college_sports

Sat down on Wednesday morning and chatted it up with Bucs men’s basketball coach Murry Bartow for 35 minutes.

Bartow’s desk was completely covered with notebooks, papers and forms. Coach was definitely at work.

Bartow was in a good, talkative mood, and he openly discussed ETSU’s upcoming season, last year’s tough finish, and the current state of the program. He also addressed ETSU’s lack of size in the post – the Bucs’ tallest player is 6-foot-9 senior forward Kenyona Swader – and the potential the Courtney Pigram-led Bucs have to make a serious run this year, among other things.

Full transcript of the interview follows. Thanks for reading, and enjoy.

Part One

BTS: What are you, the other coaches and the team going to be focusing on these next couple weeks before the season starts? What do you need to shore up before things start rolling?

Murry Bartow: Well, a lot of stuff. You know, we have a lot of incoming guys trying to mesh with returning guys. So that’s probably number one. ... We had a pretty good team last year, won 24 games, but didn’t really get done what we wanted to get done at the end.

BTS: Which is the second straight year that’s happened.

MB: Yeah, two straight years here at home. ... And in a league like we’re in, some leagues around here, Big South, Ohio Valley, Southern Conferenece – that we were in, A-Sun – which we’re in, just like I tell all my boosters, there’s only one team from our conference that’s gonna be in the NCAA tournament. It’s just so tight.

BTS: And you know that going in to every season, which is different than if you’re in the SEC, Big 12 ... You’ve got a shot, no matter how many good teams are in your conference.

MB: Yep. Right. So it’s tough. I guess the bottom line, when you’re in a league like we are, and with the rules of the game the way they are, you just can’t put all your eggs into that one basket. You can’t say ‘Well, we won 24 games, but we didn’t have a good year cause we didn’t ...’ No. We had a great year.

You can’t ... I mean, obviously, you want to get to the NCAA tournament every year. And the type of program we are, certainly there’s high expectations here to win. But at the same time, I would hate it if we ever got to a point where – last year as an example – it was ‘We didn’t have a good year because we didn’t make the tournament.’ It’s hard to make the tournament, because you’ve gotta win the darn [conference] tournament. So ... anyway.

BTS: Cause then you turn into the Yankees.

MB: (Laughs)

BTS: No, not in a bad way. In the sense that nothing’s ever good enough. Last year, you post 24 wins, come up short in the title game, and then, all of a sudden, the season’s a wash, and half of your fanbase is going to say ‘Hey, what happened?’

MB: Right, right.

I think if you look at the history of the program, the past 50-60 years, we’ve been to seven NCAA tournaments. And if you look at the history, 24 wins is a good year. It’s a really good year.

But anyways, we had a good record, but came up a little short. And we have a good returning team. A lot of good returning guys. A lot of new guys that are coming in. I think we have a chance to be pretty good, but we really have a brutally hard early schedule. So, we’ll see. We’ll see how it all plays out.

BTS: Coming off the last game of the ’06-07 season, one you and your coaches got together, what did you decide were your biggest issues to address and try and fix during the offseason?

MB: I think the biggest concern is the two guys we lost, [Brad] Knuckles and [Eryk] Thomas. And the biggest concern is defensively. Cause last year, we were a good defensive team. But our best two – certainly our best two post defenders – were Brad and Eryk. So you lose them, you don’t have them back.

The biggest issue with our team is defensively, especially in the post.

BTS: And that’s what I’m noticing. I’ve been to three of the early shootarounds, trying to get a feel for the guys. Seems like there’s a lot of energy, a lot of good, natural talent, and they’re coming together pretty well. But if you look at your roster right now, you top out a 6-foot-9. You have three 6-foot-8 guys, but no one who’s going to be a dominating center. And there’s ways to get around that. But that’s going to be the obvious question going into this season: how are you guys going to deal with a team who has a dominant low-post scorer.

MB: Yeah. And, um, the answer to that is … a lot of creativity, defensively. You know, we’ll have to trap more. Double the post more. Do some different things to try and cover that weakness. Cause that’s a … that’s no question a concern going in. We’ve got an experienced post defender in Andrew Reed. But he’s about 220 and doesn’t have a lot of bulk. But he’s very experienced, very smart.

