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| Chattanooga celebrates the 2005 SoCon Tournament Win Over UNC Greensboro |
Who's House
Yes, the title of this article is grammatically incorrect, but don't tell that to the 8,000 or so Chattanooga fans that bought or were handed one ahead of the Mocs' semifinal tournament clash with Appalachian State. I was an undergrad at App State at the time working with play-by-play broadcaster David Jackson and the Appalachian Sports Network, as we covered the tournament from wire-to-wire.
The T-shirts worn by students, faculty, staff, UTC alums and fans were all grammatically incorrect. It prompted some quips about the UTC's English Department, and though I am not the greatest grammar whiz on the planet, nor am I mistaking App State for Princeton's journalism program, we all got a pretty good laugh out of it.
It wasn't as much that people wore the shirts--that was fine, but rather did no one proofread the message before it went to be printed on thousands of shirts? Apparently not. The whole thing reminds me now looking back of that Snickers candy bar commercial when the guy painting the end zones spelled Chiefs wrong, to which prompts Kansas City head coach to ask the question..."That's great, but who are the "Chefs?"
There was also a certain amount of controversy that the SoCon's league office had to endure for even having the tournament at McKenzie Arena, and that was the fact that the Southern Conference Tournament wasn't one that in recent times had been played on the home floor of a league member, and that was one of the neat things about it. At that time, so many of the mid-major conferences awarded the top overall seed with the homecourt advantage, but what made the SoCon different is that it felt different, as it had a power conference feel for that reason.
The 2004-05 season would mark the final one in charge for commissioner Danny Morrison, who would lead for the Director of Athletics job at TCU following the academic year, paving the way for new leadership moving forward and future commissioner John Iamarino, who took over in early 2006.
Chattanooga would end up claiming 2005 Southern Conference title on its home floor, it was somewhat controversial in that it was something that the league office didn't usually allow. Then again, even with the tournament being on the home floor of the Mocs, it shouldn't have upset the league's power structure too much should it?
The 2004-05 season was one that was a very different era of Southern Conference basketball as opposed to the one we enjoy some two decades later. For one things, the league had two more members and was split up in divisions--North Division and South Division. The North Division featured Chattanooga, UNC Greensboro, Appalachian State, Elon, East Tennessee State and Western Carolina. The South Division was often thought of as the black and blue division of Southern Conference Basketball, featuring Davidson, College of Charleston, Georgia Southern, The Citadel, Furman and The Citadel.
Between laughing about those 'who is house' shirts and listening to UNCG head coach Fran McCaffery's mastery of certain French words, combining cuss words together one could have never imagined together, it was a good time had by all.
ETSU entered the tournament as the defending champions, however, it was a strange feeling for the Bucs in 2004-05, despite a player that many felt was the best overall player in the league, in Tim Smith, who was a big reason the Bucs were able to cut down the nets, the Bucs were on their way out of the league. The Bucs no longer had Zakee Wadood or Jerald Fields, as both players had moved on. Smith was still around, and the Bucs had some good overall talent, with players like guard Travis Strong, as well as newcomer Dillion Sneed, however, there was a notable lack of consistency. No one would feel sorry for the Bucs, who were leaving the SoCon to join the Atlantic Sun at season's end.
Davidson's Disappointment
Davidson was the last team to win the tournament not named East Tennessee State, as the Wildcats knocked off upstart No. 5 seed out of the South Division, in the Furman Paladins, 63-57, at the North Charleston Coliseum.
Since joining the league in the 1992, the Wildcats had established themselves as a perennial contender in the league, having made the SoCon title game four times, winning the league title twice in both 1998 and 2002.
In its relatively short 12-year span since re-joining the SoCon, Davidson also knew regular-season perfection and postseason heartbreak, too.
The pain felt after falling short in the Southern Conference semifinals to UNC Greensboro () was not one all too unfamilar to fans of Davidson Basketball or Bob McKillop. It had happened before to arguably an even better Davidson nine years earlier, as the Wildcats were surprised in the SoCon title game tilt against upstart Western Carolina (L, 60-69). Surely something like that couldn't happen again, could it? Unfortunately for Davidson and its loyal fanbase, it could.
There was a certain rivalry that had formed between Davidson and UNCG, especially when Fran McCaffery arrived as the head coach of the Spartans in the spring of 1999, replacing Randy Peele.
The Spartans were in their third year in the league when McCaffery made it known to anyone that would listen that UNCG was a team bent on kindling a rivalry with Bob McKillop and Davidson.
A rift had seemingly former in Greenville, S.C. in the 2002 tournament, as the Spartans knocked the Wildcats out of the tournament in the semifinals of the tournament, to which there was an altercation in the locker room between McKillop and one of UNCG's players.
