olympia Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 BIO / backstory: Don Nash played his college ball at the University of Tennessee under Bruce Pearl - ah the glory days of going to the NCAA tournament every year. He blew his knee out during his senior season thus ending any hopes of a playing career. However, it may have been a blessing in disguise as he spent that season on the bench next to Coach Pearl learning more about how to coach the game. In fact, there were a few inquiries for his services at graduation from a number of colleges around the country. Nash followed his heart - and his financee to North Carolina where she was offered a job at the Lowe's Home Centers Corporate Office. As fate has it, the local high school was in need of a new basketball coach, and Nash was given the job. Fast forward 4 years - Coach Nash had implemented many of the "Pearls of wisdom" into the high school program. They played an uptempo / full court press type of game to wear down their opponents, and were very proficient at shooting the 3. Coach Nash took them to the state finals where they lost to Gaston High School who was led by Junior Claude Trott averaging over 20 pts a game. After that season, a small local college came calling,. Gardner Webb's coach Lee Manning left for the "greener pastures" of Holy Cross after leading GWU to the Big South regular season title and a NIT bid. Manning was 77-52 in his tenure here (49-23 in conference play),. Twice they had the worst recruiting class in the Big South, but last year they signed the top class led by Center/PF James Villa, the #100 player in the nation. GWU had taken notice of Coach Nash's team and their rise from local high school to state powerhouse. They'd like to see that same transition for their university. After consultation with his wife and with Coach Pearl, Don Nash agreed to become the new head coach at Gardner Webb. The question now is will his brand of basketball translate to the Big South and will the former High School coach be able to recruit? Little history of Gardner Webb. They have played in every post season tournament except one - the BIG DANCE of the NCAA. The biggest win ever came in the 2007-8 season when they upset Kentucky. They also knocked off local rival NC State a couple years ago. Coach Nash says he has a plan that will get the Running Bulldogs into the NCAA tournament, and he also expects this team to embrace his style of play and score even more upsets in the years to come. UP NEXT, we'll look at the roster and upcoming schedule Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 <p>Let's meet your Gardner Webb Running Bulldogs</p><p> </p><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"> pos yr player current potential</span></strong></p><p> </p><p> PG Sr <strong>Tyler Hubbard</strong> <span style="color:#FFFF00;"><strong> yellow yellow</strong></span></p><p> Hubbard was the leading scorer in Big South last year with 562 points. He is third all time and with another season like last year could become the all-time leading scorer in Big South history. He was a one star player ranked #860 out of High School and he has developed into one of the best players in the conference. (72 rated 3-pt shot)</p><p> </p><p> PG FR <strong>Roscoe Weigand</strong> <span style="color:#FFA500;">orange</span> <span style="color:#008000;">green</span></p><p> the heir apparent at the point. He may never be quite the shooter that Hubbard is, but we expect his ball handling skills to develop to where he can run the offense effectively. He is quicker than Hubbard and we expect that to translate to better defense.</p><p> </p><p> SG Sr <strong>Dudley Redman </strong> <span style="color:#FFFF00;"><strong>yellow yellow</strong></span></p><p> Dudley was a walk-on who has become our second best scoring threat. Career 40% 3-pt shooter who is averaging 12 pts a game for his career. He was also a 1 star player (#1108)</p><p> </p><p> SG Jr <strong>David Kirkham</strong> orange yellow</p><p> 91 rated 3-pt shooter who has seen limited playing time in his first 2 years. He has agreed to a redshirt this year and plans to take over the starting role when Redman graduates. (1 star #1046)</p><p> </p><p> SG So <strong>Cletus Dietz</strong> <strong>red </strong><strong><span style="color:#008000;"> GREEN</span></strong></p><p> was the first 2 star recruit brought in by the prior coaching staff (#579 overall) Should be a stable back-up to Redman and see how he develops. His 67 rated jump shot has the potential to be one of the best in the game (A). </p><p> </p><p> SF So <strong>Earle Graber</strong> orange <span style="color:#006400;">GREEN</span></p><p> SF So William Eastwood red orange</p><p> at 6'3 both are a little undersized for the small forward position; however, the quickness they bring could help offset that. Both have good 3pt shots (69 rated / B) which will be important in the type offense we plan to run.