksonville, @ High Point, @ South Carolina

Additions
- 6'-4" SG Lucas Brown - ESPN Rated 80 (Roseville, MN)
- 6'-4" PG Indiana Faithful - ESPN Rated 80 (Sydney, Australia)
- 6'-1" PG Karl Cochran - ESPN Rated 79 (Marietta, GA)
- 6'-5" SF Jarell Byrd - ESPN Unrated (Lynn, MA)
- 6-'8" PF Kevin Hickson - ESPN Unrated (Mathews, NC)
- 6'-6" SF Lee Skinner - ESPN Unrated ( Lombard, IL)

Losses:
- Noah Dahlman (Graduated) 20.1 pts, 5.6 rebs
- Tim Johnson (Graduated) 6.0 points, 8.5 rebs, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals
- Jamar Diggs (Graduated) 12.6 pts, 3.1 rebs, 3.1 assists, 1.8 steals
- Cameron Rundles (Graduated) 13.9 pts, 3.8 rebs, 2.5 assists, 1.1 steals
- Terry Martin (Graduated) 5.8 pts, 3.4 rebs

Top Returners:
- Brad Loesing - 6.2 pts, 1.4 rebs, 3.2 assists
- Kevin Giltner - 6.2 rebs, 1.4 rebs

SoCon League Preview - WCU

Western Carolina
Last year: 18-15 (12-6)
Finish: Tied 1st North Division
Postseason: None
Last 10: 8-2
Coach: Larry Hunter (7th yr)

OOC Games:
@ South Carolina, Montreat, @ Presbyterian, @ Iowa State, @ Northern Iowa, Northern Colorado, @ Purdue, Kent State, @ Bradley, UNC-Asheville, @ NC State

Additions:
- 6'-8" F Josh Mendenhall - JUCO (Greenville, SC) 8.3 pts, 6.0 rebs
- 5'-11" G Dillion Dunford - Lenior-Rhyne Transfer (Cullowhee, NC)
- 6'-2" SG James Sinclair - ESPN Unrated (Savannah, GA)
- 6'-7" SF Kenneth Hall - ESPN Unrated (Dallas, TX)

Losses:
- Mike Williams (Graduated) 15.4 pts, 3.5 rebs, 3.8 assists, 2.0 steals
- Richie Gordon (Graduated) 10.2 pts, 5.7 rebs, 1.4 assists, 1.5 steals
- Blake Gallagher (Graduated) 1.6 pts, 2.6 rebs
- Anthony Phillip (Graduated) 1.2 pts, 0.7 rebs (6 games)

Top Returners:
- Trey Sumler - 11.5 pts, 4.0 rebs, 3.0 assists, 1.1 steals
- Harouna Mutombo - 10.1 pts, 5.6 rebs, 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals
- Brandon Boggs - 7.7 pts, 3.7 rebs, 1.0 steals

SoCon League Preview - UNCG

UNCG
Last year: 7-24 (6-12)
Finish: 5th North Division
Postseason: None
Last 10: 3-7
Coach: Mike Dement (6th yr)

OOC Games:
@ Tennessee, @ Georgetown, UNC-Pembroke, @ Middle Tennessee State, Towson/Belmont, @ NC A&T, @ Florida State, East Carolina, @ Duke, VCU, @ Richmond, @ Miami

Additions:
- 6'-1" PG Derrell Armstrong - JUCO (Mechanicsville, MD) 21.4 pts, 8.9 rebs, 4.5 assists, 2.2 steals
- 6'-7" SF Nick Paulos - ESPN Rated 80 (Salt Lake City, UT)

Losses:
- Brandon Evans (Graduated) 11.9 pts, 4.1 rebs, 1.4 assists, 1.2 steals
- Darius Sellers (Early Graduate) 0.2 pts, 0.6 rebs (9 games)

Top Returners:
- Trevis Simpson - 11.8 pts, 3.6 rebs
- Aloysius Henry - 9.5 pts, 4.8 rebs
- Kyle Randall - 9.4 pts, 2.3 rebs, 3.4 assists
- Korey Van Dussen - 8.7 pts, 3.0 rebs, 2.3 assists, 1.2 steals

SoCon League Preview - Samford

Samford
Last year: 12-19 (4-14)
Finish: 6th North Division
Postseason: None
Last 10: 1-9
Coach: Jimmy Tillette (14th yr)

OOC Games:
Youngstown State, @ Jacksonville, Ga State, @ UT-Arlington, UT-San Antonio, Mercer, Lindsey Wilson, Spring Hill, @ Kentucky, @ Sam Houston State

