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.

Charleston vs Furman tonight 7pm on CSS!

On their way to a 20-win season, the College of Charleston basketball team (18-9, 11-4 SoCon) continues their road-trip as they face the Furman Paladins tonight, 7 pm. The game will air on CSS (Comcast Channel 42). This will be the 68th meeting between the two schools with Furman holding a 39-28 lead in the series. However, the College has won 5 straight and 16 of the last 18 meetings between the two schools. With the SoCon Tournament quickly closing in (February 28th at the North Charleston Coliseum), the Cougs have the opportunity to become more comfortable playing in a larger arena as tonight’s game will not be on held on Furman’s campus, but at the Bi-Lo Center in downtown Greenville. Tonight’s game marks only the 2nd time the Paladins have played a regular season game in the Bi-Lo Center since 1999-Furman lost to Davidson on January 10, 2007 for their first return to the Bi-Lo Center.

The College is playing their 2nd of 4 games in a 7-day stretch. The Cougars defeated Wofford soundly at the Benjamin Johnson Arena on Saturday, 71-58. A win tonight will clinch a 1st round bye for the Cougs and give them a 4th seed spot in the SoCon Tournament. After tonight the remaining games on the Cougars’ schedule are at home against the Citadel on Thursday and away at Georgia Southern on Saturday (ESPN 2).

The Paladins have won 4 of their last 5 games, and are in competition with Western Carolina for the 5th seed and bye in the SoCon Tournament. Obviously, this is too close to call as both teams have a Conference leader and a give-me left on their schedules: The Paladins have two away games left on their schedule at Davidson and at Wofford. The (Western-Carolina) Catamounts have App State and Elon left on their schedule.

Go Cougs!

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!

College of Charleston still has the best record in the SoCon!

I wanted a photo that spoke of the beauty and majesty of the College of Charleston. I couldn't find one I liked so I ran out on my lunch break and took this one with my old digi camera. (Photo courtesy of J. Trabert) Davidson is hot on our heels, but we are still number 1 in the SoCon (aka: the best in the business!)

Rank/School..........................................Record..............2006-2007

1. College of Charleston......96-40.........4-6


2. Davidson................................93-43...........7-3


3. Georgia Southern.................78-55...........5-3


4. Chattanooga.........................77-57............4-5


5. Appalachian State...............74-59...........6-3


6. UNC Greensboro................61-74............3-6


7. Furman................................59-73...........5-4


8. Wofford................................56-77...........4-6


9. Western Carolina................43-89..........4-3


10. Citadel..................................37-97...........2-8

Winthrop gives UNC-Chapel Hill a run for their money

Coach Gregg Marshall (CHOAD-Charleston Had Only A Day) rattled Roy Williams and the Tarheels tonight losing only by 7 in the NIT Season Tip-Off in Charlotte, N.C. Winthrop has knocked off a few big names in recent basketball memory: Clemson, Marquette, Georgia, Missouri and Providence to name a few, and with 4 returning starters for the Eagles, it wasn't that big of a surprise they led by 8 at the half. Then again, any team (Coached by Roy Williams or not) that turns over the ball 14 times in the first half is going to be trailing when they head into the locker room.

The Heels turned things around in the second half:

Baby Heel Marcus Ginyard finally learned to play some 'D' and shut down Torrell Martin who'd shot 6 of 8 from behind the arc in the first half, but was limited to only 1 for 7 in the second half. All of the Heels stepped up their 'D' in the second half causing 14 turnovers for the Eagles. Sophomore, Tyler Hansbrough kept Roy from losing his cool on the side-lines ending with 20-points and 10-boards. Wayne Ellington put 13 on the board and Brandon Wright electrified the floor with his 12-points.

The Eagles put up good numbers against the Heels and I am sure that other teams are taking note. Martin finished with 25-points, Michael Jenkins knocked back 15-points despite needing medical attention at the half and Craig Bradshaw finished with 14-points. After watching Winthrop play it is easy to see why the College wanted him so bad, but with 4-returning starters, a convincing wife and Winthrop Coliseum having a capacity of 6,100 for a school that only has an enrollment of 6,500, I guess it is also easy to see why Coach (CHOAD) Gregg changed his mind.

(Photo compliments of Winthrop Eagles web-site)

Southern Conference Basketball Begins!

So-Con Basketball Begins!
The CofC Cougars man-handled the Ga State Panthers (72-66) on the road, but we weren't the only ones to bring home a win in our first game.

Here are the current standings of the SoCon South Division:

1. Furman (2-0) defeated Charleston Southern 88-69 and Erskine 67-55


2. CofC (1-0) won on the road by six just a few miles from the "Thrillerdome". George Street has all of the talent and the magic of Coach Cremins, but can we deflate our egos in time to earn nationally ranking? Hey Coach, take a page out of Greg Schiano's book and just let the guys humbly chop wood, one-game-at-a-time.


3. Davidson (2-1) the Wildcats beat Central Connecticut State 91-64 and they beat Eastern Michigan on the road, 81 to 77 to get their first notch on the proverbial victory belt. Davidson may not be favored, but they always put a crafty and tough group on the hardwood, which is seen in their only loss to the Michigan Wolverines by 10 (68-78)


4. Georgia Southern (1-1) the Eagles put up triple digits in their win against UC-Davis (116-73) and lost to Duke by 24 (72-48).


5. Citadel (1-2) Our cross-town rivals the Citadel defeated Ohio Valley 79 to 58 for their home-opener Friday night to begin Ed Conroy's tenure and to kick off their Homecoming Weekend. The Bulldogs then lost (respectively) on the road to Michigan State (73-41) and Iowa (75-53).


6. Wofford (0-1) Woof! Woof!