</p><p> </p><p> PF FR <strong>James Villa</strong> red <span style="color:#006400;">GREEN</span></p><p> the incoming freshman is expected to step into the shoes of Carl Garton who holds the Big South single season rebounding record (338 last year). He was a 3 star recruit from South Carolina and #100 in the nation. Once he gets some time in a college strength and conditioning program, I expect him to be a force in the Big South and happy to have him.</p><p> </p><p> PF SR Clarence Phillips red orange</p><p> PF JR Kirk Burns red red</p><p> PF Jr Joseph Wright red red</p><p> nothing notable about these 3 who will serve mainly as back-ups.</p><p> </p><p> Center Jr Mario Pendleton red orange</p><p> Pashel Castel and David McEvoy, both red/red freshmen, will serve as back-ups</p><p> </p><p> All in all, a very servicable roster. Some good talent for the Big South, with even better potential. Some guards who can light it up from outside, enough depth to allow me to run the up tempo style "Pearl Jam" attack. We may be undersized and inexperienced in the low post. For that reason, we will experiment with a 2-3 zone to help offset that potential weakness. I will also use the 1-3-1 and lots of man to man (against the advice of the coaching staff who do not think we can match up well in most games).</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 <p>We have a prestige of 27, so I tried to schedule mostly games with higher prestige teams in hopes of boosting that. I'd rather lose a few games to power conference teams that help our players develop than schedule weak sisters in hopes of easy wins.</p><p> </p><p> Our non-conference schedule with each team's prestige included.</p><p> </p><p> </p><pre class="ipsCode">13 Alabama A&M 37 Binghamton 96 at North Carolina 53 at Dusquene 36 at Alabama State 52 ETSU 41 at American 29 at Florida International 61 At St Johns 36 East Carolina 32 Appy State</pre><div></div><p></p><p> </p><p> the Big Sky conference teams and their prestige are (this is also the expected order of finish by talent scouts with GW falling around 3-5):</p><p> </p><pre class="ipsCode"> Winthrop - 47 Radford - 28 UNC Asheville - 29 Liberty - 23 VMI - 14 High Point - 17 Presbyterian - 11 Coastal Carolina - 21 Charleston Southern -9</pre><div></div><p></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Here's a quick recap on the non-conference results and a few highlights Alabama A&M win 90-77 -- the Nash era starts in good fashion. Dudley Redman was 6 of 12 from beyond the arc and leads us with 24 pts. Our PG's Hubbard and Weigand add 16 apiece. Leading rebounders Villa and Hubbard with 8. STAT of the game, we force 19 turnovers vs 10. We had 15 steals Binghamton win 67-65 -- down to the wire. We were clinging to a one pt lead and called for a shot clock violation. However, they set an illegal screen and Hubbard makes 1 of 2 FT's. Their last second shot clangs off the iron,. at North Carolina loss 80-106 --- as expected. Hubbard scored 30 at Dusquene loss 78-87 at Alabama State win 86-70 -- Hubbard scores 25 ETSU win 91-83 --- we run fast tempo against their twin towers. Hubbard lights it up with 33 pts. We shot 31 of 45 from the charity stripe. at American win 90-81 -- at Florida INT win 84-64 -- Redman 27 pts At St Johns loss 71-80 -- St Johns opens with a 17-0 run. The game was not as close as the score indicates East Carolina win 71-53 -- our freshman James Villa plays only 6 minutes in the game before fouling out. He has some growing up to do. Appy State win 92-76 -- first win in school history over Appy State (in 3 tries) SO 8-3 record. I think we are off to a good start. Hubbard is averaging 20.6 points per game (just behind Caskey of Radford for most in the Big South). Lee Manning left a very good squad behind when he left for Holy Cross The latest Mid-Major Poll rewards our performance with a #23 ranking. Conference Play starts next Radford, Asheville, Liberty, Winthrop and us are considered to be the top teams in the Big South Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 <p>RECRUITING</p><p> </p><p> we have 3 scholarships to offer. Mostly 1 star recruits show interest in coming to Gardner Webb, but we do step up and go after a couple 3 stars. One of those played on the Gaston team that beat my high school team for the state finals. He seems to like our fast paced Pearl Jam style - so much in fact his first choice is Tennessee. Bruce tells him that they have a full roster already so he may not be able to offer a scholarship.