It would play out once again in the semifinals of the 2005 tournament, as current Spartans assistant coach Josh Gross powered the Spartans by scoring a career-high 22 points, as UNCG shocked Davidson, 72-68, in what was the first of two semifinals matchups in the Scenic City that evening. In the process, the Spartans snapped what had been the nation's third-longest winning streak (16-straight wins) in the process.
Davidson had opened the tournament with a relatively easy 67-53 win over Elon, which was another nearby neighbor to the Wildcats campus, as it was just up the road from Lake Norman in Burlington, N.C., as the Phoenix, who were under the direction of the late Ernie Nestor at the time, were improved, but still no match for the Wildcats, who picked up a win with relative ease to open the tournament, defeating the Phoenix, 67-53.
Why did so many have the Wildcats penciled in as the top team in the Southern Conference to start out the 2004-05 season?
With veterans like Brendan Winters, point guard Matt McKillop, and forward Logan Kosmalski back, many regarded the Wildcats as the clear-cut favorite to win the Southern Conference title entering the 2004-05 season, and they were not only thought of as the best team in the North Division, but in the Southern Conference as a whole in either division.
Despite falling short of its ultimate goal of advancing to the NCAA Tournament, the Davidson Wildcats certainly turned some heads in their NIT run, winning two road contests, and nearly shocking ACC member Maryland in the process.
Davidson, who was only one of two teams in the nation to complete its conference slate undefeated, failed to win the Southern Conference Tournament as it lost in the semifinals to UNC Greensboro.
With their two wins in the NIT, the Wildcats may have helped serve notice that the SoCon is rapidly become one of the stronger mid-major conferences in the land. In the Wildcats’ opening game of the NIT, they were forced to take to the road as they traveled to face Coastal Athletic Association member Virginia Commonwealth in Richmond.
The Rams entered the contest having just dropped a heartbreaking overtime loss a week earlier to Old Dominion in the CAA championship game. The Rams had only faced one Southern Conference member during the regular season dropping an 85-75 decision to the College Of Charleston in a Bracket Buster game.
The Wildcats, who defeated the Ccllege of Charleston twice in the 2004/2005 campaign, started the game slow and saw the Rams jump out to a 29-21 advantage with 4:30 remaining in the first stanza. From there, the Wildcats embarked on a 25-5 run over the next nine minutes to take a 46-34 lead with 14:20 left in the game. The Rams responded with a 10-0 run of their own to cut Davidson’s lead to 46-44 lead with 11:45 to play.
The Wildcats then took full command of the contest as they 9-1 spurt to push the lead back to 55- 45 advantage with seven minutes to go. The Wildcats connected on 11-of-12 attempts from the charity stripe over the final 4:15 to preserve the 77-62 victory. Junior guards Brendan Winters and Jason Morton led the way with 14 points apiece for the ’Cats while senior forwards Logan Kosmalski, Conor Grace and junior guard Kenny Grant each added 11 tallies.
The Wildcats continued their road journey through the NIT with a trip to Springfield, Missouri to take on the Southwest Missouri Bears. Again, the Wildcats fell behind early only to seize momentum early in the second half. Davidson found itself trailing 31-22 with 2:27 to play in the first half. Davidson regained composure knocking down three three-pointers to end the half to end the half and close the gap to four, 32-28, heading into the locker room.
The Wildcats came out with their guns blazing in the second stanza, as Brendan Winters buried back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 34 at the 18:18 mark. Over the next seven minutes, senior Logan Kosmalski, and juniors Jason Morton and Ian Johnson, helped build the lead to six, 50-44, by knocking down treys of their own. The Bears ended up getting to the free throw line nine times in the second half before Davidson made its first trip. Two free throws by Anthony Shavies with 9:46 remaining chopped the Wildcat lead to one, 55-54. SMS would never get closer than a point, though, as Davidson continually answered with long-range jumpers. Leading by only three, 71-68, with 2:44 remaining, the Wildcats were almost able to take a full minute off of the clock.
Winters grabbed an offensive board before nailing the final Wildcat three-pointer as the shot clock wound down, deflating the raucous SMS crowd as well as any comeback hopes. Davidson’s strong free throw shooting over the final minutes secured the victory. In the 82-71 victory over the Bears, the Wildcats knocked down 15 trifecta’s and set a new school record for three-pointers in a season at 276. SoCon Player of the Year Brendan Winters netted a game-high 22 points and was 6-of-8 from long range. Winters broke the single-season mark for three-pointers, hitting his 85th of the year in the contest. Overall, the ‘Cats nailed 15-of-29 (51.7) triples in the triumph over the Bears. After trailing by four points at the break, the ‘Cats used solid shooting in the second half to quickly eradicate the deficit.
Davidson knocked down 57 percent of its shots in the final stanza. Kosmalski tallied his ninth double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, while point guard Kenny Grant dished off 10 assists, scored six points and pulled down four rebounds. Defensively, the Wildcats were stingy per usual, holding SMS to 36.9 percent shooting in the game, including 33.3 percent from downtown.
