Honoring the College of Charleston Basketball Seniors!

(Photo from L to R: Nardo, Philip, CofC President George Benson, CofC Head-Coach Bobby Cremins, Dontaye and David-photo courtesy of CofC Sports)

College of Charleston Basketball Seniors in Action
In their final home game, in front of the 3rd largest crowd at Kresse Arena the Cougars' 4 seniors did not have the blow-out victory they wanted, but a "W" is a "W" and there is still a lot of basketball for the Cougars to play before they move to greener fields.

Renardo Dickerson: Nardo only played for 4-minutes, and wasn't able to increase his stats, but he was a dependable presence on the court in transition.
Dontaye Draper: Dontaye went 4-6 from the field, scoring 8-points with 3-boards in his 27-minutes of play.
David Lawrence: David was a rock star for 30-minutes, putting 21-points on the board, hitting 7-13 from the field, 3-4 from the charity-stripe, grabbing 5-rebounds and he was 4 for 8 from behind the arc.

Philip McCandies: Philip was limited to only 5-points, but he played fantastic defense and grabbed 11-rebounds for the College in his 30-minutes of play. He took advantage of the Citadel's pressure-defense, hitting 3 for 4 from the charity-stripe. Philip is averaging 8.3-boards in the last 3-games.

College of Charleston holds off the full-press by the Citadel, winning at home 50-40

The Cougars improved to 20-9, 13-4 (SoCon) and clinched a 3rd-seed in the SoCon Tourney next week, with their win over the Citadel Bulldogs, 50-40. (Link is to the Post & Courier's article). The Bulldogs dropped to 7-21, 4-13 (SoCon) but don't count the Dogs out yet as we all know how formidable they can be in the SoCon Tournament. (Photo by Alan Hawes of the Post & Courier)

The Cougars shot 40% against the Bulldogs 22.7% as the College held the Citadel to a paltry 10-points in the first half, but as the Cougars rested on a lead of 24-points (shooting 53.3% from the field) in the 2nd-half, the momentum changed in favor of the Bulldogs as Dontaye Draper earned his 4th foul and the Bulldogs' defensive-press took effect: forcing 13 Cougar turnovers as the Bulldogs went on a 14-0 run (shooting 41.4% from the field), closing the Cougars' lead to 10 with less than 6 minutes left on the clock. The pressure of the Citadel press and the absence of Draper on the court allowed the Bulldogs to become dangerously close to putting a damper on Senior Night for the College's 4 seniors on the hardwood of Kresse Arena.

Despite Draper's return in the final 5-minutes, with a quick exit after getting his 5th foul with less than 3-minutes on the clock, the Cougars did not hit a field-goal in the final 9 minutes of the game as the Citadel closed the gap-trailing by 8-points (44-36). The Bulldogs have been plagued with injuries and tired legs all season, and it showed in the final moments of the game as the Dogs ran out of bite, despite closing the gap to 7 (45-38). The Cougars would find their salvation through "charity" as they added 5 crucial points from the charity-stripe, ending with their 10th straight victory over the Citadel, 50-40. Demetrius Nelson led the Bulldogs with 19-points.

College of Charleston Basketball Seniors in Action

In their final home game, in front of the 3rd largest crowd at Kresse Arena the Cougars' 4 seniors did not have the blow-out victory they wanted, but a "W" is a "W" and there is still a lot of basketball for the Cougars to play before they move to greener fields.

Renardo Dickerson: Nardo only played for 4-minutes, and wasn't able to increase his stats, but he was a dependable presence on the court in transition.

Dontaye Draper: Dontaye went 4-6 from the field, scoring 8-points with 3-boards in his 27-minutes of play.

David Lawrence: David was a rock star for 30-minutes, putting 21-points on the board, hitting 7-13 from the field, 3-4 from the charity-stripe, grabbing 5-rebounds and he was 4 for 8 from behind the arc.

Philip McCandies: Philip was limited to only 5-points, but he played fantastic defense and grabbed 11-rebounds for the College in his 30-minutes of play. He took advantage of the Citadel's pressure-defense, hitting 3 for 4 from the charity-stripe. Philip is averaging 8.3-boards in the last 3-games.

Teams---1st half---2nd half---total

El Cid---10---30---40

CofC---22---28---50

Senior Night! Renardo Dickerson

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Maroon Nation, I proudly present to you #14, Renardo Dickerson. "Nardo" is a junior college transfer from Miami-Dade Community College where he averaged 15-points and 2.4-boards per game and was a 42% three-ball shooter. Renardo has played in the guard-forward slot for the Cougars for the past two seasons. Last year Dickerson averaged 5.7-points and 2.4 boards per game in the 28 games he started.


Renardo's 2006-2007 season stats
Missing part of the season due to an ankle injury, Renardo has played in 16-games averaging 9.1 minutes per game. Nardo averages 4.2-points and 1.1-rebounds per game, with a 43.4% field-goal percentage for the season.