</p><p> </p><p> Big news as Claude Trott commits. He is a 3 star SG from Gaston NC. #234, and #57 PG. He was most interested in Tennessee, UNC, and Ohio State, but we put a huge press on him and he felt like he could make a difference here. He is averaging 19 ppg in HS. He has A rated jump shot (52) and defense (58), so he could hit the ground running here. </p><p> </p><p> He joins 1 star PF Antone Palmer (#978 / #174 PF) from Northwestern HS in South Carolina. He is A rated post defense (43). 6'9 220, he hope he can help in rebounding as well.</p><p> </p><p> Our last signee is 1 star SG Deandre Gammom, 56 rated 3 pt shooter with A potential He's #938 overall and #206 SG. We need 3 point shooters in the type offense I liked to run -- it is a great equalizer against bigger teams, and his is good enough that he could be a weapon from day 1. He will need to develop his defense and other skills if he wants to be more than a role player.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 <p>Conference play</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>UNC Asheville</strong> win 88-76</p><p> They have the best overall recruiting average for the last 4 years (four 3star players) and this with signing no one in 2012. We overcome early foul trouble with a 9-0 run to take the lead at half-time. I gave the refs a piece of my mind as we walked off the floor (19 fouls vs 6 for them). Fouls were 8-6 in second half, so it must have worked. </p><p> Freshman PF James Villa gets his first player of the game with 18 pts and 8 rebounds. Hubbard a quiet 16 points.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>High Poin</strong>t win 77-58 -- Hubbard 23, Redman 21. We controlled the game </p><p> <strong>Radford</strong> loss 77-85 -- foul troubles catch up to us. Pendleton, Redman, Castel, and Burns all foul out (played a total of 30 minutes between them).,</p><p> </p><p> at Presbyterian win 82-62</p><p> <strong>at Winthrop</strong> win 91-86</p><p> historically, we are 3-5 vs Winthrop and they are the class team of the Big South, Redman scores 23 to lead us to a hard fought win.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Liberty</strong> win 70-60</p><p> we are 3-6 all-time vs Liberty, so this was another big win for the program. We hold their leading scorer Dinh to 15 while Hubbard sparks us with 23. Back-up point guard Weigand strains some ligaments and will be out at least a month. Hubbard is going to have a lot of playing time now</p><p> </p><p> <strong>VMI win 70-60</strong> -- Hubbard 15 pts and 11 rebounds.</p><p> <strong>at Coastal Carolina</strong> win 93-76 -- Hubbard takes advantage of playing almost the entire game by knocking down 32 pts</p><p> </p><p> <strong>at Charleston Southern</strong> win 92-84</p><p> Hubbard scores 33 and we hit our FT's down the stretch to stave off their rally.</p><p> </p><p> 8-1 is a great start. We had the top teams at home in the first half, so I expect things to get a little rocky as we take the team into some hostile environments in the second half. Plus a few injuries mounting up will take its toll if we get into any kind of foul trouble (as we are prone to do)</p><p> </p><p> Our defense has been suspect, but the run and gun attack has helped us to score in bunches. We have some solid 3 point shooters which helps.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 <p>2nd half of conference play</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> at Radford loss 70-76 -- we are swept by Radford who overcomes our 5 pont halftime lead. Redman and Graber foul out and that spelled the difference down the stretch.</p><p> </p><p> at High Point loss 79-91 --- fatigue has set in and we trail by 30 at the half! Their leader Casteel explodes for 34 points. We are led by Hubbard's 25. 3 way tie atop the Big South now!</p><p> </p><p> Winthrop win 83-80</p><p> Hubbard picks up 2 quick fouls and is scoreless in first half, which accounts for us trailing at the half. He catches fire in the 2nd and leads our team to a dramatic comeback. We hit FT's down the stretch to win a thriller!</p><p> </p><p> Presbyterian win 64-47</p><p> at VMI loss 88-98 -- VMI ran all over us and 3 players foul out. We had clawed back to tie the game but collapsed in the final 3 minutes.</p><p> </p><p> at Liberty win 72-64 -- we force 17 turnovers (lose 8) to overcome Dinh's 31 pts and beat one of our toughest rivals.</p><p> </p><p> Charleston Southern win 94-75 -- coast to a win, scoring the most points ever in a GW game.</p><p> Coastal Carolina win 92-68 -- Graber 25 pts, Redman 23 pts help overcome the early foul trouble to Hubbard and Deitz.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="37754" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>VMI loses to Radford giving us a 1 game lead going into the last game.</div></blockquote><p> <strong>at UNC Asheville</strong> win 74-72</p><p> Hubbard needs 33 points to become the all-time scorer in the Big South. He is held to FOUR! Deitz gets 18, unheralded back-up Kirk Burns adds 14 as we gut out a tough win.