You’ve got Blake Mishler, who’s about 220, who played last year, who’s got a little bit of experience. So there’s a little degree of experience there.

And, um, plus we’re just going to have to be creative and double more and do some different things to try to cover that.

BTS: Who are you excited about with some of the talent you have coming in? I was particularly impressed with the little I’ve seen of Jacolby Davis. Who do you feel like flew under the radar a little, you guys picked up, and they can maybe put up some big numbers or just help the team a lot this year?

MB: Well, I think the first guy is Kevin Tiggs. Quite frankly, I think he has a chance to be one of our better players. He just brings a great energy, and he was the Division II JuCo player of the year. He had many options to go many places, and we’re very fortunate that he came here. Number one, he’s a great kid. He has just a great demeanor, personality. Just a great way about him, which is … I can’t state that enough. Because I just think that his body language, his demeanor, is gonna be very infectious for the whole team. Just has a great way about him. Plus, he can fly.

Jacolby is a guy who should have a big year for us. Very athletic. Very tough. Very competitive. Both he and Kevin are very competitive. We’re a very defensive-minded team. We press a lot and pressure the ball and we’re big on deflections, and that’s kind of his deal.

BTS: Do you see (Jacolby) probably spelling Dequan (Twilley) or Courtney (Pigram) at the point?

MB: Too early to tell. I wouldn’t even begin to predict who would start.

BTS: But you’ll rotate those three?

MB: Yeah. Dequan played around 27 minutes last year as a freshman. So, between those three, I think the minutes at the point … we should be in pretty good shape between the three of them.

BTS: What about Mike Smith? He put up strong numbers as a freshman. And he seems like he has a great work ethic. A lot of intagibles – diving after loose balls, making the extra pass. And he was your best 3-point shooter last year.

MB: Mmm hmm. He should really help out.

BTS: Tying that in, let’s talk about your offense. Everyone I’ve talked to sees this team as playing up-tempo. But you’ve talked about also playing aggressive defense. Sometimes it’s hard to match the two up. Going into the season, what’s your take on how this team will work the best offensively?

MB: Well, we’re an up-tempo team, and we’re not going to change that. We averaged mid-70’s last year. And I think with this year’s coming team, it’s pretty obvious we don’t have as much bulk inside. We’re going to be more perimeter-oriented. When you think of a Courtney Pigram, a Mike Smith, a Kevin Tiggs, a Dequan Twilley … I could go on. I think we’ve got a chance to be able to score – that’s not my biggest concern going in. Now, how we score. Do we run? We’re looking at a lot of different wrinkles, offensively. So, technically, there’s a lot of decisions to be made. Do we run this? Do we do this? But we’re a very up-tempo team. We push after a make or a miss, which is rare – most teams only push after a miss. But we’re gonna push it aggressively. I think a lot of what we do will start with Courtney, because Courtney can really score, plus, he can really pass.

We’ve got a lot capable scorers. I think we’ll shoot a lot of 3’s. Um, but I think we’ll be very aggressive. And I’d be disappointed if at the end of the year, you and I were sitting here, and we didn’t average – last year we averaged about 73 [points] a game – and I’d be very disappointed if we weren’t able to average more than we did last year. I just think we have a lot of guys who can score the ball.

Now, the biggest concern is that inside we might not have that one dominate scorer that, when we really need a basket, when we need to go to the block, we might not have that guy.

But we’ll be aggressive defensively, too. We’ll press a lot. We’ll pressure the ball. We’ll trap a lot. I think we’ve got a very long, athletic team, so I think we’ll be big on deflections.

BTS: Would you say, then, that in regards to dealing with the height issue, these next two weeks are going to be crucial in figuring out how you’re going to defend, rotate guys in out, and cover the floor? And maybe in figuring out what you’re going to do if/when you have to go up against a top-25 team late in the season, or in the tournament, with some low-post monster? How you’re going to take all your smaller pieces and make them work?

