JMU Men's Basketball vs. Kansas State

JMU Dukes vs. #3 Kansas State Wildcats
November 12, 2010, 9pm; Manhattan, KS

JMU got left out of the ESPNU rebranding...so I thought I'd work us up our own logo...it's just a rough draft so far...

Watch on ESPNU or ESPN3
Note: Ball St/Buffalo football is on ESPNU at 6pm, so it may run over into the beginning of the broadcast.

Check out the battle for purple supremacy at any of these semi-official locations:
Harrisonburg
Ham's

NYC
The Australian - 20 W 38th St (Btwn 5th/6th Ave - Map)

DC
Bailey's

Richmond
Big Al's West End
Bailey's Southside Richmond (Robious)

Fredericksburg
Glory Days (Massaponax)

Charleston, SC
Moe's Downtown Tavern (5 Cumberland St)

The Line
The line for the game is Kansas State by 19 (though it could change by a couple points before gametime).
If I were a betting man I'd take this line for JMU...

What to Watch
The first thing you'll notice tonight is a complete shift in energy for the Dukes. We are much deeper and seem to be in much better shape as well, meaning we can go 110% for the whole game. The Dukes are a much better defensive team this year as compared to last year. Look for our blocked shots to double and steals to increase by about 50%. Denzel has been studying Dwight Howard and is ready to get after it this year. He's trying to be a much better all-around player and the effort will pay off. With Goins joining him down low, JMU has probably the best frontcourt in its history. Both of them are near unstoppable on offense and are good at kicking it out. Goins will be pushing everyone he plays out of the way. They also have Trevon as a backup who is long and can block shots and grab rebounds.

Julius has much less pressure this year to be the big scorer, so hopefully he'll take the opportunity to be selective on his shot choice, square up, and take good shots. He could be a great player if he just plays without taking so much on himself. We now have plenty of scorers so if he's on fine, but if not he can give the ball up to someone who is having a good night. We also have a healthy Andrey who can come in with energy and aggression. He also has probably the smoothest shot on the team. Andrey wears his heart on his sleeve and everytime he raises his hands at halfcourt for JMU free throws it warms my soul.

Humpty comes in, not only with a sweet name, but a great shot. He's great from the outside and is more than capable when he has the ball in his hands of spreading it around. If he's hot on any given night, he could easily break 20 points. We also have the freshman Jackson who is probably one of the most mature freshman players I've seen in awhile (and by awhile I mean since Devon got here). He rarely makes mistakes and is a solid player.

The playcaller will be a finally healthy Devon Moore. He is one of those special players that makes everyone around him better. Not only is he great at controlling the game, but he can make great cuts to the basket and has a pretty good long shot. Backing up Devon will be Louis, who has as much athleticism and basketball IQ as anyone on the team. What he lacks in natural skill, he more than makes up for in talent. He's one of two seniors on the team and brings some life to this team when he's in. Devon and Louis are also the best players at anticipating passes on defense and snagging steals. Millen, our JuCo transfer guard, is a wildcard and it will be interesting to see how much playing time he sees in this game.

Step one tonight will be not to turn the ball over. We have great leadership, so hopefully we can limit these costly mistakes. Next will be to play hard, but not to the point of picking up dumb fouls. Our starting 5 can play with anyone in the nation, so we need them to stay in the game. The final focus should be on getting rebounds. We can't let Kansas State get multiple offensive rebounds or it won't be a close game.

If we do those things, play hard on defense, and we have a couple players on from behind the arc...look out...it could be a fun night.

JMU Game Notes

And in honor of Noop from the CAAZone boards:

They think they are

But they really are

I mean, honestly...any school that doesn't put the effort in to get a full mascot costume doesn't deserve to win a basketball game... When there are so many 'Wildcats' as mascots, it doesn't help your cause to be the cheapest out of the bunch.

Meet JMU Men's Basketball 2010

This is a whole new JMU Men's Basketball team. Here are my impressions of the guys from the Philadelphia exhibition game.

Devon Moore #40 
6'4" 180 lbs. R-Sophomore
Point Guard (Starter)

At the Philly U exhibition game he was still shaking the rust off from being injured last season. He went 1-7 from the floor. 2-4 on FTs. 3 assists, 4 TOs, but grabbed 4 steals. As the starting point guard, the offense runs through him. He makes everyone around him better and provides the most leadership out of anyone on the team. Is pretty good from behind the arc, but his biggest threat offensively is his ability to slice to the basket. He's also a stingy defender and hung tight with VCU guard Eric Maynor as a freshman.

Humpty Hitchens #12 
5'9" 175 lbs. Junior (Akron transfer)
Shooting Guard (Starter)

Humpty surprisingly earned a waiver from the NCAA to not sit out a year after transferring to JMU. He was the most impressive player from the exhibition. Smaller guy, but makes up with it in talent and effort. He was our only outside threat against Philly (5-9, 4-6 3pt). Humpty will be playing off guard this season and is rabid on defense staying tight on his guy and gets loooooow in his stance. He was able to grab 2 steals and a rebound in the exhibition.

JMU 2009-2010 Complete Men's Basketball Schedule

The full JMU Men's Basketball schedule for the 2009-2010 season was announced yesterday. Check it out. Exact dates for the CAA schedule are still subject to change as the TV schedule is worked out, so be warned that until that's set in stone (probably around October) you might not want to make definite plans. The Bracket Buster opponent will be chosen in late January. Conference games are starred and all teams are listed with last year's end-of-season KenPom rankings in parentheses.

