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.