</p><p> </p><p> We are the Big South regular season champs!</p><p> </p><p> we end then reguluar season atop the Big South in Points scored (81.5, 6th nationally -- a trademark of a Bruce Pearl team). We are also #1 in turnovers (both offense and defense)</p><p> </p><p> up next, the Big South tournament. We are the #1 seed. </p><p> Coastal Carolina and Presbyterian will sit home.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 <p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">Big South Conference Tournament</span></strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>#8 High Point</strong> win 92-84</p><p> Taking on a High Point team that beat the stuffing out of us earlier in the year. We have a little revenge on our minds. Senior PF Clarence Phillips is cleared to play in the game - he's been out with a ruptured disk most of the season. what a dogfight! score is tied 56-56 at halftime. Their star SG Casteel has 19 pts. Graber 17, Hubbard 10 for us. Both teams shooting over 60%, whichever can learn to play defense could win this one. We finally find an answer for Casteel with Graber dogging him in tight man to man (he scores 4 pts in the half, 23 for the game). Hubbard and Redman get hot and hit a couple long range bombs to get us the lead and we never look back. Final score 92-84. Our defense kicked in when we went to the tight Man-to-man and their shooting avg drops to 48% for the game. Graber is the star with 23 pts (and his defense). Hubbard and Redman add 18 pts. Villa 15 pts /10 rebounds for another double/double. Near error free game despite the torrid pace with only 10 turnovers on each team.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>#5 UNC Asheville</strong> </p><p> We draw #5 UNC Asheville, a 1 pt winner in their first game. Looks like another dogfight with UNCA, Deitz hits a buzzer beater from midcourt to cut their lead to 3 at the half. We are shooting 30% from the charity stripe which is killing us (Dietz and Hubbard both 1 for 4). Things looked bleak to start the second half, but we got 2 steals for breakaway dunks and suddenly the score was tied. Shortly after we have 4 starters on the bench with 3 fouls with 13 minutes to go (5 more with 2 fouls). We fall behind by 12, but when the starters return we cut the lead to 3. We could never get any closer -- we are forced to foul at the end and they convert. Loss 74-79. Villa was the only player who came to play, 14 pts and 10 rebounds. Hubbard scores 6, Redman 11. </p><p> UNCA won the game at the FT line (37 of 50 ; while we were only 9 of 20). We were whistled for 37 fouls which is ridiculous - we weren't even pressing or trapping for most of the game due to early fouls being called. It may take a couple years, but we need to recruit some better defenders if we want to avoid foul trouble. loss 74-79</p><p> </p><p> <strong>FINALS</strong></p><p> </p><p> Wintrhop beats UNC Asheville 62-58 to win the Big South tournament and advance to the NCAA big dance for the second year in a row</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 NCAA: top seeds. West: Kentucky, Duke, Pitt, Cincinatti. Midwest: Louisville, Kansas, Wisconsin, Marquette. SOUTH: North Carolina, Georgetown, Tennessee, Villanova. EAST: Uconn, Florida, Nebraska, UCLA NIT We are the top seed in the South. We draw Northern Arizona in the first game. Holy Cross (Lee Manning is the former Gardner Webb coach) is the #3 seed in the west and they face Furman. CBI: VMI is the #15 seed. 4IT: Radford is #7 seed NCAA sneak preview: a #1 seed is going down in their first game. who will it be? I'll give some quick highlights from the NCAA while detailing our games in the NIT> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 <p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">NCAA UPDATE</span></strong></p><p> upset city, #16 Mercer knocked off #1 Kentucky 70-66. The "first time in history" that a #1 seed lost the first game. Also, #13 Temple upset #4 UCLA</p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">NIT ROUND 1</span></strong></p><p> <strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">Gardner Webb vs Northern Arizonia</span></strong></p><p> </p><p> They are 17-13 (12-4). Like us they won the regular season and lost in tournament semi-finals. They are a huge team with a 7'0 center (good thing we have that 2-3 zone working for us). He averages 11 pts and 10 rebounds a game. SG Bilbrey nets 15 ppg, so we can't be too complacent in the zone if he gets hot. </p><p> </p><p> we had a 10 pt lead but trail by 4 at the break. Fouls mounted up as usual despite playing low key defense. Game comes down the wire - Hubbard heats up and scores 19 pts to give us a 3 pt lead. Pendleton and Villa both miss their FT's but the defense holds and GW gets a big tourney win. 73-70. Hubbard gets the star, but I want to give special mention to Villa who had 15 pts and 15 rebounds. He carried us while all the guards were getting in foul trouble. Thanks to him, we outrebounded the giants 54-42 -- their 7 footer was held to only 3 pts and 2 rebounds, way below his average. Bilfrey scored 17. </p><p> Next up is San Diego State.