Additions:
- 6'-0" PG Devin McNeil - ESPN Rated 79 (Birmingham, AL)
- 6'-4" SG Raijon Kelly - ESPN Rated 77 (Maplewood, MN)
- 6'-3" SG Brandon Hayman - ESPN Unrated (Braselton, GA)
- 6'-3" SG Conner Miller - ESPN Unrated (Stanley, WI)

Losses
- Josh Bedwell (Graduated) 8.3 pts, 2.5 rebs, 1.7 assists
- Josh Davis (Graduated) 7.5 pts, 3.0 rebs
- Andy King (Graduated) 6.6 pts, 2.3 rebs, 2.1 assists
- Gaby Bermudez (Graduated) 2.7 pts, 1.9 assists

Top Returners:
- Jeffrey Merritt - 10.3 pts, 6.3 rebs, 2.0 assists, 1.2 steals
- Gregg Wooten - 7.6 pts, 1.7 rebs, 1.5 assists

Socon League Preview - Ga Southern

Georgia Southern
Last year: 5-27 (1-17)
Finish: 6th South Division
Postseason: None
Last 10: 1-9
Coach: C.Y. Young (3rd yr)

OOC Games:
Valparasio, @ Wake Forest, Webber International, @ South Florida, @ SMU, @ Eastern Kentucky, @ Jacksonville St, @ South Alabama, @ Georgia State, @ Auburn, Brewton Parker

Additions:
- 6'-8" C Kameron Dunnican - ESPN Rated 89 (Sumter, SC)
- 6'-9" PF Tyrone Brown - ESPN Rated 87 (Milen, GA)
- 6'-1" PG Jessie Pernell - ESPN Rated 80 (North Augusta, SC)

Losses:
- Rory Spencer (Graduated) 9.4 pts, 5.1 rebs
- Zuri James (Transfer) 5.2 pts, 1.3 rebs, 1.1 assists

Top Returners:
- Ben Drayton III - 15.8 pts, 3.6 rebs, 4.5 assists, 1.9 steals
- Eric Furguson - 12.0 pts, 5.6 rebs, 1.5 steals
- Jelani Hewitt - 9.0 3.6 2.6 1.9
- Willie Powers (Medical Redshirt) 14.7 pts, 3.3 rebs, 5.5 assists 1.3 steals (2009-2010)

SoCon League Preview - Furman

Furman
Last year: 22-11 (12-6)
Finish: 3rd South Division
Postseason: CIT
Last 10: 5-5
Coach: Jeff Jackson (6th yr)

OOC Games:
@ Columbia, Mercer, Loyola (IL), @ Clemson, Virginia-Wise, Jacksonville, @ Western Kentucky, @ Presbyterian, @ Georgia, @ UNCW

Additions:
- 6'-7" F Bryant Irwin - St Joseph's Transfer (Bridgeport, WV) 4.1 pts, 2.3 rebs 2009-2010
- 6'-2" SG Jordan Loyd - ESPN Rated 83 (Atlanta, GA)
- 6'-6" SG Keith Belfield - ESPN Rated 80 (Charlotte, NC)
- 6'-5" PF Dominic Early - ESPN Rated 80 (Atlanta, GA)

Losses:
- Amu Saaka (Graduated) 15.6 pts, 6.5 rebs, 1.1 assists
- Noah States (Graduated) 10.4 pts, 4.6 rebs, 1.8 assists
- Jordan Miller (Graduated) 11.3 pts, 2.5 rebs, 1.7 assists
- Justin Dehm (Graduated) 6.1 pts, 1.5 rebs, 1.5 assists
- Darryl Evans (Graduated) 8.7 pts, 3.0 rebs, 3.5 assists

Top returners:
- Brandon Sebirumbi - 7.5 pts, 3.7 rebs
- Colin Reddick - 5.3 pts, 4.6 rebs

SoCon League Preview - Elon

Elon
Last year: 14-17 (7-11)
Finish: 4th North Division
Postseason: None
Last 10: 4-6
Coach: Matt Matheny (3rd yr)

OOC Games:
@ UMass, South Carolina, @ Princeton, @ NC State, Navy, Lynchburg, @ Dartmouth, @ San Diego State, @ UNC, Columbia

Additions:
- 5'-11" PG Austin Hamilton - ESPN Rated 75 (Herndon, VA)
- 6'-7" F Egheosa Edomwonyi - Sophomore Rice Transfer (Newark, NJ) Appeared in 6 games in 2009-2010

Losses:
- Chris Long (Graduated) 14.7 pts, 2.5 rebs, 6.1 assists, 1.7 steals
- Scott Grable (Graduated) 3.5 pts, 3.7 rebs
- David Meyer (Graduated) appeared in 5 games