UPDATE: Now includes exhibition game, game times, and TV schedule


Exhibition Game: Oct. 31 - Philadelphia (DII) - 3pm

Nov. 12 (Thu) - 7pm - @ Ohio State (37) - Coaches vs. Cancer Classic
Big Ten Network

Coaches vs. Cancer Classic @ Florida International
Nov. 20 (Fri) - 4pm - Murray State (137)
Nov. 22 (Sun) - 6pm - Florida International (262)
Nov. 23 (Mon) - 4pm - North Carolina Central (343)

Nov. 28 (Sat) - 7pm - UMBC (256)

Dec. 2 (Wed) - 7pm - Norfolk State (297)

Dec. 5 (Sat) - 2pm - Georgia State* (219)
CSN-MA; CSN-P; CSN-NE; CSS
----Dec. 11 - End of Fall Semester----
Dec. 12 (Sat) - 7pm - @ Eastern Michigan (306)

Dec. 17 (Thu) - 7pm - @ Gardner-Webb (252)

Dec. 19 (Sat) - 7pm - Radford (188)

Dec. 23 (Wed) - 7pm - Fordham (317)

Dec. 29 (Tue) - 10pm - @ Stanford (49)

Jan. 2 (Sat) - 4pm - @ Northeastern* (101)

Jan. 4 (Mon) - 7pm - Delaware* (201)

Jan. 6 (Wed) - 7pm - @ Old Dominion* (90)

Jan. 9 (Sat) - 2pm - Towson* (248)
CSN-MA; CSN-P; CSN-NE 
----Jan. 11 - Beginning of Spring Semester----
Jan. 13 (Wed) - 7pm - @ William & Mary* (227)
CSN-MA

Jan. 16 (Sat) - 2pm - George Mason* (88)
CSN-MA; CSN-P; CSN-NE; CSS

Jan. 20 (Wed) - 7pm - @ Drexel* (133)
TCN; CSN-NE

Jan. 23 (Sat) - 7pm - @ North Carolina Wilmington* (298)
MASN

Jan. 27 (Wed) - 7pm - William & Mary* (227)

Jan. 30 (Sat) - 12pm - @ George Mason* (88)
CSN-MA; CSN-NE; CSS; TCN-P

Feb. 3 (Wed) - 7pm - Hofstra* (175)

Feb. 6 (Sat) - 4pm - @ Towson* (248) 

Feb. 10 (Wed) - 7pm - Old Dominion* (90)


Feb. 13 (Sat) - 6pm - Virginia Commonwealth* (53)
CSN-MA; CSN-NE; TCN-P 

Feb. 16 (Wed) - 7pm -  Georgia State* (219)

Feb. 20 (Sat) - TBA - @ Bracket Buster

Feb. 22 (Mon) - 7pm - Longwood (313)

Feb. 24 (Wed) - 7:30pm - @ Virginia Commonwealth* (53)

Feb. 27 (Sat) - 7pm - Drexel* (133)
----March 6 - Beginning of Spring Break----
March 5-8 (Fri-Mon) - CAA Tournament - Richmond, Va.

As you can see it's a decent schedule. It might not be as tough as some were hoping, but like I said in my previous article about the out-of-conference schedule, some of these are series games that we can't exactly just say, "No, we're not gonna play you." The average ranking from last year for our OOC opponents is 230. Our CAA schedule averages out to 178. Considering we finished the year ranked 140 in the nation, I think we should finish the year pretty high.

With 31 regular season games, I don't see us losing more than 10 of them. Ohio State and Stanford are the only teams that are even close to guaranteed loses for us (though, I could see us coming close to an upset if we play well against Stanford). Murray State might give us some trouble, and we might have a tough opponent for Bracket Busters, so that's maybe 4 losses. As for our conference schedule, I think we'll do really well this year, especially at home. I think this is the year we will really start to see the Electric Zoo come back to life (though I don't see consistent sell-outs happening until next year). I count our possible losses as @Northeastern, @ODU, @Drexel, @George Mason, and @VCU. VCU will be down this year though, from losing their star point guard and a couple other big players to transfers, so we might not even lose at their. I'll allow for another random loss in our schedule somewhere. So I could see us, pretty realistically, have a loss record in the single digits.

Another thing to keep in mind is home games during winter break. We only have 4 home games during this period, and the best teams we play are Radford and Delaware, which should be fairly easy wins. We'll have students in session for all the major home games this season. In addition, Denzel Bowles, our next big man who is a transfer from Texas A&M, becomes eligible after Fall exams are over, so his first eligible game will be at Eastern Michigan. Denzel makes Dazz Thornton looks like an average height basketball player. He is a tree and I believe will be an immediate difference maker. Speaking of Dazz, he is in the best shape I've ever seen him in. Check out the pictures from the Pep Rally to see Dazz, Denzel, Julius Wells, and Ryan Knight. This is definitely a season to be optimistic about.

JMUSports.com | Full Schedule

JMUSports.com | Schedule Announcement

Coach Matt Brady and JMU sued by Marist

JMU Men's Basketball coach Matt Brady (along with JMU and the commonwealth of Virginia) are being sued by Marist college (Brady's former school). The lawsuit is over a line in Brady's former contract that states that he is not allowed to lure current players or recruits from Marist if he switches to another school. Four of his recruits from Marist (though only one of them had even signed a letter of intent) came to JMU. Some details have yet to come to light such as whether Brady was the one that asked them to come to JMU or if the recruits voluntarily followed him. JMU has yet to comment about the matter following their rule to not discuss current litigation. I think Hofstra Men's Basketball coach stated it best when he said, "I think that's ridiculous. They've got a good basketball coach at Marist. They should just move on." The fact that Marist is so ready to settle the case makes it look like they're not sure it's a very strong lawsuit.

DNR: Marist Sues JMU's Brady | DNR: Marist Clause Unusual?

For discussions on this topic, visit the CAAZone message boards.

JMU 2009-2010 OOC Men's Basketball Schedule

After the announcement of the game against Stanford, the out-of-conference schedule for the 2009-2010 JMU Men's Basketball team is complete. Looks to be a pretty good schedule with a couple really tough opponents that should push the Dukes to play their best. Brady is showing he has confidence in his team and definitely doesn't seem to be one content to do well, but wants to push to be the best. Unfortunately for the first part of that schedule, we won't have transfer Denzel Bowles until after Fall semester exams are finished (December 11). This means that the first game he should be available to play in is at Eastern Michigan. Additionally, it means that he will have four games to warm up before the game at Stanford, which could be crucial for post-season play. End of the year 08-09 Pomeroy rankings are in parentheses.

Nov. 12 (Thu) - @ Ohio State (37) - Coaches vs. Cancer Classic

Nov. 20-23 (Fri-Mon) - Coaches vs. Cancer Classic @ Florida International
(Murray State (137), North Carolina Central (343) and Florida International (262)

Nov. 28 (Sat) - UMBC (256)

Dec. 2 (Wed) - Norfolk State (297)

Dec. 12 (Sat) - @ Eastern Michigan (306)

Dec. 17 (Thu) - @ Gardner-Webb (252)

Dec. 19 (Sat) - Radford (188)

Dec. 23 (Wed) - Fordham (317)

Dec. 29 (Tue) - Stanford (49)

Feb. 20 (Sat) - Bracket Buster

Feb. 22 (Mon) - Longwood (313)

That puts our average opponent's rank at 230...not that difficult. Considering we ended last year at 140, the only teams that finished ahead of us were Ohio State, Stanford, and Murray State (barely). Let's hope we can take care of everyone we should beat, and at least play Ohio State and Stanford close. If we do that, hopefully we'll pick up a great team for Bracket Busters and get it televised. Also, the last time we played two BCS teams in one season was in 05-06 when we played Georgetown and Virginia Tech.

