Way too early SoCon picks 18-19

[tya1]

Dishon Lowery, 6'6" 240 soph., says he will transfer from Wofford. Lowery was a high school teammate of Jordan Lyons and had recruiting interest from Furman at that time as well.

[tya1]

Wofford signed Isaiah Bigelow, a 6'6" SG/W from Greensboro,NC. A nice pickup for them. He had at least seven reported offers, including Chattanooga and Western Carolina, and actually originally signed with UNC-Charlotte before backing out after their coaching change.

Chattanooga got 7'0" transfer Thomas Smallwood from UAB. That sounds good. Smallwood's 1ppg and 1 rpg averages not so good.

Western Carolina signed 6'7" 265 lb. Carlos Dotson from the junior college ranks. He played high school ball at Dorman. Verbal Commits listed about 16 D1 offers for him. Really mobile and a decent ballhandler for a big man. Good low post moves. Mainly a below the rim guy.

[tya1]

Two of Samford's transfers have decided on their next stops - Wyatt Walker is headed to N. C. State and Justin Coleman chose Arizona.

Some other transfers announced. Freshman guard Keith Smith, who was the 5th leading scorer and third in playing time, is leaving VMI. Jason Williams is leaving ETSU. He averaged only 2.8 ppg but was a regular off the bench. ETSU has brought in a bunch of new guards and Williams probably saw the writing on the wall. James Lewis, Jr., who had early recruiting interest from Furman , is leaving Chattanooga after one year.

The Citadel announced four signees. Two transferring in from other schools and two freshmen. One freshman is Dimitri Georgiadis who is 6'9" 230 and the other freshman is 5'9" Jerry Higgins III, who went to VASJ (Cleveland area) and is a buddy of Mike Bothwell.

[dinhead]

One thing is very probable...there won't be such a clear delineation between the top 5 and bottom 5 next year. UNCG and Wofford will be the favorites, the cellar dwellers (UTC, VMI, Citadel) return all 15 starters and disappointing Samford gets a couple big man transfers eligible. Meanwhile ETSU and Mercer get decimated by "graduation" (I use that term loosely regarding ETSU), and Furman clearly has holes to fill. Of course JUCO's and maybe some graduate transfers could muddy the water, as the spring/summer progress.

1. UNCG - Should be formidable, returning Alonso, Dickey and Troy, their core players.
2. Wofford - Everyone who matters comes back including their starting 5.
3. ETSU - They lose 4 starters and 6 of top 8. But Hodges, Armus and some new mercenaries will help.
4. Samford - They lose 3 starters including Denzel-Dyson, and Wyatt Walker is transferring. But Coleman and Chambers are good and an Alabama transfer at F and a 7-0 C transfer from USF will be eligible.
5. Furman - The loss of 3 starters that were the core of the team hurt but they will reload with major talent upgrades
6. WCU - Core of the team returning but new coach will be wild card. Could be better. Could be worse.
7. Citadel - Everyone is back, literally. Some consistency could land them in the top half of the league.
8. Mercer - 4/5 starters gone (not including Holland) but they have some experienced depth.
9. UTC - Should improve as everyone returns but their 6th man. Is that good though?
10.VMI - Should improve as everyone returns but a part time starter/6th man. Same as UTC, is that a good thing?

I think that's a spot on analysis. While the good teams are reloading the weaker teams have a lot of returning starters but a long way to go. Should lead to more parody in the conference.

ETSU is probably the biggest question mark but it's hard to count out the mercenary factor. with so many guys transferring these days. The Citadel is going to be a real wildcard. Baucom is a heck of a coach and with another year to coach and recruit kids to play in his system they could easily be in the top 5 and perhaps even contend for the title.

Lot's of question marks for the Paladins but we certainly should be in the mix.

[tya1]

Sad news from Western Carolina - former coach Larry Hunter is in serious condition after suffering a massive stroke over the weekend.

Samford's Christen Cunningham has announced he is transferring to Louisville.

[fufanatic]

Sad news from Western Carolina - former coach Larry Hunter is in serious condition after suffering a massive stroke over the weekend.

Samford's Christen Cunningham has announced he is transferring to Louisville.

Can someone explain to me how Samford won 10 games this year but have players transferring to Louisville, NC State and Arizona? Sounds like they should have been a juggernaut and not an awful mid-major team.

[Monday]

The Louisville transfer and the NC State transfer didn't play bc of injuries. There is still one Samford transfer left to decide, Tristan Chambers, he played a lot of minutes last year.

[Paul C]

UTC suffers a couple big losses. 6’10” F Makinde London, arguably their best player, is leaving school to play pro ball (internationally I’m sure) and 6’1” starting G Malale Foreman (who played 87% of available minutes) is also transferring.

[lawdog]

Too bad about Larry Hunter; fine coach and classy individual.

Expect Prosser, WCU's new coach, to do a good job; talented and experienced.

[tya1]

Rodney Chatman, who averaged over 13 ppg last year is transferring from UT-Chattanooga. They have now lost their top six scorers from last year's team and only one was a senior.
They have two open spots. With only four players in the upcoming senior and junior classes they may look for some transfers. Especially immediately available transfers.

Some incoming players -

Western Carolina got a commitment from transfer Mason Faulkner, 6'1" guard, who is leaving Northern Kentucky with two years eligibility after sitting next season. Faulkner averaged 36 ppg as a senior at Caverna HS in Kentucky and was first team all state. He averaged about 6.5 ppg in two years at NKU.

Another transfer who will redshirt next year is Jalen Dupree, 6'8"235 soph., who is leaving Murray State for Samford. Dupree had 5.7 ppg and 4.4 rpg last year.

Dorde Dimitrijevic, 6'1" juco , will play for Mercer next year.

Rod Johnson, 6'7" forward from Highland CC , signed with UT-Chattanooga. He is from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin and originally signed with Northern Michigan out of high school.

[Monday]

Has anyone heard about plans for Jon Jean's scholly? Transfer or another freshman? Someone mentioned a kid from Myrtle Beach, but as a walk-on.

[furpep]

I know this is off topic and may get banged, but did anyone notice the non-coverage of Saturday's Furman graduation by the local Greenville paper? Nothing in the paper or internet.
This also goes back to the issue of non-coverage of our athletic teams by this local paper no matter how good we are.

[Paul C]

Rod Johnson, 6'7" forward from Highland CC , signed with UT-Chattanooga. He is from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin and originally signed with Northern Michigan out of high school.

Rod Johnson? Really? I can’t believe it took three days for someone to dig into their inner middle schooler and laugh about that. What would be AWESOME is if he played for South Caroina. “Rod Johnson to lead ‘Cocks against stiff SEC competition”

[Monday]

I always snicker when I hear, "For NPR news, this is Jack Spear(sp)"

[FUBeAR]

Rod Johnson, 6'7" forward from Highland CC , signed with UT-Chattanooga. He is from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin and originally signed with Northern Michigan out of high school.

Rod Johnson? Really? I can’t believe it took three days for someone to dig into their inner middle schooler and laugh about that. What would be AWESOME is if he played for South Caroina. “Rod Johnson to lead ‘Cocks against stiff SEC competition”

Well, now he’s a Moc Rod Johnson; perhaps his presence will create some really good vibes in Chattanooga.