Spartans Picked to Win the North

Both the conference coaches and media have tabbed UNCG to win the North Division of the Southern Conference. Also Trevis Simpson was picked to the preseason All-SoCon team.

Davidson was picked to win the South Division and Wildcat D'Mon Brooks was picked as Preseason Player of the Year.

Predicted Order of Finish - Coaches PollNorth DivisionTeam (1^st Place Votes) Total1. UNCG (7) 592. Elon (3) 553. Western Carolina (2) 524. Appalachian State 365. Chattanooga 266. Samford 18

South DivisionTeam (1^st Place Votes) Total1. Davidson (11) 65 2. College of Charleston (1) 543. Georgia Southern 484. Wofford 325. Furman 276. The Citadel 15
SoCon Men's Basketball Predicted Order of Finish - Media Poll
North DivisionTeam (1^st Place Votes) Total1. UNCG (18) 1642. Western Carolina (9) 1443. Elon (3) 1194. Appalachian State 72 Samford 726. Chattanooga 59

South DivisionTeam (1^st Place Votes) Total1. Davidson (28) 176 2. College of Charleston 1343. Georgia Southern (2) 1204. Wofford 1015. Furman 626. The Citadel 37

2012-13 Preseason All-Conference TeamAndrew Lawrence, College of CharlestonTrent Wiedeman, College of CharlestonMike Groselle, The CitadelDe'Mon Brooks, DavidsonNik Cochran, DavidsonJake Cohen, DavidsonJack Isenbarger, ElonEric Ferguson, Georgia SouthernTrevis Simpson, UNCGTrey Sumler, Western Carolina

2012-13 Preseason Player of the YearDe'Mon

Scanning the SoCon Preview - Extreme Addition

So I've always made posts speaking highly of my friend John's blog over at MocsMania. I participated with a few other bloggers last season in his weekly "Scanning the SoCon" segment. This year, he is going to take it to a much higher level by having a blogger/writer from all 12 schools participate. Starting today, there will be extended previews on each school. Be sure to check out the site every day for updates.

Spartans to Play Asheville in "Secret Scrimmage"

Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports has posted this year's confirmed list of "secret scrimmages" for this season. Each team is allowed by the NCAA to play either 2 closed door scrimmages, 2 open exhibition games against lower division teams a combination of both. UNCG will be playing on Saturday against UNC Asheville. I'm not sure if there will be much information to leak out of this scrimmage as it is closed door and there really isn't a set format for any of these games. Here is the entire list ...

Thursday, Oct. 25
William & Mary at Longwood
Hampton at VMI

Friday, Oct. 26
Robert Morris at Penn State
Presbyterian at Western Carolina

Saturday, Oct. 27
Clemson at Georgia
Georgia Tech vs. Tennesseein Chattanooga
VCU at Virginia
Wake Forest at Charlotte
TCU at Texas A&M
Davidson at Texas
Texas Tech at Texas Southern
Xavier at West Virginia
St. Mary's at Arizona State
Colorado at SMU
Fresno at USC
Montana State at Utah
Tulane at Mississippi
Princeton at La Salle
UMass at Drexel
Richmond at Elon
St. Louis at Indiana State
Kent State at St. Bonaventure
Temple vs. Niagara in Scranton, Pa.
Pepperdine at UC Santa Barbara
Long Beach State at San Diego
Oregon State at Nevada
Loyola (Md.) at Delaware
Hartford at Hofstra
UNC Wilmington at Coastal Carolina
Drake at Northern Illinois
Boston University at Yale
UMBC vs. Maryand-Eastern Shore
Central Connecticut at Stony Brook
Montana State at Utah
Portland State vs. Seattle at Centralia CC
Sacramento State at UC Riverside
Boise State at Weber State
East Tennessee State at Furman
Tennessee State at Lipscomb
North Florida vs. FAU at Flagler
Charleston Southern at Mercer
Norfolk State at Campbell
USC Upstate at Gardner-Webb
UNC Greensboro at UNC Asheville
San Jose State at Pacific
UT San Antonio at UT Pan American
Ball State at Wright State
Lafayette at Columbia
Siena at Cornell
Fairfield at Quinnipiac
St. Francis (NY) at Iona
Manhattan at Wagner
Marist at Monmouth
Mount St. Mary's at Howard
Sacred Heart at St. Peter's
Holy Cross at Bryant
Middle Tennessee at Murray State
Bucknell at Youngstown
Belmont at Chattanooga
College of Charleston at East Carolina
Northwestern State at Louisiana-Lafayette
UMKC at Air Force
IPFW at Illinois-Chicago
Texas State at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
UT-Arlington at Southeastern Louisiana in Shreveport
Albany at NJIT
Seattle vs. Portland State at Centralia CC
Georgia Southern vs. Jacksonville
Arkansas Little-Rock at Centenary
Sunday, Oct. 28
Maryland at George Washington
Miami at South Florida
North Carolina at Georgetown
Ohio at Virginia Tech
DePaul at Wisconsin
Marquette at Illinois State
Rutgers at Harvard
Nebraska at Iowa State
Creighton at Iowa
Mississippi State at UAB
LSU at Rice
South Dakota State at Wichita State
St. Francis (Pa) at Binghamton
Wofford at Liberty
Bowling Green at Eastern Kentucky
Nicholls at Southern University
Samford at South Alabama
Tuesday, Oct. 30
NC State at East Carolina
NC Central at High Point

Thursday, Nov. 1
Stanford at St. Mary's

Davidson to Remain in SoCon

Per the Charleston Post & Courier, Davidson has declined an offer to join the CAA and will remain a committed member of the Southern Conference. College of Charleston has meeting s scheduled over the next few days that should decide whether the Cougars stay or leave to join the CAA.