We'll have to wait another month before we get our CAA schedule, but so far it looks like we should be able to take care of business without too much trouble for most of these. We lost a couple crucial players, but we have a great group of guys coming back and an incredible recruiting class coming in that could possibly be productive from the beginning. Looks to be a great year for the Dukes and this writer has full faith in Coach Matt Brady.

An RPI builder?

Heiden Ratner Leaving Team

It was announced today that sophomore men's basketball player Heiden Ratner has decided to transfer from JMU. He saw his minutes drop off this year, and I'm sure he wasn't able to be as productive as he had hoped. In Heiden's two years as a guard at JMU, he was known for his in-your-face, one-on-one defensive style and the spark that he gave the team coming off the bench. Ratner, nicknamed "the Rat," was also known as the hardest-working player on the team and could always be found in the gym. He played in a total of 63 games for 1,021 minutes (averaging 16.2 minutes/game). He scored a total of 240 points, grabbed 100 rebounds and had 65 assists, 43 steals and 4 blocks. We wish you the best, Heiden, wherever you go.

Men's Basketball Hosts CIT game

JMU's Men's Basketball has made it into the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament and will be hosting a first round game against Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday night. More details to come when they're released.

2008-2009 Recap - MBB

We're baaaaaaack. After going 19-14 this season (9-9 in conference). In Coach Matt Brady's first year, he got more wins than Dean Keener did in his first three combined (6, 5, 7). He also got the same number of conference wins as his first three combined (3, 2, 4). Granted, the year before Dean started, JMU went 7-21 (3-15); and, the year before Brady started, (Dean's final year) JMU went 13-17 (but still only won 5 conference games). Brady also brought us our first CAA tournament win since March 7, 2003--not to mention he did this in outstanding fashion, winning 70-48 against William & Mary. Now for a full run-down of the year (stat's rank on the team is in parentheses):

The Coach
Coach Matt Brady
I love this guy. It is obvious that he lives and breathes basketball. He has an incredible amount of basketball IQ, and is the best in-game coach JMU has ever seen. Add to that the ability to land amazing recruits (see further down and an upcoming article on next year) and he has the makings of an amazing coach. But that's just the start...the guy knows how to teach. When he came in, he said he was going to focus on defense...and he did...
2007-2008: Opponent FG% - 48.2%; Opponent 3pt% - 36.9%
2008-2009: Opponent FG% - 42.4%; Opponent 3pt% - 30.8%
We also seemed to (directly or indirectly) improve on free throws, going from 72.1% to 75.4%, but seeing as he has been called the "shot doctor," I would say it was a direct influence. He is a very level-headed guy, even seeming to use technical fouls strategically and not purely out of emotion.

The Upperclassmen
Seniors and leaders of the team.
Juwann James
How could I start with anyone but Juwann? He has been the heart and soul of this team. Juwann, who had been the quiet garbage player (or Junk Yard Dog, as the CAAZone posters affectionately call him) on the team, was left to become the leader of this team. And take that position he did. Through the year, whether it be during practice or games, Juwann would let someone know if they were slacking or playing well. He also stepped up and played his position with force. And what worse could happen to a player like that than not being able to play. Juwann went out with a heart condition that put him out for 11 full games and parts of 2 others. This knocked him out of contention for being first team All-CAA, but he still managed to get second team.
Points - 329 (3) | PPG - 15 (1) | FG% - 57.7 (1) | APG - 0.9 | RPG - 5.1 (1)
SPG - 1 (2) | Blocks - 17 (2)

Kyle Swanston
Kyle, the other crucial senior, seemed to be the key to how the game went. He was our biggest sharpshooter and was also, unfortunately, very streaky. He hit a huge slump in the middle of the season that took him a long time to dig himself out of. When he was off, our team was off. Of our 14 losses, 9 came when he didn't score his average (he didn't play in one of the other losses). This is because when Kyle was scoring, it opened up the court and took pressure off of Julius Wells. When the pressure and coverage was off of Julius, he hit more shots. While less of a leader, he was definitely a key to this team and nothing hurt more than having to see him sit out for his senior game (the only game he missed all year).
Points - 373 (2) | PPG - 11.7 (2) | 3pt% - 41.3% (2) | 3pt made/gm - 2.7 (1)
FT% - 81.6% (7) | Rebounds - 113 (4) | Blocked shots - 9 (3)

Pierre Curtis
Pierre is the answer to who is taking charge of this team after Juwann graduates. He has been a solid player all year long, taking over point guard responsibilities when Devon Moore got injured. Pierre also showed during the CAA tournament that he can take over in high-pressure situations to get the job done, scoring a total of 35 points in JMU's two tournament games (went 13-18 from the floor, 3-4 from 3, and 6-6 FT). He is a leader and I have full confidence with him as a senior next year. He is also the only starter to play every game, and one of only two players on the team to play every game.
Points - 298 (4) | FG% - 50.9% (2) | FT made - 105 (1) | FT% - 82% (6) | 3pt% - 39.5% (3)
APG - 2.7 (1) | SPG - 1.3 (1) | Minutes/game - 31.1 (2) | Offensive rebounds/game - 1.4 (2)

The Freshmen
This group of freshmen are the highest scoring freshman class in school history. Not bad for Coach Brady's first recruiting class.
Devon Moore
An outstanding athlete with a great attitude--you will rarely find this guy not smiling, on or off the court. He has outstanding court vision and has the ability to make the players around him better because of this attribute. He can set players up, and has progressed quite a bit this year in cutting down on careless turnovers. Devon definitely has a bright future at JMU and was selected CAA Rookie of the Week once, was voted #2 in Rookie of the year voting in the CAA, and made the CAA All-Rookie team. He is also a great defender and has shown the ability to stick with some of the top guards in the conference. He also missed 4 and a half games because of the flu and a badly bruised wrist.
Points - 295 (5) | PPG - 10.2 (4) | FG% - 49.5% (4) | 3pt% - 29.7% (6) | FT% - 83.3% (4)
RPG - 3.7 (5) | Minutes/game - 32.6 (1) | SPG - 0.8 (4)