Top Returners:
- Drew Spradlin - 13.6 pts, 4.1 rebs
- Jack Isenbarger - 10.4 pts, 3.2rebs, 1.9 assists
- Lucas Troutman - 8.8 pts, 4.1 rebs

SoCon League Preview - Davidson

Davidson
Last year: 18-15 (10-8)
Finish: 4th South Division
Postseason: CBI (Quarterfinals)
Final 10: 7-3
Coach: Bob McKillop (23rd yr)

OOC Games:
Guilford, Richmond, @ Duke, Presbyterian, @ UNCW, Vanderbilt, @ Charlotte, @ Kansas, @ UMass, Pennsylvania

Additions:
- 6'-3" SG Tyler Kalinoski - ESPN Rated 75 (Olathe, KN)
- 6'-7" SF Youssef Mejri 0 ESPN Unrated (Hammam Lif, Tunisia)

Losses:
-Brendan McKillop (Graduated) 9.5 pts, 2.3 rebs,2.3 assists

Top returners:
- J.P. Kuhlman 12.8 pts, 3.5 rebs, 3.1 assists
- Jake Cohen 12.2. pts, 6.2 rebs
- De'Mon Brooks 9.0 pts, 5.1 rebs

SoCon League Preview - Citadel

The Citadel
Last year: 10-22 (6-12)
Finish: 5th in South Division
Postseason: None
Last 10: 1-9
Coach: Chuck Driesell (2nd yr)


OOC Games:
VMI, Clemson, Florida Christian College, @ High Point, Coastal Carolina, Charleston Southern, @ James Madison, @ Denver, @ Tennessee, Virginia-Wise


Additions:
- 5'-10" PG Marshall Harris - ESPN rated 80 (San Antonio, TX)
- 6'-7" C Jordan Robertson - ESPN Rated 79 (Greensboro, NC)
- 6'-9" C Michael Hundley - ESPN Rated 79 (Farmington Hills, MI)
- 6'-7" PF C.J. Bray - ESPN Rated 79 (Charleston, SC)
- 6'-5" SF Dylan Setzekorn - ESPN Rated 79 (Gainesville, GA)
- 6'-8" PF P.J. Horgan - ESPN Rated 78 (Rio Rancho, NM)
- 6'-0" G Ashton Moore - ESPN Unrated (Suffolk, VA)


Losses:
- Cameron Wells (Graduated) 17.3 pts, 5.1 rebs, 4.3 assists
- Zach Urbanus (Graduated) 10.6 pts, 3.0 rebs, 2.9 assists
- Austin Dahn (Graduated) 10.0 pts, 4.3 rebs


Top Returners:
- Mike Grosselle 11.5 pts, 6.4 rebs
- Bryan Streeter 5.8 pts, 4.9 rebs

SoCon League Preview - Chattanooga

UT - Chattanooga
Last Year: 16-16 (12-6)
Finish: Tied 1st North Division
Postseason: None
Final 10: 4-6
Coach: John Shulman (8th yr)

OOC Games:
@ Indiana, @ Butler, Kennesaw State, Warren Wilson, Savannah State, Gardner-Webb, @ Mercer, Spalding, @ Kentucky, Hiwassee College, Longwood

Additions:
- 6'-5" F Z. Mason - Ole Miss Football Transfer (Nashville, TN)
- 6'-9" F Drazen Zlovaris - Georgia Transfer (Novi Sad, Serbia) 0.9 pts, 0.5 rebs 2009-2010 season.
- 6'-6" SF Lance Stokes - ESPN Rated 87 (Orlando, FL)
- 6'-1" SG Ricco White - ESPN Rated 77 (Knoxville, TN)
- 6'-7" PF Jared Bryant - ESPN Rated 77 (Cincinnati, OH)
- 6'-7" SF Trey Brown - ESPN Unrated (Brandon, MS)

Losses:
- DeAntre Jefferson (Graduated) 8.2 pts, 6.4 rebs
- Jeremy Saffore (Graduated) 3.4 pts, 3.3 rebs
- Troy Cage (Graduated) 4.1 pts, 2.5 rebs
- Jeff Smith (Graduated) 1.5 pts, 0.5 rebs

Top returners:
- Omar Wattad 14.3 pts, 3.7 rebs, 2.0 asists
- Keegan Bell 9.7 pts, 3.3 rebs, 5.7 assists, 0.9 steals
- Ricky Taylor 13.0 pts, 3.7 rebs
- Chris Early 9.3 pts, 6.3 rebs

