At the Big South Conference Media Day yesterday, voters confirmed just how dangerous UNC Asheville could be this season, picking the Bulldogs to finish second in the conference behind defending regular season and tournament champion Radford. Asheville turned in a 10-8 conference record (15-16 overall) last season to finish fourth in the Big South, and fell to Radford, 94-86, in the conference semifinals.
The Bulldogs lose forwards Reid Augst and Jason Ridenhour, the only two players to start every game last season, to graduation. Augst led the team in scoring with 15.4 points per game and was second in rebounding. Although these departures leave a void in the Asheville frontcourt, the Bulldogs have reloaded and are prepared to fill it. Three returning starters and eight returning lettermen ensure that this will not be a rebuilding season. Junior forward John Williams is the Bulldogs leading returning scorer (12.9 PPG) and leading rebounder (6.6 RPG) from last year. Asheville also has one of the best guard tandems in the conference with sophomore Matt Dickey (named to the Big South All-Rookie team last season) and lone senior Sean Smith (the Bulldogs’ best three-point shooter, posting an incredible .457 mark). Both players averaged in double figures last season. Asheville will have outstanding depth at guard, including sophomore J.P. Primm, who started a number of contests and played big minutes last year.
In the frontcourt, there are several potential candidates to help fill the shoes of Augst and Ridenhour. Junior Eric Stubbs led the Bulldogs in field-goal percentage one year ago at .515. Asheville also has a pair of underclassman centers with tremendous size. Sophomore Sean Hobbs (7’2”, 260) and freshman D.J. Cunningham (6’10”, 240) should provide depth and a strong interior presence.
The Bulldogs will be tested early and often this season, as they embark on a grueling non-conference slate to begin the year. The schedule includes away matches with national powerhouses Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, and Charlotte. There will be 14 home games played at the Justice Center this year, as well as an exhibition match against Brevard on November 9th. Asheville tips off the official practice season this Friday night with the annual Jammin’ at the Justice event. The festivities will include scrimmages with both the men’s and women’s players, a slam dunk contest, and a three point contest. Jammin’ at the Justice begins at 6pm.
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Glad to see that someone's finally mentioning Sean Smith. It never ceases to amaze me how many times Williams, Primm, and Dickey are referred to without a word being said about Smith, who was arguably the Bulldogs' best player over the last dozen games of the season. Go Bulldogs!
ReplyDelete46% from behind the arc is incredible... Sean would have ranked 3rd in the nation, but needed just 3 more treys to qualify for NCAA stat-keeping. His touch has looked as good as ever in individual workouts this fall - which is good news, because he will need to carry a bigger scoring load without Augst.
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