MB: Oh, well sure. Well, I … I think we’re gonna run into a lot of that early. I mean, Dayton, we’ll run into that early. Syracuse, we’ll run into that early. Oklahoma State, we’ll run into that early. Georgia. So, our first 10 games are going to be brutal. Our first 10 games are really going to be tough. And I think that’s a key question right out of the gate – defensively, how are we going to get stops? How are we going to manufacture enough stops to win? I think we’ll be able to … if you think you can score X number of points, how can we hold the other team to X …

BTS: I’ve heard 69 is your ideal number to hold teams to …

MB: Well, it is. That’s something we talk about every day, holding a ball club under 69 or less. But it depends on who you plays (laughs) … But, um, we’ll have a chance, defensively, to be good. We’re going to have to be a little more creative, do some different things, mix it a little bit more. Last year, Eryk Thomas was a phenomenal defender. And Brad Knuckles was a fifth-year senior who was very smart, and very solid post-D wise. And he could guard the guy he was guarding, but he could also stop drives and he was very smart. So, you take those two guys out of the equation, and you’re losing a lot defensively that you’ve gotta figure out how you’re going to play without. And I think we’ve got it figured out, we just have to coach it and stress it and execute it and see how good we can get.

BTS: Let me do a hypothetical. If you’re a fan sitting in the stands, and you’ve been an ETSU supporter for 10, 20 years, and you open the program this year and look at the roster, and you don’t notice anyone over 6-foot-9, how do you explain that? Granted, the way basketball’s been moving the last 5-10 years, you don’t …

MB: You don’t need somebody that tall. (Laughs). It’s not … I mean, everything being equal in a perfect world, everybody’d have their 6-foot-10, 250 kid who was a straight-A student. But it’s very difficult at the Mid-Major level to get that guy. I’m not saying you can’t. It’s just tough.

BTS: Did you have some close calls with recruiting that fell through?

MB: I don’t think you need one. I mean, you look two-three years ago, whenever it was, and we won 27 games and our two post guys were 6-foot-5. So, you don’t really need that at this level. I’m not, I’m not consumed with height. Now, I think inside you need toughness.

BTS: Because it’s partly a numbers game. Do you want a tough 6-foot-8 guy, or a slower, plodding 6-foot-10 kid …

MB: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I’ll take a 6-foot-6, 240-pound kid who’s tough as nails more than a soft 6-foot-9 kid any day of the week. And I think, again, a lot of the better players at the Mid-Major level are kind of those undersized posts. You look at George Mason, when they had their success a couple years ago, and their posts guys were undersized, thicker kids. My concern this year in the post is really not that we don’t have the 6-foot-9, 6-foot-10 kids, it’s that we just don’t have a lot of bulk. So that’s a little bit of a concern. I wish we had a guy who was 260 – our heaviest guy is 220. But talent-level wise, I think we have a chance to be pretty decent.

BTS: What about the big picture. You’ve posted strong overall records the last couple years. How are you finding the recruiting process? Are you getting kids’ attention right off the bat? I talked to Jalcoby, and he said he didn’t know much about the school at first, but was impressed when he talked with you and the other coaches and saw what was going on in the Dome.

MB: Well, I think first of all, it’s all about putting together a winning program. And, you know, that’s something I see every day in recruiting. You can try and sell a kid, and say ‘Yeah, we’re gonna win.’ But you can also pick up a media guide and see, over the last 15 years, who wins and who doesn’t.

We’ve got a pretty good tradition here of at least some winning. It’s really two pockets. Back when Mister Jennings was here, in ’89, ’90, ’91, that whole era. And we’ve been to a couple lately. And there is some history here of winning, which helps.

This is a great community. We’ve got great fans, great support. If you look at, again, Mid-Major level comparable programs who are all recruiting the same kid, and he’s looking at these 10 schools, we’re pretty unusual in that we average what we average. Because a lot of Mid-Major programs are getting maybe 1,200 [fans] or less, or 1,500. And last year we averaged about 4,500 a game. There’s a level of support here. They love basketball and the team. So, you’ve got that. It’s a very good school. Good community. We’ve got incredible housing for our guys. You add all that up, you know … I think we’ve been able to recruit pretty well, if you look at who we’ve been able to sign on, we’ve done a pretty good job recruiting.

