Showing posts with label SoCon coaches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SoCon coaches. Show all posts

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Unanswered Prayers: Davidson Beats Themselves!


Let me begin by saying that the Davidson Wildcats represented both their school and the Southern Conference quite well. Unfortunately, Davidson's coach Bob McKillop's prayers were unanswered by the great Wildcat in the sky as his team lost to Kansas today 59 to 57 at Ford Field in Detroit.

Davidson was not out-played by Kansas, in fact they kept Kansas out of their game by keeping the ball out of the hands of Kansas' big men. Davidson lost because they quit believing. All year the press has made Davidson the "Stephen Curry Show" but alas, there was always four other guys on the court when he was dropping thirty points in a game. (Photo courtesy of AP/Chuck Burton)

You may blow off my psycho-analysis as much to do about a thing, but when Curry quit hitting his shots his teammates became deflated and even when they had the open shots they wouldn't take them. They for lack of a better word became scared. Curry too had a deer in the headlights stare, and it seemed as though the clock was about to strike twelve for Cinderella. Yet, Coach McKillop kept his team in it and kept the faith. But as the old adage about leading a horse to water tells us, the foregone conclusion was that the Wildcats beat themselves as soon as they looked at the clock and the scoreboard. They quit trying to win the game and started to trying not to lose the game, which as we all know, usually ends in defeat.

Friday, March 21, 2008

And I need Curry to go VROOM! Just like a motorcycle!


Davidson Wins Their 1st NCAA Tournament Game Since 1969!
Davidson beat Gonzaga today 82 to 76, shooting .500 from behind the arc, .491 from the field and .714 from the charity-stripe. I picked Davidson to win this game and as predicted it was one heck of a game. Good for Davidson, good for the SoCon and good for Stephen Curry's Mom, because everyone needs a good cry from time to time.

Curry goes VROOM!
Stephen Curry and the Wildcats proved a lot today: that a mid-major can compete on the next level and no matter how small the school or how small the player-if a kid can shoot he's hard to stop. Curry scored 40 points (30 in the second half) which to this b-ball fans was a big middle-finger to the "big" schools who passed on him (i.e. his Dad's alma-mater, Virginia Tech) due to his size and lack of chest hair. (Note: Curry has sprouted four inches during his tenure at Davidson). Another thing Curry accomplished today was that he became the first member of his family to win a NCAA Tournament game. Something his father and the Hokies never achieved. Good for you Stephen and congratulations to all of those in the Wildcat Nation.
(Photo courtesy of CNN.com)

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

College of Charleston selected as #1 in SoCon Coaches' Preseason Poll

Preseason Poll
1. College of Charleston (5) 86
2. Western Carolina (3) 77
3. Georgia Southern (2) 70
4. Elon 68
5. The Citadel 55
6. Appalachian State 54
7. UNC Greensboro 51
8. Wofford 33
9. Furman 27
10. Davidson 19
Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team.

First Team
Catcher—Blake Murphy (WCU), First Base—Jeremiah Parker (GSU), Second Base—Tim Carrier (UNCG), Shortstop—Michael Gilmartin (WOF), Third Base—Isaac Harrow (ASU), Outfield—Michael Harrington (C of C), Outfield—Chris Swauger (CIT), Outfield—Barrett Shaft (WCU), DH—Andrew Franco (ASU), Pitcher—Drew Saberhagen (WCU), Pitcher—Steven Hensley (Elon), Relief Pitcher—Garrett Sherrill (ASU)
Second Team
Catcher—Richard Jones (CIT)
First Base—Michael Kohn (COFC)
Second Base—Shane Kirkley (WOF)
Shortstop—Jason Altenhof (ASU)
Third Base—Nick Liles (WCU)
Outfield—Sonny Meade (CIT)
Outfield—Chris Shehan (GSU)
Outfield—Pat Irvine (Elon)
DH—Kyle Blackburn (GSU)
Pitcher—Ben Austin (WOF)
Pitcher—Tyler Sexton (WCU)
Relief Pitcher—Chris Masters (WCU)
(Source: the Post & Courier)

Saturday, January 5, 2008

The Cougs host Elon tonight at 6 pm!

The Cougars host Elon tonight at 6 pm, you can catch the game on ESPN radio 910. The Cougs have a one win streak (67-45 on January 20, 2007) against Elon and are 5-1 all time against the Phoenix. Elon's coach Ernie Nestor is 1-3 against the Cougs in his 5th season at Elon.

Recon: Elon's Montell Watson is their BMOC and he scored 18 points against the Citadel in their 72-63 win over the Bulldogs this week. Jermaine Johnson is leading the Cougs with 14 ppg over the last 8 games and Jermaine is shooting 54% from the floor. Andrew Goudelock is leading the Cougars' bench with 14 ppg in the last 4 games, shooting 45% from the floor.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Draper makes all-conference team becoming the 6th Cougar to reach this mark for two consecutive seasons!


For 14-consecutive seasons a member of the College of Charleston basketball program has earned all-conference honors. Previously, only five Cougars (Marion Busby, Thaddeous Delaney, Jody Lumpkin, Sedric Webber and Jeff Bolton) have earned this honor twice in their careers, but now Dontaye Draper can add his name to that illustrious list of former College of Charleston players, as he earned back-to-back all-Southern Conference Team honors by 10 of the SoCon coaches. (Coach Cremins is not permitted to vote for his own players.)