Julius Wells
Julius is a very versatile player that has a ton of potential. In high school, he played down low and never got the opportunity to playing in the positions he has this year. Given that, he has played amazingly, putting up game after game of very solid numbers. At times, he has shown some immaturity in attitude and shot selection, but with more experience I really think he could easily be one of the best players in the CAA. He has been our top scorer, but also our highest fouler and has the highest number of turnovers outside of our two top point guards. It's the numbers he puts up, however, in the score column that have astounded the conference, leading him to four Rookie of the Week awards, first team All-CAA honors and the CAA Rookie of the Year award. He is one of only two JMU players to play in every game this season.
Points - 379 (1) | PPG - 11.5 (3) | FG% - 38.6% (9) | 3pt% - 36.9% (4) | FT% - 68.2 (9)
APG - 1.2 (5) | Rebounds - 181 (1) | RPG - 5.5 (1) | SPG - 0.7 (5) | Minutes/game - 29.2 (4)

Andrey Semenov
Semenov is the crowd favorite from Russia. Who wouldn't love a guy that raises his hands for the Dukes on free throws with the rest of the crowd? He is another versatile player that can play many roles for this team. If he adds a little bulk over the off-season he could be a big time player next year. The one knock most people have against him is how much he ends up on the floor. If he adds some more muscle and learns to push through the fouls and continue with the play, he'll be another amazing player for JMU. He is already the best free-throw shooter out of the main rotation of players. Unfortunately, he got knocked on the head a few too many times at Georgia State and had concussion-like symptoms (though it was never diagnosed). Since missing three games, he still hasn't really recovered, and seems hazy and weak when playing. Hopefully it isn't anything serious and he'll be okay with a little rest and conditioning.
Points - 239 (6) | PPG - 8.2 (6) | FG% - 45.1% (5) | FT% - 86.5% (3) | APG - 1.3 (4)
Rebounds - 120 (3) | RPG - 4.1 (4) | Blocks - 20 (1) | Minutes/game - 24.6 (5)

The Role Players
The group that didn't always play the most minutes, but were valuable subs. Coach Brady loves these guys because it gives him the ability to strategically use each player's talents in key situations.
Dazz Thornton
Dazz isn't really as much of a role player as the rest on the list, but he fits best in this category. He has always seemed to possess enough skill to make some noise, but never had the aggressiveness to use it. He scored in the double-digits in only 7 games this year and grabbed a little over 3 boards a game. Dazz just didn't seem to have the conditioning to stay in for long enough to get in rhythm. He definitely was a huge help in some games though, especially the home win over George Mason and the first half of the 2OT loss at Hofstra before he had to leave the game. The addition of Denzel Bowles to the practice roster definitely helped push Dazz closer to his potential though, as five of those seven double-digit games came in basically the last third of the season. Dazz greatly improved his rebounding from last year, but his FG% and free throw shooting dropped down. If he can improve his shooting and get better at handling the ball he will be a valuable player off the bench next year.
Points - 197 (7) | PPG - 6.0 (8) | FG% - 50.3 (3) | FT% - 66.1% (10)
Offensive rebounds/game - 1.1 (T3) | Blocks - 5 (T4)

Ben Louis
Ben is the athlete from "down under." While probably not the most skilled player on the team, he is one of the better athletes, and knows how to channel his inner kangaroo to get some rebounds that a guy of his size has no business getting. His strengths are his ability to get rebounds and steals, make aggressive passes, and to provide a general energy on defense. He is also third on the lineup of point guards and is in the rotation with Pierre and Devon to give them breathers.
Points - 95 (8) | FG% - 40% (7) | FT% - 69.7 (8) | APG - 1.8 (3) | RPG - 2.1 (7)
SPG - 0.9 (3) | Blocks - 5 (T4)

Heiden Ratner
"The Rat" is probably one of the hardest workers on the team. He is constantly in the gym and does whatever he can to help the team. He is one of the best one-on-one defenders on the team and can stick on just about any player in our conference. He is definitely a role player that Brady will send in on defense to give the rest of the team a boost and provide some extra energy. The freshmen this year have cut down on Heiden's minutes (he plays half what he did last year), but even during the minutes he plays he doesn't seem to be as effective (as far as the stat sheet is concerned) as last year. All of his shooting stats have dropped pretty significantly. He is another player that definitely has a solid place on next year's team if he can get his shot back under control.
Points - 60 (9) | FG% - 35.2% (10) | 3pt% - 29.4% (7) | FT% - 52.2% (12)

Matt Parker
Matt is a solid outside shooter, but doesn't have the build or aggressiveness to take advantage of his height. He also has a habit of getting intentional fouls when the other team gets a breakaway on him. Overall, Matt is a pretty good player, he just needs to work on the defensive side of his game to stay in longer next year.
Points - 31 (11) | 3pt% - 42.1% (1) | FT% - 83.3% (4)

The Under 15 Games Club
The walk-ons and season-ending injury list
Scott "Scooter" Renkin
Though he didn't play too much and wasn't the best shooter, Scooter played hard whenever he got in and was a pretty good player. He also never missed a free throw (though he only attempted four) and grabbed a career high three rebounds in 11 minutes in JMU's win against Gardner Webb.
Points - 10 (12) | FG% - 30% (11) | FT% - 100% (1)

Ryan Knight
Ryan only got a chance to play 14 minutes in 10 games this year, and got three rebounds and had one assist.

Abdulai Jalloh
Jalloh was a preseason All-CAA pick, and was apparently shooting lights-out in preseason practices; unfortunately, he injured his shoulder at the beginning of the season messing up his shot. Jalloh played through the pain for six games of the season, but had to stop after that meaning that we were never able to see if Coach Brady was able to reel in his shot selection.
PPG - 7.3 (7) | FT% - 90.9% (2)

Cumulative Season Stats

Dukes Dominate Tribe

For the first time since 2003, the JMU Men's Basketball team won a game in the CAA Tournament. It was also the Dukes' largest margin of victory of the season, as they won 70-48. Teams had been having trouble adjusting to the Richmond Coliseum's baskets the whole day, but JMU was able to find their shot. William and Mary, on the other hand, was not able to hit their shots and only shot 35.2% for the night, sending them back to straight flipping copies. This was the first time a JMU opponent has shot under 40% since they played UNCW on January 31 and W&M was the only opponent all year not to hit the 50 point mark. This terrible offensive performance by the Tribe also included going 1-18 from behind the arc. It was like they had just gotten splashed in the eyes by a dolphin.

