Offseason Big South Notes

[UNCA Alum]

Figure there will be plenty of transfers, but Gardner Webb got the ball started off by firing head coach Rick Scruggs. I am shocked at this development. I know that they had a bad season, but the guy has been there for 15 years and had basically a brand new roster. I would have given him one more year.

http://www.gwusports.com/ViewArticle.db ... =204901702


I don't think there will be any other coaching vacancies, but you never know.

[GoUNCA]

Wow. Didn't really see that coming. Maybe it was towards the end of a contract term or something. I'll be interested to see what type of coach they'll go after.

[kingaling42]

Coupled with the disappointment of this season.. word is also that Scruggs has been less than cordial with Administration and boosters- in some instances downright "abrasive" was what I heard.. Put that together & you have a failure to continue this tenured relationship even while the BSC tourney was being played on Thursday/Friday of last week..

Runnin Bulldogs moving on...

[uncafan]

Interesting -- not really shocked but definitely interesting....

king or someone with knowledge of this... The Big South has a deal/auto-bid for the regular season champ to go to the NIT if they don't win tourny, is that correct? And my guess is that's not something a lot of conferences have, for instance, Campbell shared the regular season crown but didn't get any post-season play after their loss in the A-Sun tourny? Or was it because they were only co-champs?


Definitely going to be interested to see how Campbell affects things. They were 14-6 in the A-Sun and despite a bad loss to ETSU in the first round of their tourny they are going to have a big impact next year.

[kingaling42]

Unless the A-Sun does not have that same deal- I think the automatic bid goes to the #1 seed in the conference tournament (which clarifies the co-champ situations)..

[GoUNCA]

Campbell is an interesting case. I think that their entering the league might stem the Scott Cherry thing down in High Point. I've spent some time with some friends at Campbell. Terrible location, but as a whole the school is making progress at a nice pace. There Law School is now in Raleigh, I think. And the new arena is a nice facility.

I still am unsure about why we are getting them in the conference unless their football program is planning on moving up. Next up, expansion of the conference tourney. ETSU please join the Big South. Then we should end this expansion madness.

[GoUNCA]

Fresh out of the media rumor mill...

UNC-Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach, who owns a home in Wrightsville Beach, is interested.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/2 ... ?p=2&tc=pg

[kingaling42]

Gotta love rumors..

It seems that our Serbian friend Lazar Trifunovic is headed back overseas next month- apparently he saw what RU has coming back next year & is out like Amir & a PlayStation in the night.. If that holds to be true, RU is done next year.. Art, JLF, Amir, Phillip Martin are seniors (& Cole Wilder) and with the #2 scorer leaving potentially..

Radford loses..
57.5 pts/game (80.4%)
34.2 boards/game (79.2%)
11.8 assists/game (72.8%)

I venture to say that their FT shooting will improve though..

No validity to that article mentioning Eddie/UNCW BTW...

[uncafan]

Gotta love rumors..

...

No validity to that article mentioning Eddie/UNCW BTW...

I second that one. Nevermind the fact that it really doesn't make sense at all. He has a home in Asheville too -- last time I checked...

[beachdog]

And Raleigh. Two homes in Raleigh as a matter of fact.

[GoUNCA]

And four in the Pittsburgh area, if I remember correctly.

I never really thought it was serious.

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20 ... /303300041

Eddie Biedenbach, head coach at UNC Asheville for the past 13 years (15-16 this season), was said to be “interested” in the job at UNC Wilmington, according to the local paper in that city.

“I haven’t been contacted by anyone from the school,” said Biedenbach, who has a home in Wilmington.

“Some buddies down there asked me if I would be interested in the job, and I said yes, if they want to pay me $200,000, I’d be interested,” Biedenbach said with a laugh.

“I think one of my buddies told the newspaper I’d be interested.”

[UNCA Alum]

High Point signed a 6'4" guard out of Georgia. Cameron Solomon. Two first names. Don't trust him.

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p= ... id=4615511

Presbyterian picked up 6'7" combo forward Josh Clyburn out of Charlotte. We were kind of recruiting this kid, but never offerred. His game is similar to Vincent James. He'll provide some much needed athleticism for the Hose next year.

http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p= ... id=4572704

[kingaling42]

Liberty board noting 3 players leaving..

Patrick Konan (freshman)- started in 24 games this year, played in all 31 - averaging 6.9 pts/game, 20.3 minutes, 4.1 boards/gm
Chris Perez (freshman)- started in 3 games this year, played in all 31 - averaging 5.5 pts/game, 20.3 minutes, 4.1 boards/gm
Johnny Stephene (r-soph)- played in 20 games avergaed 5 minutes

David Minaya (r- soph) losing his scholly as well.. Not sure if that means he'll stick around or not.. Clearly Layer making the Flames his team & not McKay's..

I thought Konan had a great motor & was a good energy player for LU & one to watch since he was just a freshman- evidently he's moving on though..

Stay tuned..

[GoUNCA]

What?!
Liberty has a ton of underclassmen leaving?
No way!