The Davidson run came to an end in College Park, Maryland against ACC power Maryland. Things started out well for Davidson, as it raced to a 34-18 lead on the 2002 national champions. The 11-0 Wildcat run that stunned the homestanding Terps was fueled by senior forward Logan Kosmalski.
His back-to-back three-pointers helped spark the run by the Wildcats. However, a 20-0 run by Maryland that spanned both halves was enough to propel the Terrapins into the third round of the NIT. With the 78-63 setback, the Wildcats concluded one of the most successful seasons in Davidson basketball history finishing 23-9. The two wins in the NIT were the first-ever triumphs for Davidson in the tournament.
Finding the 'Golden Egg'Chattanooga (20-11, 10-6 SoCon/) came into the 2004-05 season not looking to re-invent itself a program, however, as it had made the previous two Southern Conference title games, however, the Mocs won neither. Chattanooga had given it their best shot in the 2003-04 season, as the Mocs would lose, 78-62, in the championship game against East Tennessee State.
In the 2003 tournament, the Mocs found themselves in the title game but once again, Chattanooga met the Bucs in the championship tilt, which would see the Mocs drop a 97-90 contest to UTC. The Mocs headed into the season having made the championship game three times, losing all three contests in the title game, with the other loss prior to the consecutive setbacks to ETSU in 2003 and '04 came against UNC Greensboro in 2002 at the BI-LO Center in Greenville, S.C., dropping a 67-66 decision on a buzzer-beater by Air Force transfer David Schuck.
The Mocs had a new head coach taking the reigns of the program, in John Shulman, however, it also had some outstanding talent. Chattanooga under Shulman was quite different than say the previous outfit under Jeff Lebo, as the Mocs wanted to get up and down, shoot a lot of threes and outscore you. Under Shulman, the Mocs were physical and wanted to win games by making it a rock fight.
Shulman knew the league well, and had even been an assistant on two of the league's member programs, with notable stints at East Tennessee State under Alan LeForce in the early 1990s, as well as serving as an assistant on Mike Young's staff at Wofford from (), as well as Davidson () under Bob McKillop before returning to the Volunteer State to become a part of Lebo's staff for two years before Lebo left to become the head coach of the Auburn Tigers following the loss ETSU in the 2004 SoCon Tournament Championship game at the North Charleston Coliseum.
When Shulman became the head coach for the first time, he took over the prized egg of Southern Conference, or the golden egg. Since joining the league from having been a highly successful basketball program at the NCAA Division II ranks under Murray Arnold in the late 1970s, and haven't looked back since.
Instead of following Lebo to the SEC, Shulman stuck around the Scenic City and was promoted to the head coaching post in the spring. After Henry Dickerson resigned following 2002 season, the Mocs looked to Lebo to resurrect their program, but much like some of the recent head coaches of the Mocs, including Will Wade, Lamont Paris, and Matt McCall, which had spent less than five years in charge before leaving, Lebo simply couldn't resist the money nor the desire to live out the dream as a head coach in a power conference, so he moved on to Auburn.
Shulman was a natural choice for the UTC athletic brass, mostly because he was a coach that understood what it took to win at UTC, and more importantly, knew the landscape of the league, as well as what it took for a program to sustain long-term success at a high level as a mid-major.
In the non-conference slate, the Mocs would first get the attention of the rest of the media and fans around the Southern Conference by knocking off Tennessee, 69-68, in Knoxville at Thompson-Boling Arena. It would be a Chris Brown three-pointer with 1:18 remaining that would give the Mocs their first win over the Vols since 1925. The Mocs had a chance to ice the win in the final 52 seconds, however, missed all three free throw attempts that would have easily sealed the win. The game featured 13 ties and the largest lead for either team in the contest was seven points.
Chattanooga got a near double-double from big in conference play, the Mocs would end up winning the North Division by one game, posting a 10-6 record, which was one game ahead of both Appalachian State and UNC Greensboro in what was a division in which each team seemingly beat up on the other. man Mindaugas Katelynas, as he posted 17 points and ripped down nine rebounds in the win, and would be one of two Mocs in double figures in the win. The other player to find his way into double figures for UTC would be guard Steve Cherry, who finished the night with 10. It marked UTC's first win over an SEC school since knocking off Georgia in the 1997 NCAA Tournament.
The Mocs had losses to Ohio State (L, 67-84) ,Virginia Tech (L, 59-63), Creighton (L, 68-100)and Birmingham-Southern (L, 59-64) in non-conference play, but had some other solid wins in addition to the one of Tennessee, knocking off North Texas in the Dr. Pepper Classic as well as good win over in-state rivals Austin Peay and Belmont.