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 NIT ROUND 2 Gardner Webb vs 19-13 San Diego State, the 4 seed. They were 10-6 and 2nd in Mountain West - they led their conference in points so this could be a high scoring affair. Talented team, but had 3 losses to teams with losing records. They beat Arkansas State 84-79 to get here. WE decide to exploit their bench and run as much as we can - we know we can't stand toe to toe with their starters. The result 102-92 victory!!! Hubbard wins another star of the game, with 22 pts and 10 rebounds. Redman (28), Graber (20), and Pendleton (10) add double digits. We were 34 of 42 from the charity stripe (they were 24 of 29). That pretty much was the difference in the game (fairly even in turnovers and rebounds). Cepada who was averaging 19.2 ppg scored 30 for the Aztecs.. This is a new record for most points scored by a GW team (125 is the all-time record, Marquette over Notre Dame). Other notable: in this game, Tyler Hubbard surpasses Jonathan Casteel as the all-time leading scorer in Big South history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted April 5, 2014 Author Share Posted April 5, 2014 NIT ROUND 3 25-8 (16-2) St. Peters vs Gardner Webb St Peters - won the MAAC regular season easily but lost in Semis of conference tournament. Hubbard hits a midcourt buzzer beater to give us a 33-28 lead. We have played slower and in control, thus only 1 player with 2 fouls. We use that to our advantage to use a little more pressure in the second half and force some turnovers . With the lead, St Peters has to foul and we hit enough to seal the deal. Final score 73-67. we go to MSG and the final 4. Hubbard leads us with 13 pts, Redman 10. Elwood 9 pts and 10 rebounds. We did not shoot as good as we normally do, but give credit to their defense. On the other hand, we played some stellar defense to contest shots and give us a chance. NIT FINAL FOUR We face North Dakota State. So Cal faces Butler in the other game. NDS is 25-9 (15-3)- they lost the first round of the Summit League tournament, Back and forth first half - looked like we would get blown out, but then staged a rally and big lead to settle for 35-33 HT lead. Down 12 with 2 minutes to go, our pressure D goes into overdriver and 60 seconds later it is a one point game!! Redman fouls out - he was our main offense with 22 pts, and NDS gets the win 85-81 (we have to foul). Hubbard added 16 in his final game. Villa another Double/DOuble (10/10). What a game, what a season. We look for bigger and better thing next year North Dakota State beats Butler in the finals 71-58 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 NCAA tournament news Regional Finals #12 Fresno State vs #7 Mississippi State; #5 Houston vs #7 Arizona State (knocked off 3 seed Wisconsin). #8 Vandy vs #3 Tennesse. #1 Uconn vs #3 Nebraska Final Four: Mississippi State (67) vs Tennessee (72). Arizona State (78) vs Uconn (83) FINALS: Uconn beats Tennessee 73-64 in the finals Weber State beats Western Michigan to win CBI; #13 Citadel beats #11 UC Irvine to win 4it --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hubbard ends the year with 652 pts (18.6 pg). His 74 steals led the conference. He leaves us having scored 1825 points, most ever in the Big South. Redman 14.4 ppg. He scored 1361 in his career (not bad for a walk-on) We will have Graber coming back next year, he scored 406 this year, our 3rd best. Villa had 276 pts and 256 rebounds as a freshman. 5 double/doubles led the team. As a team we scored 2859 (500 more than any other team in Big South). 44% FG was 3rd, 37.7% 3=point was 2nd. 69.5% FT's was 4th PPS 1.32 was 3rd. Our defense %'s were middle of the pack. WE end up with the #148 recruiting class in the nation. Kansas was #1. This was 3rd best in Big South behind Liberty (#67) and UNC Asheville (#111). High Point at 206 was 4th. Villa named Freshman of the year, Hubbard named player of the year in Big South Weigand and Villa made all freshman team. Hubbard, Redman, and Graber were first team all conference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsnypade33 Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 nice write up so far, pretty exciting season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted April 11, 2014 Author Share Posted April 11, 2014 thanks for following along and commenting. not sure the best format for posting the results,so hope it's ok. I'll have season 2 started soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted April 14, 2014 Author Share Posted April 14, 2014 <p>Here is the non-conference schedule for this year (with prestige to the left)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> 41 at College of Charleston</p><p> 14 North Carolina Central</p><p> 33 Eastern KY</p><p> 7 MD - east shore</p><p> 53 at UNC Wilmington</p><p> 96 at Duke</p><p> </p><p> 33 at Citadel</p><p> 54 at MTSU</p><p> 12 SIU Edwardsville</p><p> 98 Villanova (first game of Las Vegas Shoot-out)</p><p> </p><p> again, I tried to schedule several higher prestige teams to give us that experience. I also looked back over the school's history and found some "lesser" teams that we've never beaten (0-1) and brought them in to try to even the count. Couple sure-fire losses here, and the other games will provide some tough challenges (SIU for example is a VERY good team despite their low prestige).</p><p> </p><p> the team has to replace our top 2 scorers from last year (Hubbard and Redman). We will rely on Graber (6'3 SF, 71 rated 3-pt shot -- averaged 11 pts a game his first 2 years) and Villa (6'8 PF) for our 1-2 punch. Plus I expect big things from Kirkham (SG who has a 90 rated 3 pt shot. If he can get open, he should be able to light it up). Soph Wiegand will be running the point - he's not the scorer that Hubbard was, but will be ok in that department and is a better ball handler. 6'11 Pendleton will anchor us at the low post.</p><p> and we'll see how the Freshman develop to determine how big a role they will play for us this year.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 2015-16 season at College of Charleston win 69-57 -- we struggled against a good team. In the end, we take control and hold them off for a 69-57 win. Weigand star of the game with 14 pts. Villa 9 pts and 11 rebounds North Carolina Central win 69-62 -- 37-34 HT lead over what I would consider an inferior team. We did play a lot of different people early though. 69-62 final score. We are sure missing the points of Hubbard and Redman early in the season. Weigand is our star tonight with 11 pts and 4 assists. Graber led all scorers with 17. Eastern KY win 96-86 -- we finally start hitting on all cylanders like I hoped in preseason. 96-86 win. Wiegand another star with 22 pts. Villa adds 20, before leaving the game with a bruised hip. EKU is a dirty team as Castel also leaves with a bruised cheekbone. We got killed on the boards but it didn't matter because we shot over 50% and forced 15 turnovers for easy buckets. MD - east Shore win 92-82 -- with Villa nursing the sore hip, Pendleton stepped up in a big way - 19 pts, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks to earn a star. Villa came off the bench for 12 pts and 9 rebounds. Graber also scored 19 pts. Final score 92-82 win for GW at UNC Wilmington loss 69-79 --- we were out manned and out gunned. WE had a couple runs but in the end, talent won out. We lost 69-79. we turned the ball over way too much and got crushed on the boards. Deitz 13 pts, Graber 11. We just never got untracked. at Duke loss 50-63 25-23 at the half, we had led most of the way but Duke storms us at the end. Still we showed we could hang with them early. Again talent wins out as Duke rolls to a 63-50 win. Freshman Trott leads us with 10 pts. Villa 8 rebounds. It was our worst shooting beyond the arc in my tenure here (8 of 28. Duke shot the same, but we are used to at least 33% or better) 4-2 start to the season, we will try to snap the 2 game losing streak when we visit the Citadel next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 at Citadel win 95-90 37-33 ht lead. We are rotating in subs like crazy and trying to wear down Citadel which is working, just keeps us from getting a rhythm. Citadel takes the lead midway thru and we battle to the end to force overtime. 81-81. Villa took over for us at this point against their tiring post players and we pull out a 95-90 victory! Hinricks is the star of the game with 32 points against our porous defense. Villa led us with 19 pts and 14 rebounds. Graber added 19 and Elwood 11. Kirkham has yet to find his groove - we were counting on his offense this year, but he's shooting 20%. Let's take the win and jump on the bus to middle Tennessee at MTSU win 72-68 They are ranked #24 in the mid-major poll - they outshoot us early, but we go inside and force them into foul trouble. We win the game at the line (27 of 37). Our press forces 27 turnovers which is a high for the year. Final score 72-68 win. Dietz is the star with 19 pts. SIU Edwardsville loss 95-100 we return home after a brutal road stretch. But we ran into a buzzsaw that nearly blew us out of our gym. A late rally made the score look a little respectable as we lose 100-95. 