The Dukes, however, were on Friday night, especially in the second half. The first half saw JMU hitting 50% from the field and only 14.3% (1-7) from behind the arc. This gave them a 32-25 lead. They got hot the second half, though, and shot 59.1% from the field and an outstanding 62.5% for 3 (5-8). Junior Pierre Curtis had an outstanding game, going 7-8 (including 1-1 from 3), made all 4 of his free throws, grabbed 6 boards, and got a steal. Senior Juwann James played great and had 12 points, going 5-7 (though only hitting 2-5 on free throws) and grabbing 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Senior Kyle Swanston also had a great game going 3-5 from behind the arc, had 4 rebounds and got a steal. The trio of Julius Wells, Dazzmond Thornton, and Devon Moore each had 8 points and 4 rebounds. They Dukes were able to fully clear the bench at the end of the game, allowing all the players some tourney experience.

It was an awesome and commanding start for the Dukes. The two seniors after winning their first game in the CAA tournament in their careers probably felt like they were on a boat. Juwann was quick to make sure they were focusing on getting through Monday. He'll have to make it till then if he wants to be a champ and drink some Santana. While it is still very unlikely that they would be able to make it through that big blue watery road of the CAA tournament, if the Dukes play like they did yesterday, like Kevin Garnett, anything is possible.

DNR | RTD | Box Score
Photos

CAA Men's Basketball Awards Announced

Tonight the awards for this year's CAA Men's Basketball teams were announced. Among JMU's winners were:

Juwann James, senior forward, Second Team All-CAA
15.8 ppg, 0.9 assists/game, 5.1 rebounds/game, 0.8 blocks/game, 1.1 steals/game
After playing the first game of the year, Juwann missed the next seven after being diagnosed with pericarditis, an inflammation of the tissue surrounding the heart. He then collapsed at the home ODU game later in the season and would miss the next four games. One would have to think that if he hadn't missed those 11.5 games (plus part of the game at Mason) he would have been in the first team. He was deserving of it, and, after the leadership and consistency, he should have gotten first team. Regardless, congratulations to Juwann as he is an amazing and classy player that has suffered through a lot.

Julius Wells, freshman forward, Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie Team
11.8 ppg, 1.2 assists/game, 38.7% 3pt, 5.5 rebounds/game, 0.7 steals/game
After winning the Rookie of the Week award an astouding four times, Julius was almost a shoe-in for ROY (though Devon gave him some good competition). Julius was also one of only two JMU players to play in every game of the regular season (Pierre Curtis was the only other one and was the only player to start every game) scoring a total of 366 points this year. Congrats to Julius and thank you for such a great season.

Devon Moore, freshman point guard, All-Rookie Team
10.1 ppg, 3.1 assists/game, 31.4% 3pt, 3.6 rebounds/game, 0.8 steals/game
Devon (along with Juwann) has been called the most crucial part of the team. As pointed out in the article yesterday about him being cleared to play, this team seems to play its worst basketball when he is out. We lost all three conferences games that he didn't play in and we lost the double-OT game to Hofstra after he was injured mid-way through the second half. He makes all the other players play better, is a great defender, is one of the only JMU players that can penetrate to the basket off the dribble, and has necessary ball-handling skills that can't be overstated. Finished the regular season with 274 total points. Congratulations to Devon for the award--we couldn't be getting him back at a more crucial time.

Where I think we got overlooked:
1) Juwann not being higher. I discussed it above. Partially understandable because he was out part of the season, but how can you say he wasn't deserving of that First Team spot?

2) Andrey Semenov not being on the All-Rookie Team. I guess I can understand this, because we already have two of the six and they need to spread it around, but I think he could have easily gotten in. He also finished with 230 points and was part of the highest-scoring freshman class in JMU's D-I history.

3) Brady not getting Coach of the Year. This is the only one where I legitimately think JMU got gypped. He took a team that hadn't had a winning season in 9 years, took them 18-13 overall and 9-9 in conference, and brought in the CAA ROY, another CAA All-Rookie Team member, and another freshman that would have been in had it not been for the other two. Oh, and he had this winning season with his First-Team All-CAA preseason player (Abdulai Jalloh) on the bench for a majority of the season, his star gutsy senior out with heart problems for basically 12 games, the other senior in a shooting slump for the entire middle of the season and a concussion for the last home game of the season, one of his star freshman out for the final 4.5 games of the regular season after having the flu a couple times earlier in the season, one of his other freshman out with concussion-like symptoms and one of his few big men out with the flu for a game and a half. Even through all that he has this team inspired and the program re-energized. The only reason he didn't get it is because Bruiser Flint's team (Drexel) was picked to finished last in the conference in preseason voting. Because of this gross oversight by the coaches, Coach Brady didn't get the award. What Matt Brady has done at JMU is nothing short of remarkable.

JMU got a great mention in Who's Who in the CAA from the DC Examiner:

Who’s dangerous » James Madison. The Dukes (18-13) have lost their last three CAA games, but will be a threat if freshman point guard Devon Moore (wrist) and freshman forward Andrey Seminov (concussion) have recovered. JMU’s best inside threat, Juwan James, is back after missing four games with a chest ailment. First-year coach Matt Brady has done a brilliant job guiding his injury-riddled team to its first winning season in nine years. “I always have to check my trainer to see who’s practicing,” said Brady.

Devon Is Back

JMU's freshman point guard Devon Moore was back practicing Wednesday night. He will have one more day of practice before heading to Richmond for the CAA tournament (JMU plays its first game Friday night at 6pm against William & Mary). Devon Moore has become an integral part of this team and improves the rest of the team just by being in. It also allows for there to be two great ball handlers to be in at the same time (Pierre Curties being the other) which really opens up the floor and cuts down on turnovers. Devon also has a great ability to take the ball to the basket off the dribble better than anyone else on the team. As an example to show how crucial he is to this team: our worst four losses this season have been Davidson, @Mason, VCU, and @Delaware...Moore was out for the latter three. The only game the Dukes have won when Moore was out was against Gardner-Webb. He is an integral part of this team and it will be a huge lift to have him back.