In league play, the Mocs had both good and bad moments. One of the more forgettable moments in their 16-game regular-season league slate came in mid-January, as the Mocs suffered a 107-84 setback on the road at Hanner Fieldhouse against Georgia Southern. Eagle guards Terry Williams and Elton Nesbitt connected on 19 of the team's 22 three-pointers, as the dynamic guard duo combined to go 19-of-29 from the field for a combined 69 of the team's 107 points in the win. Nesbitt dropped 43 in the game, with 33 of those coming on 11 threes, while Williams finished with 29, including 24 on eight triples.
UTC finished the game connecting on 57.4% of their shots, but lost by 23 points. That's because the Eagles connecting on an astonishing 63% from the field for the game! The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the Mocs.
Another forgettable contest would come a little less than a month later against another future Sun Belt member, as the Mocs suffered their second-worst league loss in the regular-season, as the Mocs were 83-61 loser's at Appalachian State. On this day, Appalachian State would knock down a then school-record 16 threes, as the Apps connected on 16-of-30 long-range efforts, as Nathan Cranford led the way for the black and gold with 23 points. He would knock down 6-of-6 three-point attempts to do most of his damage from beyond the arc.
In two of the Mocs' six league losses against Georgia Southern and App State, the two teams combined to connect on 38 three-pointers, as the two teams combined to connect on 38-of-64 three-point attempts, or 59.4% from long range.
In UTC's final regular-season game before the Southern Conference Tournament on its home floor, the Mocs faltered against Furman, dropping a 73-65 decision to a very mediocre Paladins team. Furman would get start swing man Quan Prowell back from suspension, and he would give the Paladins a lift off the bench, finishing with 15 points on 5-of-8 from the field and 3-for-6 from three-point range. Interestingly, Prowell would end up transferring to play for former Mocs coach Jeff Lebo at Auburn the very next season.
The Mocs had many more memorable moments for the right reasons, however, including a season sweep (3 meetings) of East Tennessee State, winning both regular-season clashes by double digits. The Mocs posted their biggest ever win over the Bucs in the meeting at The Roundhouse, skewering ETSU, 93-59. The 34-point win by UTC marked its biggest ever win over the Bucs to that point in series history, and led by as many as 35 late in the game.
Guard Jerice Crouch led UTC with 23 points, while Chris Brown added 15 and Mindaugas Katelynas finished with his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Casey Long rounded out the UTC players in double figures, finishing with 14. The win over the Bucs was a strong rebound from the "Statesboro Blues" the Mocs experienced five days earlier against Georgia Southern.
In early February, the Mocs reserved one of their best all-around performances of the season against perennial league title contender College of Charleston, downing a Cougars team that would win 18 games, including posting an identical 10-6 league mark in the South Division to that of the Mocs, 82-59, at McKenzie Arena.
UTC got a season-high 26 points and 12 boards from Chris Brown, as the Mocs posted one of their best defensive performances of the regular-season, holding CofC to just three points over the final nine minutes of the game. The Mocs ended up holding the Cougars to just 30.6% from the field for the game.
Mocs Magnificient in McKenzie in March
The Mocs faced off against the East Tennessee State Buccaneers in the quarterfinal round of the tournament, and found that facing the defending champion, was no picnic. Playing in its last Southern Conference Tournament, the Buccaneers were no easy out for the Mocs. Southern Conference leading scorer Tim Smith, who was coming off of a 37 point performance in the Bucs’ 87-84 first round victory over Furman, followed up that performance by scoring 33 points against the Mocs.
Despite Smith’s efforts, the Bucs were outmanned in the paint as Mindaugas Katelynas, Chris Brown, and Alphonso Pugh crashed the boards, and ran the court, taking advantage of ETSU’s lack of depth. On the night, the Mocs outreboubded the Bucs 46-30, and limited ETSU to just 33.3 percent from the field in the second stanza en route to a 77-70 victory. Katleynas got his first of two double-doubles in the tournament as he scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the victory. Alphonso Pugh, arguably the league’s best sixth man, came off of the Chattanooga bench to score a team-high 18 points, and also grabbed five rebounds in the contest.
Starting forward Charles Anderson had his best game of the season as he scored 17 points--one-point shy of his career-high 18 points against Virginia-Wise earlier in the season. Point guard Casey Long rounded out the Mocs’ double-figure scorers, as he added 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, including 2-of-5 from long-range. His three-pointer from 30 feet with 58 seconds remaining put the game out of reach for the Bucs. In the semifinal round, the Mocs met North Division nemesis Appalachian State.
The Mountaineers, one of the better perimeter shooting squads in the SoCon, had torched the Mocs to the tune of a school-record 16 three-pointers less than a month earlier in an 83-61 shallacking of UTC. To be successful, the Mocs had to dictate the pace of the game.
Despite an 18-4 Appalachian surge to close out the first stanza, Chattanooga found itself trailing by just seven, 32-25, at the intermission. The Mountaineers’ halftime advantage disappeared quickly, as Anderson scored two quick buckets, while Katelynas and Brown added short jumpers to give the Mocs a 33-32 advantage. From there, the Mocs were able to establish the pace with stifiling perimeter defense, and controlled the glass, as they outrebounded the Mountaineers 50-36 in the contest.