5 players in double figures led by Villa with 16. Freshman Gammon had his breakout game scoring 10 before fouling out (2 technical fouls, he will be running some steps after those outbursts). Villanova (tourney) loss 77-83 The Las Vegas Shoot-out and we face the #1 team in the nation. Undefeated Villanova. Not much of a contest here as Nova rolls to 77-83 win. Graber had 20 for us WE ARE 6-4 in non-conference play heading into the conference schedule. Radford and Winthrop also had winning records. We took on some really good teams and I think that will help with our player development down the road. Hopefully in Big South play we can avoid the "win 3, lose 2" streaky play Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 <p><strong>at Radford</strong> win 84-68</p><p> Radford is one of few Big South teams with a winning record over GW. That did not help them today as everything seemed to gel for us. Weigand scores 29, Graber 21 en route to a 84-68 blow-out win. Villa adds 14 pts / 13 rebounds. We've been a little critcal of the team play up to now, but the truth is we have been playing against better teams and athletes. Now the scale is a little more even, and if we continue with this same intensity, we should make some noise in conference play as we proved tonight</p><p> </p><p> <strong>at High Point</strong> loss 74-75</p><p> looked easy early as we jump to a 7-0 lead, but trail by 2 at the break. Pendleton and Kirkham both sprain their ankles. We held a tenuous 1 pt lead til the very end. Miss 2 FT's and they sink a buzzer beater for the win. Daggone it. 74-75. Graber led us with 24 pts until he got into foul trouble and no one else really stepped up. </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Coastal Carolina </strong> loss 67-68</p><p> as horrible as we played in the first half, we only trail by 4 at the break, ends in another heart-breaking loss. Coastal sinks a 3 to take the lead and we miss. CC wins 67-68. Graber's 25 point performance goes to waste. Another Freshman, Palmer has a nice game with 13 points. Too many mental breakdowns and poor ball handling has haunted us the last 2 games. Villa was 0-6 and that hurt big time</p><p> </p><p> Did I say we wanted to avoid the "win 3, lose 2 streaks?" I didn't mean to win 1, lose 2!!!!</p><p> It's back to the drawing board --</p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">IN RECRUITING NEWS</span></strong></p><p> to ease the pain of losing 6 of the last 9 games, we announce the signing of 3 star, 6'7, 236 pound SF Richard Phillips, the #363 player in the nation. We beat out NC State for his services, He is averaging 19 ppg and has a sweet shot - he could be the heir apparent when Graber graduates in a couple years. WIth that size, he can also fill in at PF if needed.</p><p> He joins our early signees: 2 star PG Graville Smallwood from Forest Hills and 3 star SG Antone Taylor. (both are 6'1)</p><p> Smallwood is a dynamite ball handler which I hope will help address our turnover problems. He is ranked #636 in the nation. Even better news, 3 star SG Antone Taylor joins the club He is #387 in the nation, avg 21 ppg, he is a great shooter and ball handler. Both of these guys have "blue" potential according to our scouting reports.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted April 27, 2014 Author Share Posted April 27, 2014 <p>TIMEOUT!!</p><p> </p><p> I'm going to interupt the season to ask some advise and opinions.</p><p> I'm simmed ahead a little bit and at the end of a season I've gotten some offers to move to other schools. Here are a few of the interesting ones, so question is should I accept one of them or stay at GW a little longer?</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Pacific</strong> -- one of the top teams in the Big West (2 rated conference). UC Santa Barbara has passed them as the most prestigious team but they could regain the top spot when a little effort. Cal State Northridge also called with an offer to move out west. I used to like their fight song, but since this game doesn't play those that is a non factor</p><p> </p><p> Big West holds a spot in my heart -- several years ago on a different game, I guided UC Riverside to glory.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Santa Clara</strong> - from the West Coast Conference. Would have to battle with Gonzaga every year, much like we do Winthrop here. It is a 3 rated conference, so big step up</p><p> </p><p> <strong>NC Wilmington</strong> - closer to home in the Colonial Athletic Association. Lot of tough teams here like VCU, Old Dominion, George Mason. Definitley a building process there to get to the top. This is also a 3 rated conference,</p><p> </p><p> I don't really see the purpose of going to another 1 rated conference to take over Coppin State (that would be a step down in my opinion).