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

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

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.

Cole's Beats Buzzer for Overtime Win

Gold 56 - Blue 53 OT

UNCG Athletics

Brian Cole hit a 3 pointer as time expired in overtime to lead the Gold squad to a 56-53 win over the Blue team in this year's Blue-Gold scrimmage. The teams teams finished regulation tied at 49.

Walk on Brandon Davis lead the gold team with 17 points. Newcomer Aaron Brackett scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds. Freshman Drew Parker had a team best 7 assists.

Senior Brandon Evans led all scorers with 19 points and 6 rebounds. Aloysius Henry added 16 points for the Blue team. Korey Van Dussen had a game high 8 assists.

Kyle Randall and Trevis Simpson did not participate in the scrimmage.

Scrimmage Notes

I figured I would just post a few of my thoughts from the Blue-Gold scrimmage played this past Saturday.

- UNCG has a lot more scoring options from last year. Judging by the point totals, there are quite a few guys that can step up from game to game.

- PG was a concerning position last season. This season it may be the deepest spot on the team. Smith, Randall, KVD and Spooner all had good moments during the game. It's also nice to see PG's with the ability to score.

- The Spartans need Brian Cole to stay out of foul trouble.

- Pete Brown looks like the same player that finished last season on a tear.

- I get the feeling we are going to see a lot of zone defense to prevent our thin front line from getting into foul trouble.

- UNCG has the guards to really turn up the pressure on defense.

- East Carolina will regret letting Brandon Evan get away.

UNCG Wins

Well, it was bound to happen since it was UNCG vs UNCG. Sorry for the misleading title. Here is the game story. I'll post thoughts early next week.

Blue-Gold Scrimmage

When: Saturday Nov 6, 12 pm
Where: Fleming Gym (2,300)

- SoCon coaches picked UNCG to finish 5th in the North Division this week. Western Carolina, App State & Samford were selected ahead of the Spartans. College of Charleston was picked 1st in the South Division. College of Charleston's Andrew Goudelock was the Preseason Player of the Year.

- There will be a big change in venues for UNCG this year. The Spartans move from Fleming Gym (2,300) to the historic Greensboro Coliseum (23,500). The Coliseum is being sectioned off to seat ~7,600 for most games.

- There were no seniors on the team last season. However, the Spartans did lose 3 members of that squad over the summer. Daniel Oliver (St. Leo), Landon Clement (NC Central) and Damian Eargle (Youngstown State) all transferred in the off season. Clement lead the team in scoring in several games and Eargle was an all freshman performer.

- Last season, Mikko Koivisto lead UNCG in scoring (12.4) and assists (2.4). Ben Stywall averaged 11.7 points and a team high 8.4 rebounds.

- UNCG opens the season at #8 Duke (Nov. 13) and at Virginia Tech (Nov 17) before hosting #24 Clemson in the home opener (Nov 20).

- UNCG adds 4 very promising freshman this season. Brian Cole, Kyle Randall, Korey VanDussen and Taylor Hoffer join the Spartans for 2009-2010. Unfortunately, Hoffer has already suffered an injury and will sit out the entire season.