Defensively, Chattanooga held its counterpart to just 27.8 percent(10-of-36) shooting in the second half, and limited Appalachian to just 33.3 percent (3-of-9) from long-range. For the game, the Mocs were able to limit Appalachian to just five three-point field goals, and limited the Mountaineers to 31.1 percent (19-of-61) shooting for the game. The 57-51 victory sent Chattanooga to its third consecutive Southern Conference Tournament championship game. Katelynas had another huge output scoring 18 points, and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds solidifying his bid to earn tournament MVP honors.
In the Mocs’ first two tournament contests, Katelynas pulled down one-third of the team’s 96 rebounds. Two other Mocs registered double-figure outputs as Long added 14 points, while Anderson tallied 10. Chattanooga would have to face an upstart UNC Greensboro ballclub in the championship game -- a team that knocked a Davidson squad that had won 16 straight games and finished the SoCon slate undefeated. UNC Greensboro and Chattanooga had split their two meetings during the season, with the Spartans earning a 62-57 overtime victory in Fleming Gym on Jan. 29, and the Mocs scoring an 82-68 victory at Mckenzie Arena on Valentine’s Day.
In UNCG’s 73-68 semfinal win over Davidson, forward Josh Gross had a career-night scoring 22 points, including going 4-of-6 from three-point range in the victory. The Spartans were also able to get to the charity stripe in their win over the Wildcats connecting on 16-of-20 free throws in the second stanza. The championship game started out well for the Mocs, as they controlled the contest from the tip-off.
Buoyed by a home crowd of 7,243, the Mocs led by as many as 10 points in the first half on two occasions, and led by as many as 14 points in the second half. Trailing by 10 points with just 3:30 remaining, Gross and the Spartans embarked on a furious rally.
Gross, who had only four points with a little over eight minutes remaining, hit three three-pointers during the rally as the Spartans closed the deficit to 63-62 with 14 seconds remaining, but that would be as close as the Spartans would get. The Mocs closed out the contest at the charity stripe as Katelynas connected on two free throws, and Brown added another, to punch Chattanooga’s ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Katelynas earned tournament MVP honors, while teammates Brown, Long, and Pugh garnered all- tournament team accolades. Gross, who nearly etched his name on the
MVP trophy, finished with 19 points for the Spartans. Chattanooga became just the fouth team Southern Conference history to win the Tounament championship on its home floor.
When the Mocs learned that they would face the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, they knew that they would be facing a hungry squad with the return of All-America point guard Chris Paul from a one-game suspension.
Without Paul, the Deacons struggled in the ACC Tournament bowing out in the quarterfinals with a loss to N.C. State. The Demon Deacons are far too familiar with SoCon foes. Just two years ago, the Deacons were taken to the wire by an upstart East Tennessee State ballclub. One of the areas that the Mocs knew they may have trouble with going into the match-up was Wake Forest’s exceptional perimeter shooting.
Wake Forest entered the contest as the ACC’s top three-point shooting club hitting at a 40.5 percent clip from long-range. Chattanooga’s stingy, pack-it-in, zone defense often yielded many open looks from the perimeter.
After all, Appalachian State, Georgia Southern and Creighton all set school marks for three-point field goals in their emcounter with the Mocs’ zone defense. The Mocs played well in the opening stanza and forced the Deacons to play a style they were unaccustomed to. The Demon Deacons were able to get up and down the floor in transition in the early going, but Chattanooga dictated the pace for the last 10 minutes of the first half. Alphonso Pugh snapped a 12-12 tie with a three-pointer at the 9:09 mark in the opening stanza. Pugh’s long-range jumper tipped off an 8-0 Mocs run that included another Pugh bucket and a Matt Malone three-pointer which gave UTC a 20-12 lead at the 7:20 mark of the first half.
Wake Forest scored six straight points to trim the lead to 23-21 with 1:49 left in the half. Two straight Chris Brown field goals followed by a Chris Paul three-pointer with one second left before halftime enabled UTC to carry a 27-24 lead to the locker room.The Mocs committed three consecutive turnovers to open the second half.
Another Chris Paul three-pointer two minutes into the second half gave the Deacons their first lead since the 12:40 mark of the first half. The teams traded leads three more times until a Trent Strickland layup with 13:06 to play gave Wake Forest the lead for good, 40-38. Strickland’s bucket began a 21-7 Deacons blitz that, after two Jamaal Levy free throws, gave Wake Forest a 59-45 lead with 7:19 remaining.
The Mocs could only muster eight points the rest of the way dropping a 70-54 decision to the Demon Deacons. UTC was outrebounded for just the fifth time all season as Wake Forest grabbed 37 boards to UTC’s 35. Chris Paul led all scorers with 20 points for the Deacons while Brown led the Mocs with 14 points and Pugh chipped in 13. The Mocs concluded the 2004/2005 campaign with a 20-11 mark.