While our guys are probably sapped of energy at this point given all the injuries and illnesses this season, I think they are ready to play some inspired basketball. As long as they can stay healthy from this point on, it will be the healthiest they've been almost all season. They've had a week off which will have helped them regain some energy. Andrey Semenov, who has seemed a little foggy at times during recent games after he was out for dizziness, has had time to clear his head. Dazz has had time to get over the flu and get back into good condition. I have to believe that after the final two games of the regular season (tying for the longest losing streak this season - shocking, right?) Coach Brady will have had some time to get this team focused again. I really like our chances to get back into our groove in our game on Friday against William and Mary. If everyone is healthy, we keep the turnovers under 15, and Kyle Swanston hits at least 30% of his 3's (opening up everyone else) I think we can get out of our first-round slump.

Coach Brady Interview #3

Here is the third interview of Men's Basketball coach Matt Brady by John Theobald (Feb 26):

1) What are the main differences between the MAAC and the CAA in your opinion in terms of fan support, gameday atmosphere, alumni support, etc ?

The biggest differences, to me, are the better resources, arenas and crowds that the CAA attracts to its venues. The other difference, and it is significant, is that most of the programs here in the CAA have a much larger and stronger demographic, in part, due to the very large alumni base each school yields. JMU really has state-wide appeal. In the MAAC, that is definitely not the case. It is more local community based.

2) Recently on the CAAZone there was a poll conducted asking who is the #1 player JMU could NOT afford to lose. In your opinion who is that player? (please find a large piece of wood to knock on after answering)

Well, we have already lost the two players, for significant time periods and CAA games, that JMU cannot afford to lose. Juwann James and Devon Moore. Hopefully, Devon could return by the CAA tourney and Juwann stays healthy. Two very big ifs, especially in light of the way the season has gone to date.

3) Assuming we will be playing from day 1 of the tournament, do you think our conditioning and preparationg has prepared us to make a long run?

Our backcourt is not very deep, our overall athletic ability as a team is only fair (in my opinion) and our health is still a major concern. That being said, our goal is to do whatever it takes in our game on Friday to play on Saturday. If we get to Saturday, we will use that same approach to advance to the next game. We have enough ability to advance but these other issues are real. We will need to play extraordinarily well to win games in Richmond. If we are healthy, I can tell you nobody we'll be excited to draw the JMU Dukes.

Path to the CAA Championship

After Saturday's disappointing loss to Delaware, we are set in the #7 seed going into this weekend's men's basketball CAA tournament in Richmond. Here are the matchups we're looking at (should we keep winning):

Friday, March 6th, 6pm
#7 JMU vs. #10 W&M
TV: CAA web streaming

Saturday, March 7th, 6pm
Quarterfinal
#2 Mason vs. #7 JMU
TV: The Comcast Network/CSS/CAA-TV

Sunday, March 8th, 5:30pm
Semifinal
#7 JMU vs. #3 Northeastern/#6 Drexel/#11 Towson
TV: The Comcast Network/CSS/CAA-TV

Monday, March 9th, 7pm
Championship Game
#7 JMU vs. most likely VCU (though Delaware, Hofstra or ODU could pull the upset)
TV: ESPN2

Not too bad of a schedule. If we get Devon back and start playing like a team again it might just be a schedule that could get JMU to the championship game for the first time in a very long time.

Senior Night vs. VCU

Tonight we honor our three seniors. Two of them have been with us for four years...three of those years were arguably the darkest days in JMU Men's Basketball history. They suffered through seasons that Dukes going 5-23, 7-23, and 13-17. This year, they finally have a good team behind them. Senior Juwann James has been the heart and soul of this team since he began here. This season, while he was only able to play in 18 games so far, he has averaged 15.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game. He has worked hard to improve his free throw shooting over his career. As a freshman, he hit only 45.9% of his FTs. This was followed by years of 54.1% and 55.5% free throw shooting. This year he has upped his percentage even more and is hitting 62.6% of his free throws. He has poured his heart and soul into this team. Not only that, but he has done so with the utmost amount of class you can imagine. This quiet leader has also stepped up into his senior role of leader this year and become more outspoken to improve his team. There is no doubt that he is the leader of this team when you talk to the other players. Andrey called him "a stone wall." Senior Kyle Swanston has also worked hard to put this team where it is now. He has 12.1 points per game this season and has a 40.7% 3pt average. In his career he has hit 190 total shots from behind the arc (4th all-time for JMU) and is a big reason why this year the Dukes set a new program record for three pointers. His career average of 34.8% for behind the arc ranks him seventh at JMU.

Tonight the Dukes play VCU, the number 1 seed in the conference, without freshman PG Devon Moore and possibly without Kyle Swanston. Tonight is a game that is all about pride. Tonight JMU plays to assert themselves in this conference and build up steam going into the CAA tournament.

And a quick shout out to the cheerleaders who are having their senior night at this game as well. Especially Courtney Doherty and Greg Perrow (famous for starting a JUM chant and messing up teaching the fight song at the 07-08 freshman pep rally) who have supposedly been working on some special moves for tonight.

Good News and Bad News

So we'll start with the bad news. It's senior night. We will be honoring our 3 seniors. What's worse than one of those being out for his last home game after being out most of the season (Jalloh)? How about a second one being out for just his last home game. Senior Kyle Swanston was hit in the head a few times in the Dukes' game against GW on Saturday and then again in practice on Monday. While he hasn't been officially diagnosed as having a concussion, he told the trainers that he felt "a little woozy," which sets off all sorts of red flags and means he can't play. The DNR has a pretty detailed article about it, so I'll just post that here:

Whatever supernatural force it is that has decided James Madison's basketball team will not be fully healthy this season - thanks, in part, to an uncommon bout of dizzy spells - apparently doesn't care that it's Senior Night. Senior swingman Kyle Swanston likely won't play in the Dukes' final regular-season home game today against first-place Virginia Commonwealth at the Convocation Center. JMU coach Matt Brady said Swanston "banged" his head a few times in Saturday's game against Gardner-Webb, then again in Monday's practice. "Kyle has had some spells of dizziness," Brady said Tuesday. "I don't know if they're calling it a concussion, but they feel he's symptomatic of it. I've been told it's very unlikely that he's going to play." If Swanston sits out today's game, Brady plans to start freshman Andrey Semenov - who earlier this month suffered his own brush with dizziness - at small forward alongside guards Pierre Curtis and Ben Louis and forwards Julius Wells and Juwann James. That makes the bench shorter, of course, with freshman point guard Devon Moore already out with sprained ligaments in his left wrist. "Dazz [Thornton] will come off the bench," Brady said. "Matt Parker may play. Heiden [Ratner] will play. Scooter [Renkin] has a chance to play. We'll see. I'll play it by ear and see what the lineup looks like and who can help us as the game progresses." Shifting players around and playing shorthanded is nothing new for this group, of course. Curtis is the only Duke to start every game. JMU players have missed a combined 42 games due to injury, and yet Madison is still 18-11 overall, 9-7 in the Colonial Athletic Association. But this injury carries more emotional significance. Swanston has been with JMU since the program's darkest days. The Dukes went 5-23 during his freshman season in 2005-06, matching the 1985-86 team for the worst record in school history, and 7-23 in his sophomore year. Last year's squad lost 14 of its final 18 games after opening with a 9-3 record. Toward the end of the season Dean Keener, the coach who recruited Swanston and coached him for three years, resigned. Through it all, Swanston has established himself as one of the most prolific 3-point shooters in JMU history. The 6-foot-7, 180-pounder ranks fourth all-time at the school with 190 career 3-pointers, and his 38.4 career percentage ranks seventh. So far this year, he's third on the team in scoring with 12.1 points per game and leads the CAA in 3-pointers made with 79. That's helped Madison post a winning season for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign. Regardless of whether they can win without him, the Dukes certainly wanted him to have a proper farewell game at the Convo. "For a person that's been here through four years and seen some tough years, and then have a good year and not be able to play on this night, it's going to be tough," Louis said. Said Brady: "It's certainly not how anybody would draw it up. You want to go out in a blaze of glory in your last game at home as a senior, and hopefully hit the game-winning shot. It doesn't seem likely that that storybook ending is going to be written tomorrow night." If Swanston doesn't play, he will be one of two seniors who will be honored in street clothes. Senior guard Abdulai Jalloh has been out since December with a shoulder injury. The one senior who will be available, though, has put together a career worthy of a gaudy ceremony. James - who fainted during a game in late January and missed several others because of a heart ailment - ranks seventh on JMU's all-time scoring list with 1,391 and seventh in rebounds with 617. The 2005-06 CAA Rookie of the Year is one of just two Madison players, along with Eugene Atkinson, to post at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 assists and 100 steals in his career. This season, he leads the team with 15.2 points per game, and though he's missed 11 games, he has a chance to earn All-CAA honors. "He's a terrific ambassador for JMU basketball and he's had a remarkable career," Brady said. "...I feel like I'm a much better basketball coach knowing that he's leading this team, and I always know that he's going to play his heart out."

Everyone pray that Kyle can play, because I can't think of too much worse than having an outstanding season like he's had and not be able to play in this game because of a couple knocks to the head. Anybody else think our players should start wearing helmets to practice?

Now for the good news! After further examination, it seems Devon Moore's wrist injury may have just been a very bad bruise. His appointment has been moved to Monday (as opposed to next Wednesday) where they will take another look at it. If they say it's okay, he will be cleared to play. Those couple extra practice days before the CAA tournament could be crucial. It seems the injury is closer to his thumb, and is on his left hand, so even with some pain he should be fine with most of his dribbling, shooting, and other motions.

Wells With CAA ROW #4

Was there any doubt? I did call it in my Gardner-Webb recap...as probably most people did after seeing his performance this week. For the second week in a row (and fourth time this season) freshman Julius Wells was named CAA Rookie of the Week. In JMU's double overtime loss to Hofstra, he scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed seven boards. In Saturday night's 12 point win over Gardner-Webb, Wells scored 21 points (8-15, 4-11 3-pt, 1-1 FT), grabbed 8 rebounds, and had an assist, block, and steal. In the past two games he shot 54.3% from the floor and went 9-22 from behind the arc. The guy is just incredible and does so relatively quietly. If you watch the Dukes play, he doesn't stand out, but he has played incredibly solid minutes pretty much every game this year. He's got to be a shoe-in for CAA Rookie of the Year.

In JMU's latest game, the Dukes hit a total of 10 3-pointers. This broke the school record for threes in a single season with 208. The team that held the record before was the 1993-94 team...the last JMU squad to make it to the NCAA tournament.

From CAASports.com (same article):

History In The Making: Since the CAA began playing an 18-game conference schedule in 2001-02, there have never been more than six teams with at least 10 league victories in a season. Heading into the final week of regular-season play, six teams have already reached double-figure win totals and James Madison is just one victory away from joining them."

Fabulous Freshmen: James Madison’s freshman trio of Julius Wells (356 pts), Devon Moore (274 pts) and Andrey Semenov (222 pts) have scored the most points ever (852) by a Dukes’ freshmen class at the Division I level. It’s also the first time that JMU has had three freshmen with more than 200 points in a season.

Devon May Return!

Right now it's still up in the air, but after a checkup at the UVA Medical Center today, the hard cast on freshman PG Devon Moore's left wrist has been replaced by a soft cast. Next Wednesday he will go for another visit where they will decide whether he can start practicing and play in the tournament (begins next Friday). Here's how I imagine the visit to have gone...

Devon: "What are my chances?"
Doctor: "Not good."
Devon: "You mean, not good like 1 out of 100."
Doctor: "I'd say, more like 1 out of a million."
Devon: "So you're telling me there's a chance....YEAH!"

I hope you got the reference... Now, I'm not saying get your hopes up. This is still just an outside shot that will depend on whether the doctor believes he could injure it further by playing. He probably wouldn't be practiced enough to start, but he could provide some much needed depth off the bench to give the other guards a breather. Since we are basically guaranteed to not get a first-round bye, the Dukes will have to play four games in four days (if they make it to the championship) and will need as many able bodies as they can get.