Senior Night: Dontaye Draper and Sapakoff's article in today's Post & Courier

Dontaye Dominic Draper is undoubtedly the leader of this year’s Cougar squad and he has the chance to become the first Cougar since Thaddeus Delaney to be named to the First team All-Conference in back-to-back years. Draper was a SoCon Player of the Year candidate and All-American candidate last season. Draper is also the only senior on the squad to spend all four years at the College of Charleston. Dontaye is averaging 16-points and 38.6-minutes per game this season. (Photo courtesy of the Post & Courier’s Mic Smith, the picture in the paper is mislabeled with Carmelo’s name).

The Baltimore, Maryland native began the season ranked 23rd on the All-Time Scoring List for the Cougars, and after a sensational senior season he is within one-point of passing Steven Johnson (played for the College of Charleston from 1984-1988, with 1,456 career points) as 7th on the Cougar’s All-Time Scoring List. Assuming he breaks the mark, he will be 49-points from Marion Busby’s 6th spot on the All-Time Scoring List.

2005-2006 Season
As the shooting guard last season, Draper led the Cougars with 18.5-points per game. He averaged 2.6 rebounds starting in 28 games for Cougars. Draper was named to the Billy Minardi Classic all-tournament team (University of Louisville tournament).

Gene Sapakoff’s finally penned an article worth his billing
Sapakoff wrote in today’s Post & Courier about the formula that produced the hard-working, corn-row wearing, future NBA star, Donataye Draper. The article covers every aspect of Draper’s rise to greatness showing with his body-ink a tribute to both his West-Baltimore background, where he developed life-long friends-namely Denver Nugget Carmelo Anthony and his love for his maternal-heritage, Aundra Coner his mother and Mary Coner his grandmother. Sapakoff also goes into detail about his player development due to his friendship with Anthony and his competitive performance at Carmello’s “boot-camp” this past summer.

Despite whatever numbers Draper leaves the College with, I am sure he will go on to a bright future and (just as Carmelo Anthony has) give back to his community. The young group named HOOD (Holding Our Own Destiny) from West Baltimore has their eyes on greatmess and with their talents, they will achieve their goals. The Maroon Nation will always have a special place in our hearts for Dontaye and as Draper’s remarks show, "When the College of Charleston started recruiting me and I read about the history here, I fell in love," Draper said. "Once I got down here, I never wanted to leave. I love the fans. I love the school. I just love everything about Charleston." Love is a two-way street.

Special note: Draper has won me over the past 4-years, but it was his use of my high-school soccer coach’s “buzz-word”, “lackadaisical” that made the final attachment of my heart strings. Good Luck Dontaye in your future endeavors, do what you do best on the court to return our Cougars to the Big Dance! The guys look to you as their General; we need you to have an unstoppable performance in your last two regular season games and in the Southern Conference Tournament if we are to have a “Cinderella story book ending” this season.

Draper and his teammates give the members of the Maroon Nation great anticipation for the possibility of March Madness. If the Cougars can dance this season, this team will go down as one of the greatest squads ever and coach Cremins will undoubtedly add to his legacy, returning to basketball and leading a mid-major school to greatness.

Senior Night: David Lawrence

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Maroon Nation, I proudly present to you #21, forward, David Lawrence! David is a junior college transfer, where he averaged 17-points, 6-boards and 3-steals per game. David was named to the "Top 25 Jr. College Player List" and a "Pre-Season All-American" by Street and Smith's Magazine garnering the attention of Coach Herrion-who brought him to the College. David was an All-SoCon Candidate last season averaging 9.3-points and 7-boards in 28-games. The most memorable moment of the 20065-2006 season had to be his 22-point performance in the SoCon Tournament against UT-Chattanooga.

Lawrence's 2006-2007 Season Stats
David is averaging 11.8-points, 6.6-rebounds and 7.1-assists per game. He played in 28-games this season, averaging 35.4-minutes per game while shooting 40.1% from the field. Great job this season David!

Senior Night: Philip McCandies

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Maroon Nation, I proudly present to you #2, Philip Thomas McCandies! Philip is a transfer from Virginia Tech where he played 28-games in the 2003-2004 season. McCandies (due to NCAA Rules) sat out the 2004-2005 season, but he started 28-games for the Cougars last season, averaging 5.2-points and 2.4-rebounds per game. Philip is a Corporate Communications major who knew how to send Furman a message earlies this season (see video).

McCandies 2006-2007 Season Stats
Philip is averaging 7.3-points, 7-boards and 1-assist per game, shooting 54.9% from the field this season. Phillip averages 26.3 minutes per game in the 28 game he's played. (Photo compliments of CofC Sports)

(Editor's Note: I am still spelling Philip with one-L despite seeing it spelled with one and two "L"s this and last season-please correct me if I am wrong.)