Spartans Surprise
In that season some two decades ago, the Spartans were beginning to hit their stride under McCaffery as a program and when he left to move on to Siena, there was a feeling of "what might have been" for UNCG basketball had he stayed on to coach for just a couple of more years. The program at large was definitely heading in the right direction.
UNCG would finish the regular-season with 16 wins on the way from the Gate City to the Scenic City for the 2005 Southern Conference Tournament. No one could really make the claim they had the Spartans within five points of claiming the 2005 Southern Conference title and in the Big Dance for a second time in four years. In the minds of some, UNCG might have claimed the 2005 Southern Conference title on a neutral floor.
UNCG and App State would end the season with identical 9-7 league marks, and it was a key 84-77 win at the Holmes Center on a rainy Saturday early January of 2025 that showed that UNCG might be a team that could win big games on the road in league play, which would be a sign of good things ahead in league play during the 2004-05 season.
In a player like Kyle Hines, the Spartans had a walking double-double, as well as the league's top rim protector. That team really was one that helped lay the foundation for the future and a tradition for the program as being perennially one of the league's top defensive teams.
The Spartans, who nearly squandered a bye losing five straight, rebounded to win its last two conference contests, and garnered a bye by virtue of their season sweep of North Division rival Appalachian State. UNCG began the 2005 Kyocera Southern Conference Tournament with a tough test against the Georgia Southern Eagles.
The Eagles, who entered the tournament as the number three seed out of the South Division, earned a less-than -spectacular opening round victory over the Western Carolina Catamounts. The Spartans started slow against the Eagles falling behind by as many as 10 (32-22), and trailed 38-30 at the intermission.
Trailing 56-50 with 13:12 remaining in the game, the Spartans began their methodical comeback embarking on 7-1 run to tie the contest at 57-57 with 11:10 remaining. From there, the Spartans stayed within striking distance never trailing by more than six points the rest of the way. With the contest tied at 71-71 with 1:23 remaining, Georgia Southern senior point guard Terry Williams launched a 3-pointer that missed the mark, and Kyle Hines snagged his eighth rebound to give the Spartans a chance to take their first lead of the contest.
On what was an otherwise quiet afternoon for senior forward and leading scorer Ronnie Burrell, the veteran provided the game-winning jumper in the lane over an outstretched Louis Graham to put the Spartans ahead 73-71 with only 34 seconds remaining. Elton Nesbitt’s desperation three-point attempt from the corner bounced off the rim as time expired, and the Spartans moved on to semifinal stage to face top-seeded Davidson in the Southern Conference Tournament semifinals.
The Spartans had four players in double figures in the win over Georgia Southern. Guards Ray Bristow and Ricky Hickman combined to score 35 points, while Ronnie Burrell and Kyle Hines added 14 and 10 points, respectively. Hickman led all scorers with 22 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field, and 9-of-11 shooting from the charity stripe.
The Eagles were paced by guard Elton Nesbitt who finished with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. The Spartans shot 42.4 percent from the field on the afternoon, while the Eagles were held to just 40 percent shooting on the afternoon. The Spartans also held a slight advantage on the boards outrebounding the Eagles 44-40 in the contest. I
n the semifinal round, the Spartans faced their most daunting challenge of the 2004-05 campaign when they faced the Davidson Wildcats. The Wildcats entered the contest winners of 16 straight games, as they finished the league slate unbeaten (16-0). Head coach Fran McCaffery had enjoyed some success against Bob Mckillop over the years but entered the contest having dropped seven-straight to Mckillop and the Wildcats.
The semifinal clash had an odd feeling to it though. Davidson, who dominated Elon 67-53 in their opening matchup in the tournament, looked tentative early in the contest, playing without the confidence of you might have expected from an undefeated squad.
The Wildcats would put things together in the second half to win the game handily. Davidson had defeated the Spartans 78-69 on Feb. 5 in Fleming Gym. In that contest, the Spartans made mental errors turning the ball over 22 times, and struggled shooting the ball in the second half hitting at just a 32.4 percent clip in the stanza. UNC Greensboro came out and established its gameplan early against the Wildcats. The Spartan backcourt trio of Dwayne Johnson, Ray Bristow and Ricky Hickman took it right at the teeth of the Wildcat zone defense creating opportunities for both Kyle Hines and Josh Gross.
The Spartans stunned the Wildcats jumping out to a 21-9 advantage with 9:00 remaining in the first half. The Spartans shot 44.8 percent from the field in the first half, while the Wildcats shot just 31.0 percent from the field in the first stanza. The Spartans, who entered the contest as the worst three-point shooting club in the Southern Conference, converted on 5-of-10 three-point field goals in the first half. A Jason Morton three-point field goal with time winding down in the first half gave the Wildcats some momentum going into the locker room.