Maryland Standout Coming to Greensboro

According to Edgar Walker of MarylandHoops.net is reporting that 2013 G/F Tevon Saddler (6'-4" Baltimore, MD/St. Frances Academy) has became the fourth player this fall to commit to play for UNCG. Saddler picked the Spartans over St Joseph's, Delaware, Miami (FL), Southern Mississippi, Towson, and South Florida.

- Here is the recruiting and commitment story on MarylandHoops.net and the Baltimore Sun.

- Tevon is a 2 star rated player by ESPN Recruiting. He is ranked as the #8 player in the state of Maryland.

- Rivals lists Saddler as a 3 star recruit.

- Scouthoops also lists Saddler as a 3 star prospect.

- Recruiting analyst  Reggie Rankin named Tevon the breakout star of last fall's "Under Armour Grind Session" in Chicago. Rankin had this analysis ..

Saddler is an athletic wing who has good length and competes on both ends of the floor. He excels on the break and from the wing off the bounce, where he can get to the rim and finish above it with a clear path. He is a slasher who will give a lazy defender nightmares. Saddler can rebound and initiate the break and is a very good and willing passer, but he must work to extend his range and make his jumper a consistent weapon to take his game to the next level. He plays with great urgency and is a capable multiple-position defender as well.

- Here is an article from the Baltimore Sun from last fall that gives the reader a glimp into Saddler's recruitment as a junior in high school.

Videos ...
Highlights


I-95 Challenge


Interview


Welcome to the Spartans, Tevon !!!

Spartans Get Another NC Player

According to recruiting analyst Evan Daniels (and multiple other outlets now) 2013 PG Diante Baldwin (6'-0" High Point NC/High Point Christian Academy) has became the third in-state player to agree to play for UNCG next season. Baldwin picked UNCG over App State, Winthrop, UNC-Asheville and Wofford.

- Baldwin is a two star rated by player ESPN Recruiting and is ranked as the #24 player in the state.

- Basketball Elite listed Baldwin as the #6 PG in the state of NC. The website also posted this about Diante after a local summer tournament ...

Quick/strong guard who can get to the rim and finish with a variety of moves. Highlight reel maker with the ball on a string- quick crossover dribble move. Athletic. Good body control in the air.

- The recruiting blog Phenom Hoop Report posted several evaluations of Baldwin this past fall.

Baldwin has “sneaky” athleticism and has exceptional ball handling and passing skills. He sees the floor really well. Baldwin does have good strength and athleticism and even had a few nice dunks in transition. Overall, Baldwin is a very active PG that has good fundamentals and basketball IQ.

- Baldwin participated in Dave Telep's Carolina Challenge.

-Now a couple of videos.





- Also, here is a link to another video from this summer's Peach Jam.

Welcome to the Spartans, Diante !!!

Talented Wing Chooses UNCG

According to ESPN recruiting analyst Dave Telep, 2013 SF Tyrone Outlaw (6'-5" Roxboro, NC/Person County HS) has committed to play next season at UNCG. Outlaw picked the Spartans over UNCW, Mississippi, Furman and Lehigh. He was also receiving attention from Virginia Tech and Murray State.

- Scout.com has Outlaw listed as a 3 star recruit.

- ESPN Recruiting has him listed as the #14 player in the state of NC.

- Basketball Elite ranks him as the #1 small forward in the state. They also call Tyrone ...

... of the most dynamic forwards in the class of 2013

- Outlaw participated in the prestigious Pangos All-American Camp in California this summer. He was also a participant at Dave Telep's Carolina Challange (alongwith fellow UNCG commit Clay Byrd).

- When referring to his performance at the Carolina Challange, one recruiting blog had this to say ...

Loved the way this kid played the game. He owns a strong 6’6” frame and competes on every possession. His strong takes to the basket stuck out to everyone in attendance and really describe his game. He didn’t back down to anyone and showed a lot of confidence out there. He also showed an ability to knock down the open outside jumper. Outlaw would be a solid get for any school simply due to his motor and strength.

Now for the long list of highlight videos.

From the Southern Jamfest.


More highlights.


From the Carolina Challange


Dunk Highlights


A few from the Wolfpacker ...

From everything I've read and seen anywhere, this is a very big deal for UNCG. With the style of play that the Spartans will play in the coming seasons under Coach Miller, having a dominant and athletic wing is absolutely needed. I can'twait to see this guy in a UNCG uniform.

Welcome to the Spartans, Tyrone !!!