BTS: Now, you mentioned the first 10 games, and it’s not an easy schedule. What do you guys need to come out of those first 10 games with? If you go …

MB: Our sanity. Our sanity. (Laughs).

Posted by Brian T. Smith
College Sports

For three weeks, Tennessee’s football team has been a bunch of bums, unworthy of carrying on the program’s great tradition.
But in the span of 8 1/2 hours Saturday, the Volunteers’ 59-20 loss Sept. 15 at Florida has almost been forgotten. Now, the focus is again on the present and what can be accomplished.
Amazing how one excellent game and a second straight Florida loss can change the outlook.
UT’s 35-14 woodshed job of Georgia, combined with the Gators’ epic 28-24 defeat at gritty LSU, now leaves the Vols in control of their East Division destiny.
Granted, there are few easy games in the SEC, but the orange-clad team which cavorted up and down Neyland Stadium for 3 hours and 16 minutes Saturday sure looks a lot more capable than those guys who missed tackles and gave up long kick returns as though they were a dime a dozen during September.
“You can go home and the wife will treat you differently,” quipped defensive coordinator John Chavis.
It was Chavis’ unit which set the tone with five 3-and-outs in the first half. Georgia’s dull game plan helped, but the Vols finally played like a typical SEC defense, stopping the run and hassling the opposing quarterback.
“I think the defense played pretty good,” reserve linebacker Ellix Wilson said. “We had fun.”
It’s been said that few coaches circle the wagons quite like Tennessee’s Phillip Fulmer. That was proven again Saturday when the embattled leader had his team ready to play their best game in his most critical game since the 1998 national championship game.
A loss would have dropped the Vols to 0-2 in the East and heated up Fulmer’s seat to even more uncomfortable readings. 
Now, UT, South Carolina and Kentucky are the East’s only one-loss teams and the Vols still have games with both remaining.
One game is an 8 percent sample size in a college football season, but if UT goes from here to nine or 10 wins and a good bowl game, it’ll be easy to find the season’s turning point. 

Posted by The Continuous News Desk
College Sports

The two small colleges in Southwest Virginia continued their impressive seasons on Saturday afternoon.
The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, ranked 11th in the latest NAIA national poll, moved to 5-1 with a 49-28 victory over Campbellsville, Ky. Senior running back Ra’Shad Morgan rushed for 191 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead Wise.
Meanwhile, Emory & Henry improved to 4-1 with a homecoming win over Hampden-Sydney. 

Posted by Tim Hayes
College Sports

Check Sunday’s BHC for the full write-up. Here are some quick notes and the leftovers.
__

Turn the ball over seven times in a football game, and you’re gonna have a hard time winning.

However, collect seven turnovers, and the game is probably yours for the taking.

It’s simple math. And for the Wasps on Saturday afternoon at Fullerton Field, the math was right.

Emory & Henry used seven H-S turnovers to pull out a big 29-19 homecoming win, knocking off a Tigers team many considered to be tops in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

Hampden-Sydney fumbled the game’s opening kickoff, and the snafu set a precedent. The Tigers would fumble three more times, while quarterback Corey Sedlar (27 of 50, 285 yards, two touchdowns) negated his big numbers with three interceptions.

E&H scored 19 points off H-S turnovers, and it proved to be the difference.

The Tigers posted 413 total offensive yards to the Wasps’ 306, and only had 30 penalty yards to E&H’s 81. But it was all for naught.

Wasps defensive back Bryan Furr had two big pickoffs, killing promising Tiger drives. Furr racked up 94 return yards via his two interceptions, and he keyed an Emory & Henry defense which shut H-S out of the end zone in the second half.

Meanwhile, the Wasps’ offense found a groove after the break.

Tied 19 all at halftime, E&H controlled the clock in the final two quarters, thanks to inspired running by Matt Gillespie (35 rushes, 130 yards).

While Gillespie tore up the middle of the field, sophomore Wasps quarterback Daniel Booher—a graduate of Tennesee High—began to pick apart the Tigers’ defense with a precise three-step drop that allowed him to find an open receiver and release the ball quickly.

H-S then became blitz-heavy, but the response was too late.