DNR blog post

JMU Tops Gardner-Webb By 12

The Dukes (18-11) started off this game strong. After freshman Julius Wells hit a 3 pointer to take a 5-3 lead, senior Juwann James stole the ball and took it back down the court and slammed it home. The next possession found Juwann wide open inside again where he got another dunk. After Gardner-Webb had taken the lead again at 12-10, we refused to leave our half of the court without hitting a shot from behind the arc. Julius took a shot, missed...rebound sophomore Ben Louis. Freshman Andrey Semenov tried for 3, missed...another rebound by Ben Louis. Julius tried his hand again for a 3, and missed...senior Kyle Swanston got the rebound this time. Kyle got it junior Pierre Curtis (playing point guard since Devon is out), who got it back to the senior who finally drained the 3 for the Dukes. With 8:31 left in the first half, the Runnin' Bulldogs took a lead of 9, their largest of the night, but it wouldn't last too long. With a layup, dunk and tip-in by Juwann and a three by Wells, the Dukes were back within 2. The Dukes would then tie it up with a dunk by Juwann with 1:23 left in the half at 39. Unfortunately, Nate Blank (who didn't miss a shot in the first half, going 3-3, 2-2) hit a 3 with 47 seconds left which would be the last points of the half. The half ended with Gardner-Webb up 42-39. The story of the first half was Gardner-Webb shooting lights out from behind the arc. They were 8-12 from 3-point range (JMU was 4-15) and 16-28 overall from the floor in the first period. This wasn't due to terrible defense by JMU (though they did bite on some GW headfakes), because GW was hitting contested. Luckily, JMU had enough open looks inside to Juwann who racked up 14 points in the first half.

While the Runnin' Bulldogs maintained their lead for the first eight minutes of the second period, the Dukes put an end to that. With 11:42 left in the game, Juwann hit a layup to put the Dukes up by 1...and they never looked back. The Dukes would ride this 19-1 run to take a 12 point run. The lead would never drop back to single digits. Later in the second half, Juwann jumped up and came down straddling Nate Blank. Juwann fell forward straight onto his knee and was on the floor in pain for a little bit for obvious reasons. He did get up and walk back to the bench and seemed fine afterward...could have ended up much worse. JMU would go on to clean the bench and put in every player on the roster (minus redshirted Alvin Brown). Freshman Scooter Renkin got in 11 minutes and got 3 rebounds for the Dukes playing pretty well. There was one miscue where it seemed he made a freshman mistake (ironically with 2 other freshmen) where Julius was set to inbound it to Andrey, but Scooter came over and demanded the ball. Unfortunately, before he passed the ball in he stepped over the line, turning the ball over...whoops. Matt Parker even came in to hit a 3 ball with 39 seconds left. The game ended with JMU defeating Gardner-Webb 90-78, the most points JMU has scored in regulation this season. FREE KLINES!!!!

Overall a good game by the Dukes. The second half they played some outstanding ball, especially not letting the Runnin' Bulldogs get back into the game once they pulled away. Pierre and Ben played some great ball tonight handling the PG position. Not having the depth that Devon gives us is going to hurt come tournament time, but for now they seem to be able to handle the position fine. Juwann had an incredible game getting 25 points (11-16, 3-5 FT) in 28 minutes and grabbing 6 offensive rebounds (7 total). He also had one assist, one block and one steal. Julius, who looks to be on his way to his fourth CAA ROW award, scored 21 points (8-15, 4-11 3-pt, 1-1 FT), grabbed 8 rebounds, and had an assist, block, and steal. Pierre ended the night with 16 points (6-7, 4-5 FT), a huge 9 assists and 3 steals. Kyle seems to be back in rhythm, hitting 5-9 3 pointers. He also got 2 rebounds, an assist, and a steal. The Dukes ended up with 10 steals, which is pretty impressive and shows that Brady's focus on defense this year has paid huge dividends. Another impressive stat is that GW only got 4 points in the paint in the second half...that's some incredible interior defense. The attendance of 4047 was a little disappointing for Juwann and Kyle's second to last game, but hopefully we'll fill up the Convo on Wednesday night against VCU. This will be a huge game and everyone needs to come, if for nothing else than to give our two amazing seniors a great last night!

Box Score | JMUSports.com Article | DNR
Game Photos (108)

Devon Out For Season

Devon Moore, JMU's starting freshman point guard, is out for the season it seems. He sprained ligaments in his left wrist in JMU's game against Hofstra on Wednesday. Devon was averaging 10.1 pts, 3.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and .8 blocks in about 32.8 minutes per game. He had built up a 49.7% FG%, 31.4 3pt%, and was a clutch 83.3% free throw shooter. In total, he scored 274 points this season and was on his way to hitting the 300 mark. He was also about to pass the 100 rebound mark (97). This is a huge hit for the Dukes who only have 3 games left in the season until the CAA tournament. While junior Pierre Curtis will be able to do a good job filling in at point guard, it drastically cuts down on our depth and we will miss Devon's ability to drive to the basket. Moore was also a CAA Rookie of the Week earlier in the season and had a great chance at making the conference all-rookie team.

DNR: Moore Probably Out For Season
Devon's stats for the year

2009 JMU Men's Basketball Recruits

Coach Brady has said several times that next year's class will be better than this year's freshmen were. This says quite a bit about how good they are looking because all 3 of this year's available freshmen have won at least one rookie of the week awards and have a good shot at making the conference all-rookie team. While the early signing period has already passed, the regular basketball signing period begins on April 15. Here are the possible guys becoming available next year. Underwood might not be coming, but nothing definite has been set.

Verbals:
Jonathan Underwood, Center, Phoenix (AZ) Progressive Christian Academy (MD)
6-9, 195 lbs; ESPN scouts grade: 75
ESPN (2007): Underwood has a long frame with extremely long arms. He's a quick athlete and has some bounce to his game. Clearly his strength is the shot-blocking department. Underwood has terrific timing on the defensive end and is a fairly decent rebounder, however, his offensive game (considerably raw in the post area) has a ways to go, but he does have a nice touch around the basket. In addition, he'll need to gain strength (got pushed around in the paint area at times) if he wants to garner some division one looks in the future.
Dunk of the Day

Eric Beard, Power Forward, Reynoldsburg (OH) New Creations Christian School (IN)
6-7, 180 lbs
Dunk and 3pointer
Dunk

Darren White, Shooting Guard, Ringgold (VA) Dan River
6-3, 180 lbs; 40+ vertical
Could be the best athlete on the team. Has the potential to be a star in the CAA by his senior year.
Monster dunk
Reebok Headliner

Trevon Flores, Columbus (OH)
6-10, left-handed
Dunk

Transfers:
Denzel Bowles, Power Forward, transfer from Texas A&M
6-10, 260 lbs; can play beginning in Dec, will have 1.5 years remaining
Top 75 player in his senior class nationally
3 star recruit (Rivals.com), 4 star recruit (ScoutHoops.com) and the No. 63 player in the country and the No. 13 center.
Already practicing with the team and helping Dazz and Alvin to push themselves and get better.
DNR: Brady Gets 6-10 Transfer

Currently Redshirting:
Alvin Brown, Forward
6-10, 210 lbs