In the second half, it was the Josh Gross show. Gross scored 16 second half points en route to a career-high 22 points on the night.Gross’ three pointer with 1:31 remaining in the contest broke a 66-66 tie, and gave the Spartans a lead they would not relinquish. The Spartans continued their hot shooting in the second half hitting 48 percent of their shots from the field, and most importantly, converted 16-of-20 free throw attempts in the second stanza.
The 73-68 triumph for the Spartans marked their first win over Davidson since the semifinals of the 2001 Southern Conference Tournament. Ironically, the score was 73-68. The Spartans appeared lethargic for much of their championship contest against the homestanding Mocs. The Spartans dropped the title bout, 66-62.
Furman's Talented Youth
The 2004-05 season should have been the one that the youth hit for the Furman Paladins under seventh-year Paladin head coach Larry Davis, however, what would result in the 2004-05 season would be more mediocre than an upper echelon SoCon team, however, what played out during the 2004-05 season was a roller-coaster ride for Paladin hoops.
The Paladins had a collection of guys that were both talented but also young. One of the adverse situations the Paladins would be forced to ultimately navigate during the 2004-05 season was the suspension of one of its most talented players due to not meeting some academic requirements, as reigning SoCon Freshman of the Year Quan Prowell would miss much of Southern Conference play.
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| Furman sophomore wing Quan Prowell |
Furman relied on sharp-shooting guards Eric Webb, Tony Carter and Robby Bostain, along with senior forward Ben Earle, to do a majority of the dam age from long-range. Furman hovered around the nation’s top three long-range shooting clubs for much of the season and finished the season in the top five in from long-range for the season. In a meaningless non-conference affair, the Paladins took on NAIA Division II member Virginia -Intermont, a team that entered the match-up winless on the season and was one of the worst teams in NAIA basketball.
Furman produced some impressive margins of victory over Elon (W, 71-51), Wofford (W, 75-58) and The Citadel (W, 83-59), with all three of those victories coming on the home hardwood at Timmons Arena.
The Paladins would head to the North Charleston Coliseum as the No. 4 overall seed out of the South Division, as the Paladins would take on out-going member East Tennessee State, who entered the clash as the No. 5 seed in the North Division. In the only meeting with the Bucs, claiming an 81-75 win over the Bucs in Johnson City.
However, in the 2005 Southern Conference Tournament, the narrative would be a little different and the Paladins would see their 2004-05 season come to an end with an 87-84 setback to the Bucs.
Georgia Southern's Guard Play Was Elite in 2004-05
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| GSU guard Elton Nesbitt |
Georgia Southern was a program that was starting to look like it might make a run towards an NCAA Tournament under head coach Jeff Price, as the Eagles perennially were able to get the kind of guards that could cause any team in the league a headache.
In the early 2000s of Southern Conference hoops, few teams could say they had better guards than the Eagles, and the SoCon was a league stacked with talent in the backcourt. Some of those early 2000s teams had players like Julius Jenkins, Sean Peterson, Donta Humphries, Terry Williams and Elton Nesbitt to give you a small peek of the talent that resided in the backcourt of Georgia Southern in the early part of the new millennium.
The 2004-05 season for Georgia Southern would see the Eagles posted what was an 18-13 overall record, which included a 10-6 record in the SoCon's South Division, and that was good enough to see the Eagles finish tied for second-place in the SoCon's South Division with the College of Charleston, but would end up heading to Chattanooga for the 2005 Southern Conference Tournament as the No. 3 seed.
Nesbitt was that bucket that I was referring to above, and he would finish the 2004-05 season as the SoCon's second-leading scorer, averaging 20.2 PPG, while also finishing the season with 92 made three-point field goals, which was good enough to see Nesbitt complete the campaign ranking tops in the league in triples made, while having shot the ball at an impressive 36.4% clip from long-range for the season. The junior guard would end up finishing the season ranking 24th overall in scoring average.
Not only would Georgia Southern end the season with one of the top 25 individual scorers in college basketball but would also have one of the top overall scoring teams in the nation, as the Eagles finished the 2004-05 campaign ranking sixth nationally in scoring average, finishing the campaign averaging 80.8 PPG. The 80.8 PPG ranked as the second-highest scoring team in program history.
Nesbitt’s 11 long-range bombs in a single game against UTC were second-most in SoCon history and tied for 12th all-time in NCAA history in a single game at the time. The Eagles’ SoCon record- tying 22 three-point field goals in the contest tie the NCAA Division I season-high, also achieved by So Con member Furman. The Eagles shot a blistering 62.4 percent from the field for the game, including 64.7 percent from three-point range. The Eagles would have another outburst against The Citadel Bulldogs on February 14th in Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Eagles, who dropped a 76-65 decision to The Citadel on January 8th in Charleston, returned the favor in style as they scored the second most points in school history. In the 115-81 victory over the Bulldogs, Georgia Southern used a season best 59 points in the second half to explode against the hapless Bulldogs. The Eagles had five players tally double-figure efforts in the lopsided victory. The Eagle backcourt showed why it was the premier backcourt in the Southern Conference.