Gillespie kept chewing up yards, Booher had found his mark, and Emory & Henry was in control.

Three field goals by Luke Hawk (28, 26, 20 yards) aided the Wasps’ cause, as did Dustin Rexrode’s game-changing 31-yard interception return for a touchdown. Rexrode reached up and picked off an attempted screen pass by Sedlar near the 7:30 mark in the first quarter, then ran untouched into the end zone. The score gave E&H a 10-7 lead, momentum and confidence.

Posted by Brian T. Smith
College Sports

The Bucs continued their preseason pick-up games on Thursday afternoon. Today’s action took place on a side court inside the Dome.

Three games of loose – but up-tempo – full-court, 5-on-5 action. First game was to 15, next two to 12. Every Buc besides freshman forward Tommy Hubbard and Greg Hamlin took part. (Hubbard was in Boston, Mass., Hamlin sat out because of a currently undiagnosed knee injury.) The two Buc squads initially played easy and free, splitting the first two games. But the final contest was for real.

Recently-signed junior-college transfer Jacolby Davis stood out.

Davis, a 6-foot-1, 165 pound junior point guard, passed well, shot straight and was tenacious on defense.

Davis – the last addition to ETSU’s 2007-08 roster – spent his first two collegiate seasons playing for Georgia Perimeter College (near Atlanta, Ga). He ranked near the top of all junior-college players in steals back-to-back years, and averaged 15.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists his sophomore season.

Davis’ talent and drive were impressive. He’s quick off the dribble, has good hands, can penetrate and finish, and prides himself on his defensive abilities.

Davis is also vocal. He let out a couple good screams during the workout, and even challenged teammates when they missed an opportunity to cut through the lane or work themselves open after a screen.

Travis Strong, a 6-foot-2, 210 pound senior guard from Memphis, Tenn., also had a good outing. Strong was able to consistently create his own shot, hit the majority of his attempts from midrange and behind the arc, and had a number of athletic drives to the basket.

What follows is a short interview with Davis.

Jacolby Davis

BTS: You grew up in Meridian, Miss., and went to school the last two years in Georgia. How’d you end up here?

JD: They contacted me. I kept in contact with them. Kept in contact throughout the summer. Came on a visit, and I liked what I saw.

BTS: What did you like? What impressed you?

JD: The way the coaches handled everything. Always upbeat. They have a good program. Good winning program.

BTS: You’ve been here a little over a month. How’s everything going?

JD: Everything’s going good. I thought it’d take a while for us to get to know each other, but we’re coming along. The team’s getting together quite well. Everybody knows what we’re capable of doing if we play as a team. I’m looking forward to a great season.

BTS: What do you think of ETSU and Johnson City?

JD: It took a while to get used. Atlanta was a city, and this is sorta country. This isn’t a big city. So it took me a little while to get used to. But I’m coming around. It’s nice and quiet.

BTS: What are you working on right now?

JD: You never can be too good at anything. So I’m just working on ball handling, getting up shots in the gym, and really getting mentally prepared for the Division-I level.

BTS: Are you making progress?

JD: Everything’s going smooth. The coaches stay on me. They help me, motivate me, they keep me going.

BTS: What are you going to try to bring to the team this year?

JD: I get the team involved. I like to get assists, get the players motivated. Being a point guard, I have to keep them happy. I get the ball, get [my teammates] the ball, and play defense. I’m pass first. I like to see the ball move. If they have everything rolling, then I did my job.

BTS: What kind of feel are you getting from the coaches early on?

JD: They just want me to come in and be positive and be vocal on the court. Be motivated on the court, and keep everybody up and energized. So I bring good defense, and agitate, and I keep everybody ready to play.

BTS: Who are you connecting with right now?

JD: Courtney Pigram is a good guy. He can put the ball in the hole.

BTS: How’s the offense running? What kind of feel are you getting for it?

JD: We’re gonna be running up and down the court. Coach Bartow told us he don’t want us shooting no bad 3’s. So we’re gonna be running it and picking it. And that’s how I like to play, up and down. Old school. Get it up and down the court.

Posted by Brian T. Smith
College Sports