</p><p> </p><p> I had hoped to reach whatever goals to increase my coaching stats, but maybe moving up to a bigger conference will help me do that. I have a good team returning, so not in a hurry to leave. But that is the long term goal, and these might be 3 good options.</p><p> </p><p> thoughts? opinions? Advice??</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebest2427 Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Stay. You're doing great at GW. It'd be better to stay w/ a team you know. Wait for bigger teams to offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stivvy Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 You should definitely stay to reap the awards of a successful recruiting class. Then, take them farther and get more offers! I think you could get to the Sweet Sixteen, based on seeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="37754" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Stivvy You should definitely stay to reap the awards of a successful recruiting class. Then, take them farther and get more offers! I think you could get to the Sweet Sixteen, based on seeding.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="37754" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>thebest2427 Stay. You're doing great at GW. It'd be better to stay w/ a team you know. Wait for bigger teams to offer.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> thanks to both of you for your feedback and encouragement. I do have some unfinished goals here at GW, so not opposed to staying. I'm not sure if the big schools would drop to a level 1 conference for a coach or not though. In most other basketball games that I've played, the coach has to work up through the ranks before being considered. With that said, I don't think I have to be in any big hurry to make the jump. Who knows, maybe we can turn Gardner Webb into a national power (or at least a regional one).</p><p> </p><p> thanks for following along</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebest2427 Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 No prob. You could easily turn them into another VCU/Butler/Wichita State. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olympia Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 <p><strong>Charleston Southern</strong> win 88-78</p><p> answered every run we had until the last one. -- maybe I spoke too soon as they tie the game with a rally out of the gate in 2nd half. time out, c'mon boys! In the first half, we committed only 1 foul and got 9 on them. This time we commit 6 in the opening minutes just reaching in and slapping at them. That's not how we practiced defense. My tirade sparked our own rally and this time we stop theirs. GW wins 88-78. Graber is the star of the game with 19 pts . Dietz had 17, frosh Gammon 13. Villa had 9 rebounds (6 on offense!)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>at Presbyteria</strong>n win 81-71</p><p> Villa nets the star of the game with 15 pts and 5 rebounds. Our savior was freshman SG Deanre Gammon who scored 20 in the biggest game of his career. Nice thing about not having a superstar like Hubbard last year, is when you find someone with a hot hand, you ride them the rest of the game. That worked out well for us here. </p><p> </p><p> <strong>at Winthrop</strong> loss 81-59</p><p> blow out city. Winthrop ran all over us and we could not hold on to the ball, it was steal -dunk time and time again. 59-81. Weigand led us with 11 pts. We have a week off to try to figure this all out.</p><p> </p><p> at UNC Asheville win 60-42</p><p> the senior Pendleton rises to the occasion, leading us with 15 pts and 5 rebounds en route to a 60-42 win. We really stressed our defense this week in practice and it paid off - holding them to under 30%,</p><p> </p><p> VMI win 68-56</p><p> we return home after 3 games on the road, but we have league leading VMI waiting for us/. Graber would not be denied, his 19 pts earns him a star and us a win. 68-56. Villa another double/double (his 3rd of the season)</p><p> </p><p> Liberty win 78-70</p><p> Liberty took over first place after the VMI loss, they are one game ahead of Winthrop. And for the second game in a row, we knock off the top team 78-70. Kirkham earns the star with his best game of the year - 17 pts and 7 rebounds. Graber adds 20. Villa quietly his league leading 4th double/double</p><p> </p><p> at Charleston Southern win 74-65</p><p> we continue on a roll and once again it is the Senior that takes over the game. Pendleton 13 pts / 8 rebounds for the star. Villa's string of double/doubles ends with 15 pts and only 7 rebounds. </p><p> </p><p> after a rough start in conference play, the team seems to be turning it around. we have 8 games left and momentum looks to be on our side.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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