SoCon League Preview - Charleston

College of Charleston
Last year: 26-11 (14-4)
Finish: Tied 1st South Division
Postseason: NIT (Quarterfinals)
Last 10: 6-4
Coach: Bobby Cremins (6th yr)

OOC Games:
Holy Cross, Morehead State, @ Clemson, @ Central Florida, Tennessee, Charleston Southern, @ Louisville, @ Coastal Carolina, George Mason

Additions:
- 6'-9" C Adjehi Baru - ESPN Rated 95 (Abidjan, Ivory Coast)
- 6'-1" PG Anthony Stitt - ESPN Rated 83 (Charlotte, NC)
- 6'-4" SG Trevonte Dixon - ESPN Rated 82 (Florence, SC)
- 6'-1" SG Patrick Branin - ESPN Unrated (Richmond, VA)

Losses:
- Andrew Goudelock (Graduated) 23.7 pts, 3.9 rebs, 4.2 assists, 0.9 steals
- Jeremy Simmons (Graduated) 13.3 pts, 6.2 rebs
- Donovan Monroe (Graduated) 12.4 pts, 2.7 rebs, 2.6 assists
- Jordan Turok (Graduated) 04 pts, 0.3 rebs (8 games)
- Garrett Campbell (Graduated) Appeared in 10 games

Top Returners:
- Willis Hall 8.4 pts, 5.9 rebs
- Trent Wiedeman 8.4 pts, 6.6 rebs
- Antwaine Wiggins 7.9 pts, 5.6 rebs, 1.0 steals

*UPDATE: According to this article Willis Hall has torn his ACL and is out for the 2011-2012 season.

SoCon League Preview - App State

Appalachian State
Last year: 16-15 (10-8)
Finish: 3rd North Division
Postseason: None
Last 10: 8-2
Coach: Jason Capel (2nd yr)

OOC games:
Lees McRae, @ ETSU, @ Tenn Tech, East Carolina (in Charlotte), Miligan, @ Minnesota, ETSU, @ North Carolina, Campbell, @ Miami (FL)

Additions:
- 6'-0" G - Rodney Milum - JUCO (Houston, TX) 9.7 pts, 2.4 rebs, 1.0 assists
- 6'-6" F/G - Jamaal Trice - JUCO (Los Angeles, CA) 8.3 pts, 2.7 rebs
- 6'-2" SG Michael Neal - ESPN Rated 84 (Greensboro, NC)
- 6'-3" SG Tabarris Hamilton -ESPN Rated 79 (Winston-Salem, NC)

Losses:
- Donald Sims (Graduated) 21.0 pts, 3.7 rebs, 3.6 assists, 1.7 steals
- Jeremi Booth (Graduated) 8.7 pts, 3.1 rebs
- J.R. Archer(Graduated) 1.1 pts, 0.4 rebs (7 games)
- Anthony Breeze (Early Graduate) 4.7 pts, 3.1 rebs (14 games)
- Marcus Wright (Transfer) 4.4 pts, 1.8 rebs, 1.2 assists
- Josh Nirenberg (Transfer) 0.5 pts, 1.5 rebs (4 games)
- Anthony Thomas (Transfer) 1.1 pts, 0.5 rebs (8 games)

Top Returners:
- Omar Carter 16.3 pts, 5.8 rebs, 1.3 assists
- Andre Williamson 8.7 pts, 6.3 rebs
- Isaac Butts (Medical Redshirt) 8.5 pts, 8.1 rebs (2009-2010)

SoCon League Preview - Intro

We're less than a week away from the start of practice. So, I decided that I would take a quick snapshot of the entire SoCon. Where they finished last year. What they've lost. What they've gained. Who are they playing this year. Looking at all of this info should help give you a better idea of how the teams stack up.

I am going to try to post at least 1 or 2 of these every day. Enjoy!

New 2012 Commitment

With 3 open scholarships for the class of 2012, UNCG has used one of them on 5'-10" PG Jordan Potts (Columbus, OH). According to Rivals, the Northland HS senior picked the Spartans over James Madison, Western Kentucky, Bethune-Cookman and a large group of other mid-majors.

- ESPN Recruiting rates Jordan at 80.

Strengths: A sturdy point guard whose body type borders on stocky, Potts runs the teams and distributes the ball for a highly talented All Ohio Red team. He rarely looked to create anything off the dribble and was typically content to keep the ball moving along the perimeter.

- Jordan's former HS teammate is Jarred Sullinger who was a McDonald's All-American and now plays at Ohio State.

- Jordan's AAU program All-Ohio Red won the 2011 Under-17 National Chamionship.