[UNCA Alum]

That Konan loss will hurt him the most. He was going to be a good one. I liked his game.

What's the word on transfers w/in the conference? I can't think of any off the top of my head. Would you have to sit out two years? I'd take Konan in a heartbeat.

[kingaling42]

Conference doesn't matter- D1 rules apply, must sit out 1 year unless exception granted by NCAA for extenuating circumstances..

[UNCA Alum]

Conference doesn't matter- D1 rules apply, must sit out 1 year unless exception granted by NCAA for extenuating circumstances..

Yeah I know, but I thought I remember hearing that usually you have to sit out two years if you transfer to a school within the conference. You hardly ever see transfers within a conference (at any level), so I think there must be something in place to discourage it. Don't think it's at the NCAA level, but rather at the respective conferences. Like even for baseball I think you have to sit out a year if you transfer w/in conference, whereas normally you can play the next season.

[UNCA Alum]

Chase Holmes leaving Presbyterian. David Singleton leaving High Point.

Holmes would have been a key cog on the Hose's run for the roses here the next two years that caused all those guys to redshirt.

Singleton saw his minutes and role diminish this season with the arrival of Cherry. Losing him along with Harris will hurt their perimeter depth, though they have a lot of players coming in next year.

[GoUNCA]

Holmes was a solid player for PC. He gained a ton of experience and will be a tough loss for them.

Singleton never really impressed. I'm sure he ate minutes, but I don't see this as a big loss for them. HPU was good at fouling, so having a thinner bench won't really help them out.

[kingaling42]

Fresh out of the media rumor mill...

UNC-Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach, who owns a home in Wrightsville Beach, is interested.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/2 ... ?p=2&tc=pg

Buzz Peterson to be the new coach at UNC-W... ASU fans are none too happy about this move..

[GoUNCA]

Fresh out of the media rumor mill...

UNC-Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach, who owns a home in Wrightsville Beach, is interested.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/2 ... ?p=2&tc=pg

Buzz Peterson to be the new coach at UNC-W... ASU fans are none too happy about this move..

I actually thought this was a joke.

Is Buzz not aware of his own reputation as a suitcase coach? And why would any school actively seek to hire him? He's an okay coach, but there are plenty of options out there.

Appy State is officially the kid who went to prom with a girl their junior year only to have that girl leave him once they got to the party. AND then take the same girl to prom their senior year. Kind of sad, actually.

[kingaling42]

Chris Holtmann returning to Boiling Springs to be the head coach of the Runnin' Bulldogs...

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2010/04/1 ... dner-webb/

[UNCA Alum]

Austin Alexcih is transferring from UNCA.

From a playing time standpoint... can't say that I blame him. Dickey, Primm, Lane and Stepheson are in all likelihood going to take up the 120 minutes available at the 1-3 slots for the next two seasons.

[GoUNCA]

Austin Alexcih is transferring from UNCA.

From a playing time standpoint... can't say that I blame him. Dickey, Primm, Lane and Stepheson are in all likelihood going to take up the 120 minutes available at the 1-3 slots for the next two seasons.

I was afraid that was going to happen. I was optimistic that he would actually come in this year as a better option than Chris is some instances. But, I guess if you don't want to (or can't?) earn the playing time...well, I wish him the best of luck to him in his future educational endeavors.

[beachdog]

Quitter, frees up a scholly.

[GoUNCA]

It's not basketball related, but I hear that the Cornishes (ala soccer) are out. Not sure if they chose to or if they were politely asked to leave.

[kingaling42]

That is correct, in that they are leaving.. Steve has a job in Minnesota lined up from what I hear from other alums & from Michelle..

[kingaling42]

6 Winthrop players (pretty much their starting line-up) involved in marijuana use incident on campus- only 1 is being charged- the rest denied pretty much everything & stayed quiet.. Not too bright of the boys to stay on campus & do dirt.. Idiots..

http://www.heraldonline.com/2010/04/27/2123001/winthrop-basketball-player-pot.html#

[UNCA Alum]

6 Winthrop players (pretty much their starting line-up) involved in marijuana use incident on campus- only 1 is being charged- the rest denied pretty much everything & stayed quiet.. Not too bright of the boys to stay on campus & do dirt.. Idiots..

http://www.heraldonline.com/2010/04/27/2123001/winthrop-basketball-player-pot.html#

Probably shouldn't call the kettle toooo black on this one.

[kingaling42]

Radford suffered another offseason move as Assistant Coach Ali Ton has accepted an Assistant Coach position at UC Irvine.. For those who don't follow that closely Ali Ton was most notably the international connection that Radford has seen lately including the guy who brought Big Art, Lazar Trifogonebackhome, and some others to RU.. Cat's should chime in as he worked as a grad assistant while earning his Masters at WCU..

They have 2 freshmen (rising Sophs)- Tolga Cerrah & Gorken Sonmez (both are from Ton's native country of Turkey) whom I wonder how close they will stay to RU with this departure as well..