Draper started in 30-games this season, averaging 15.5-points, 5.3-assists and 4-rebounds per game. Coach Cremins said this season, “When Dontaye is playing to his potential that he (Draper) is probably the best point-guard he has ever coached.” And Cremins has coached a few stellar point-guards in his day. (Photo compliments of Wade Spees at the Post & Courier)

Interesting Nugget From the Post and Courier
If the College of Charleston fails to gain an NCAA Tournament or NIT bid this season, senior guard Dontaye Draper will become the first Cougar who has gone through four years in the program to miss out on postseason participation since Charleston became a full-fledged NCAA Division I member with the 1991-92 season.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Cougars face the Paladins


The College of Charleston (10-7, 3-2 SoCon) welcomes the Furman ‘Purple’ Paladins (7-8, 1-3 SoCon) Saturday night (6 pm) to Kresse Arena for the 67th game between the two schools. Furman leads the series (All-time) 39-27 but since both schools entered the SoCon, the College leads 16-2, with a current streak of 4-straight wins over Furman. The game will broadcast on CSS (Comcast Sports Southeast) with Matt Stewart doing the play-by-play and the legendary CofC Coach John Kresse painting the court as the color commentator. Also, the game will broadcast as usual on ESPN Radio-910-AM-with Tony-C and Easy-E calling the game for us.

From the Den:
Coach Cremins is 8-6 (All-time) over Furman. The last time the two schools met, the Cougars won by a basket 67-65 @ Timmons Arena, Feb.11, 2006. Josh Jackson scored 14-points; D-Lawrence scored 12-points and led the field with 9-boards. Dontaye Draper had a game high of 8-assists and had a career-high of 6 steals against Furman at the previous meeting between the two schools (1/7/06).

Furman Head Coach Jeff Jackson has a clean slate against the Cougars as this is his first year at the helm for the Paladins and Saturday will be his first trip to Kresse Arena. Coach Jackson is 28-68 in his 4 seasons as a head-coach, with a .292 (All-time) and .467 (at Furman) win percentage.

Recon
Despite having a losing record (of 7-8) and having but one win to keep the Terriers in dead-last for the South Division of the Southern Conference, the 5th-ranked Furman Paladins (1-3, SoCon) have a decent ball-club who can put points on the board. The Paladins lead the League in 3-pointers shooting 40.1%, with an average of 8.1 shots made from behind the arc per game and Furman has three starters averaging at least 12-points a game and 3 rebounds: Moussa Diagne (12.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg), Robby Ballstain (12.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 3.5 assists) and Eric Webb (12.9 ppg. 3.3 rpg and 5.3 apg). The Paladins lost to Georgia Southern by 2-points last Saturday and they lost to Davidson by 8-points on Wednesday. (Both Diagne and Webb scored 13-points in their loss against Davidson Wednesday night.) Side note: Furman lost to the currently undefeated Clemson Tigers on November 15th by 9-points.

Where the Paladins are weak-under the basket-Furman was out rebounded by Ga. Southern (33-19) and Davidson (39-24). Hopefully it is time for Josh Jackson to get angry! And Jackson and Johnson can do a little “shake and bake” on the boards-yes, I just said that; I can’t believe that just happened.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

CofC vs Davidson (Coaches and records)


Davidson is led by an 18-year veteran coach, Bob McKillop, who has the most wins in the SoCon for a head coach and the most wins for a Davidson head coach. McKillop is an enigma in the College Division 1 basketball world. He's been persued by numerous "big" schools (i.e. St. John's and Virginia) during his tenure at Davidson, yet still he decides to stay at Davidson (a school with 1,700 students) and makes winners of his teams each year both on the court and off. In McKillop's 17-years on the side-lines for Davidson, he has graduated 53 of 54 of his seniors-impressive.
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)
McKillop's Wildcats vs CofC
Davidson leads the rivalry 41-8 (All-time) and 9-3 (SoCon) with a current 5 game winning streak. McKillop is 9-3 against the College and is 294-216 (.518 W%) in his 18 seasons at the helm. Many of college basketball's talking-heads thought this would be a rebuilding year for the Wildcats after they lost 4-starters, but it seems, Davidson is "reloading" and not rebuilding as their only losses came from major opponents Michigan (78-68), Mizzou (81-75), and Duke (75-47). Davidson is currently riding an eight game winning streak.
Cremins' Cougars vs Davidson
Although the Cougars trail the Wildcats in the rivalry, the College leads the SoCon in the most wins (94-35) with Davidson trailing (89-40) as a close second, but in the words of Ricky Bobby, "If you ain't first-you're last!" Cougar Coach Bobby Cremins is 8-1 against the Wildcats with his lone loss at Belk Arena on Jan. 30, 1980 when he coached App State. Coach Cremins is 9-6 (.600) in his first year as the leader of the Maroons, and Cremins is 463-313 (.597) in his 26 seasons on the side-lines. In the last meeting between the two schools, the Cougars lost at Belk Arena 63-65 on February 25, 2006. The Cougars are currently 9-6, as they ride a six game winning streak.
Although McKillop is the Coach K of the SoCon as Bobby referred to him on the B.C. Show, I think tonight's victory will go to the Cougars! Go Cougs!