SoCon Offseason News Update
by Robby Trail
Appalachian State
Coaching Changes: Mountaineers head coach Houston Fancher hired Daryl Robinson as an assistant. Robinson previously coached high school ball at Lee Road High School in Raleigh for ten seasons, taking Lee to the state playoffs nine of those ten seasons.
College of Charleston
Georgetown Transfer: The College of Charleston has announced that former Georgetown point guard Drew Hall has transferred to the Cougars. Hall, who averaged 3.5 points, 2 boards and 3 assists last season, will have to sit out a year under NCAA transfer rules. He will have two years of eligibility remaining when he starts play again for the 2004-05 season. Last week Hall was denied admission to Gonzaga for failing to meet academic requirements.
New Coordinator of Basketball Operations: Cougars head coach Tom Herrion has named Chad O’Donnell the team’s new coordinator of basketball operations. O’Donnell served in a similar capacity at Robert Morris last season.
Chattanooga
Trading Divisions: The Chattanooga will play in the North Division in the conference this year, trading division with Davidson. The trade will cause the Chattanooga to play rival East Tennessee State, who beat the Chattanooga in the SoCon Conference Final game last season.
New Floor in McKenzie Arena: Near the end of August, the Chattanooga Athletic Department unveiled a new basketball floor in McKenzie Arena. The old floor, which was several years old, was replaced with a new one due to player and referee complaints of difficult footing conditions last season.
JUCO Transfer: Chris Brown, a 6′ 7” forward from Polk Community College, transferred to Chattanooga from the Winter Haven, FL school. Brown averaged 16.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and led Polk in blocked shots and steals.
Coaching Changes: Assistant Tracy Garrick resigned his coaching position to take a job in private business. Garrick came to Chattanooga with head coach Jeff Lebo before the 2002 season.
Non-Conference Schedule: Chattanooga will open season at Kansas on Nov. 21, beginning a difficult non-conference schedule for the Chattanooga. The Chattanooga will also travel to Alabama and South Carolina in non-conference play.
The Citadel
Non-Conference Schedule: The Citadel will play South Carolina and Georgetown in its’ non-conference schedule this season. This marks the first time that the Citadel has played a Big East school in seven seasons with the last meeting being with Connecticut in 1996.
Coaching Changes: Citadel head coach Pat Dennis hired Miles Wilson as an assistant for the 2003 season. Wilson was an assistant at Randolph-Macon Community College last season. Wilson will work with developing the Citadel’s post players.
Davidson
Coaching Changes: Davidson head coach Bob McKillop hired Ali Ton to an assistant coach opening. Ton played at Davidson in the late 90’s and had been playing professionally in Turkey before being hired by McKillop. Matt Matheny was also promoted to associate head coach. Matheny has been an assistant at Davidson for 11 seasons.
Non-Conference Schedule: Davidson will open their season at Texas Tech as part of the preseason NIT tournament. They will also play Seton Hall, Georgetown, and Duke in nationally televised games.
East Tennessee State
New Head Coach: Murray Bartow was named head coach after Ed DeChellis took the vacant job at Penn State after leading ETSU to the conference championship last season. Bartow spent the last seven seasons as head coach at UAB.
Conference Contract Extension: The Southern Conference granted ETSU a two-year extension before the basketball team will have to find a new conference home. ETSU will be forced out of the Southern Conference after canceling its football program effective after the 2003 football season.
Coaching Changes: ETSU head coach Murry Bartow hired Micheal Boyd to fill an assistant coaching vacancy. Boyd coached as an assistant at Penn State for the past seven seasons. Boyd will take over the responsibility of recruiting for ETSU.
Elon
Switching Conferences: Elon moves to the Southern Conference from the Big South Conference this season, switching conference with VMI. Both schools were founding members in each of their respective conferences.
First Game Homecoming for New Head Coach: Ernie Nestor, a long-time assistant at Wake Forest, was named head coach. Nestor takes over for Mark Simons, who resigned shortly after last season. Nestor named Mike Preston and Jim Fitzpatrick to fill assistant coaching vacancies. Preston and Fitzpatrick were both head coaches for high schools in Virginia. Elon will open the season with Wake Forest, which will be a homecoming of sorts for Nestor.
Furman
Non-conference Schedule: Furman will travel to Big Ten schools Ohio State and Minnesota during its non-conference schedule.
Coaching Changes: Head coach Larry Davis hired former Ohio State assistant Mike Shedd to fill an assistant coaching vacancy. Shedd worked with the women’s basketball program at Ohio State as the video and summer camp coordinator.
Georgia Southern:
Non-conference Schedule: GSU has the easiest non-conference schedule of the Southern Conference schools. Their most difficult test of the non-conference season will be a trip to UAB on November 24.
Coaching Changes: Head Coach Jeff Price named Chad Dollar to an assistant coaching vacancy. Dollar was associate head coach at Eastern Kentucky last season, where he coached for the past two seasons.
JUCO Transfer: Second-team JUCO All-American Chad Fleming signed with Georgia Southern. Fleming, a 6′ 6” guard from Johnson County Community College in Kansas, led his team with 15.3 points per game last season.
UNC-Greensboro
Coaching Changes: Greensboro head coach Fran McCaffrey filled two assistant coaching vacancies by hiring Mitch Buonaguro & Adam Chaskin. Buonaguro spent the past seven seasons as an assistant at Cleveland State. Chaskin was a volunteer assistant at Greensboro last season after spending the previous two seasons at as an assistant at North Carolina A&T.
Non-conference Schedule: Greensboro has, perhaps, the conference’s toughest non-conference schedule. They open the season at Indiana on Nov. 21. Greensboro also travels to Missouri, Maryland, and Villanova during the non-conference season.
Western Carolina
Coaching Changes: Head coach Steve Shurina named Matt Allen to fill an assistant coaching vanancy. Allen spent the last season as an assistant at Dartmouth and was Dartmouth’s recruiting coordinator.
Non-conference Schedule: Western Carolina will open its season on Nov. 21 at Georgia. They will travel to Arkansas on Dec. 22 for another tough non-conference game.
Wofford
Coaching Changes: Head Coach Mike Young hired Brooks Lee to fill an assistant coaching vacancy. Lee is only one year out of college after graduating from Campbell University in 2002 where he averaged 9.7 points and 4.3 assists as the team’s point guard.
Non-conference Schedule: Wofford’s non-conference schedule rivals Greensboro’s in toughness. They open at Tennessee on Nov. 21. Other tough match-ups include Clemson, Vanderbilt, Dayton, and Minnesota.