Here's a Youtube clip of Jordan from several years ago.


- UNCG won't released any information about Jordan until he officially signs his National Letter of Intent to play for the Spartans. We will post a link to that article when it becomes available.

-Welcome to the Spartans, Jordan !!!

Tanner New Spartan Director of Basketball Operations

Former UNC walk-on and VCU graduate assistant J.B. Tanner is the newest Spartan coach. Tanner will take over the Director of Basketball Operations duties from Brian Judski for the 2011-2012 season. Here is some of Tanner's bio from the UNCG Athletics website.

With the Spartans Tanner is responsible for many administrative duties including team travel, film, administrative recruiting and summer camps.

Tanner comes to UNCG after spending the previous two seasons as a graduate assistant on Shaka Smart’s staff at VCU, helping the Rams to a remarkable run through the 2011 NCAA Tournament which culminated with an appearance at the Final Four in Houston. Overall, the Rams won 55 games during Tanner’s two seasons in Richmond.

Tanner spent two seasons as a walk-on at North Carolina (2007-09), helping the Tar Heels to the 2009 National Championship. Tanner appeared in 39 games in two seasons as UNC won a pair of ACC championships under Roy Williams. Tanner spent his first two years at UNC as a member of the UNC Junior Varsity squad.

Newest Spartan - Derrell Armstrong

Wow, this post is a longtime overdue. Former Alleghany CC 6'-1" PG Derrell Armstrong (Mechanicsville, MD) has joined Nick Paulos as the newest faces for the Spartans for this upcoming season.

Armstrong was a teammate of Spartan player Aaron Bracket for one season before going on to earn honorable mention JUCO All-American status this past season at Alleghany. For the 2010-2011 season, Derrell averaged 21.4 pts, 8.9 rebs, 4.5 assists and 2.2 steals. Derrell was a 2009 graduate of Chopticon HS in Morganza, MD.

- According to Rivals, Derrell picked UNCG over Towsen.

- In HS, Armstrong was a 2009 All-Beltway 1st team player.

Armstrong led the Southern Maryland Athletic Conference with a 25.3 points per game average. Armstrong surpassed the 1,000-point plateau in just two seasons playing for Chopticon. Led team with 31 blocked shots. Produced averages of 7.9 rebounds, 4.3 steals and 2.4 assists per game. Shot over 70 percent from the free-throw line.

Surpassed 30 points on six different occasions during the season. Scored season-high of 33 points on two occasions, in overtime win over Glen Burnie on Dec. 22 and again against Leonardtown on Feb. 13. Scored in double digits every single game. Armstrong led the Braves to a 19-5 mark – with three one-point losses – and a 3A South semifinal appearance.

- Here is the article from the UNCG Athletics website after he signed his LOI.

Welcome to the Spartans, Derrell !!!

Spartans Release 2011-2012 Schedule

UNCG Athletics released the 2011-2012 men's basketball schedule today. You can read the article here. Some of the games, such as return games at Florida State, at Miami and a home game with VCU were known. There were the familiar names of Duke, East Carolina and NC A&T on there as well. But there were some very interesting teams. UNCG will play at Tennessee and at Georgetown as part of the Maui Invitational. While the Spartans don't actually get to make the trip over to Hawaii (they are 1 of the 4 "mainland" teams), they will get to play in a mini bracket at MTSU against the host team and either Towson or Belmont.

All-in-all I'm quite happy to see this schedule. While it does have some difficulty, there are actually some winnable contests for the Spartans. These type games have been sorely lacking the past few years. With a team that returns all but 1 player, I think this schedule will allow for some upward movement by UNCG.

11/3 Greensboro College (Exh.)#
11/11 @ Tennessee
11/14 @ Georgetown
11/17 UNC Pembroke
11/19 @ Middle Tennessee St
11/20 Towson/Belmont*
11/28 NC A&T
12/1 @ App St
12/3 @ Western Carolina
12/5 Elon
12/11 @ Florida State
12/16 East Carolina
12/19 @ Duke
12/22 VCU
12/30 @ Richmond
1/2 @ Miami
1/5 Davidson
1/12 College of Charleston
1/14 @ Citadel
1/19 Chattanooga
1/21 Samford
1/26 App St
1/28 Western Carolina
2/2 Citadel
2/4 @ Furman
2/9 @ Samford
2/11 @ Chattanooga
2/15 College of Charleston
2/18 @ Georgia Southern
2/21 Wofford
2/25 @ Elon
3/2 - 3/6 SoCon Tournament^

# Fleming Gym
* Middle Tennessee State
^ Asheville, NC