Nesbitt turned in another spectacular performance scoring 38 points, while backcourt mate Terry Williams dropped in 25 tallies. On the night, Nesbitt went 12-of-17 from the field, including an amazing 10-of-12 from beyond the arc. Williams went 8-of-17 from the field and was 6-of-12 from three-point range in the contest.
Nesbitt and Williams accounted for all 16 three-point f ield goals on the evening and were responsible for 63 of the Eagles’ 115 points on the evening. Senior forward Jean Francois added 14 points, while freshman forward Louis Graham chipped in 10 points. The Eagles finished the 2004/2005 season with an 18-13 mark, bowing out in the quarterfinal round of the Southern Conference Tournament,73-71,to the UNC Greensboro Spartans.
The loss signaled the end of two very illustrious careers. Forward Jean Francois and guard Terry Williams saw their careers at Georgia Southern come to an end when the final buzzer sounded on March 3 in Mckenzie Arena. Williams finished his Georgia Southern career as the school’s all-time career steals leader (221) and notched an Eagle record 262 three-point field goals over his four years at GSU.
Nesbitt would end up producing one of two 40-point scoring performances in the SoCon during the 2004-05 season, as he joined ETSU's Tim Smith to hold that distinction. In what was a 107-84 win over Chattanooga in a mid-January clash against eventual league champion Chattanooga, Nesbitt connected on 11 three-pointers and finished with a SoCon season-high 43 points on a night when the Eagles would make 22 of them. Nesbitt's 11 triples against the Mocs were the most for an NCAA Division I player during the 2004-05 season. The 43 points in a game were also the most scored by an NCAA Division I player in the 2004-05 regular-season.
Nesbitt, though a handful to guard in his own right, wasn't alone. He had plenty of supplemental scoring, especially in the backcourt, as he played alongside jet-quick guards Donte Gennie, Dwayne Foreman and Terry Williams. In the paint, the Eagles had Louis Graham and Jean Francois, who would become reliable scorers in the post.
The Eagles were the most athletic team in the SoCon, and that was something that always seemingly been a staple of Jeff Price coached teams. In the non-conference, the Eagles did a nice job of challenging themselves, which included taking on eventual national champions Florida (L, 68-100).
The Eagles also took part in the Top of the World Classic in Anchorage Alaska to open the campaign, taking on some solid opposition, in Utah State (L, 61-71) Portland (L, 60-74) and Alaska Fairbanks (W, 78-75).
In league action, the Eagles were almost unbeatable at Hanner Fieldhouse, posting an 11-game winning streak to close the season inside the friendly confines.
College of Charleston Endures Frustrating Campaign
It was a challenging season for Tom Herrion in his third season after taking over for Hall-of-Fame head coach John Kresse, and the Cougars were still good, but didn't seem they were on the same course they were on during their time when Kresse was leading the program.
The 2004-05 season would see the College of Charleston finish up the season with an 18-10 overall record, which included a 10-6 mark in Southern Conference play.
In a broader view, however, was that it was CofC's 14th-straight season to finish a campaign with 18 or more wins, which is pretty astonishing. In that sense, the broader view and more removed from conference title and NCAA Tournament participation, and if we view success in that scope, the Cougars were among the best programs in all of college basketball during that span.
However, the 2004-05 campaign marked the first time since joining the Southern Conference that the College of Charleston didn't at least tie for a divisional title. Since winning what would turn out to be its only Southern Conference Tournament in its first season, posting one of the best seasons in the history of the program, winning all 16 of its SoCon regular-season tilts, the Cougars had made the SoCon Tournament Championship game only once in the six ensuing seasons, and the Cougars would end up bowing out of the 2005 Tournament with a 63-60 loss to Appalachian State in the quarterfinals of the tournament, making it a quicker than expected trip to the Scenic City for the league's tournament.
To add even more perspective to that disappointment among its faithful followers, the Cougars' struggles in the SoCon Tourney of late have caused some rumblings about Herrion's future as the head coach in the Port City. In the three previous years that the tournament was played in Charleston, the Cougars never even reached the championship game, but held a 25-4 record at the North Charleston Coliseum entering the 2004 SoCon Tournament. Despite the Cougars’ troubles in the Southern Conference Tournament this past season, the Cougars did manage to put together an impressive regular season led by their veterans.
Before that, former ETSU coach Alan LeForce had helped build the foundation of what would be an NAIA, NCAA Division II and later an NCAA Division I power under John Kresse. Both LeForce and Kresse spent three decades building the Cougars into a perennial power and national brand. In minds of the fans who had followed the Cougars ascension to being one of the most respected mid-major programs in the country, losing your first game in the SoCon Tournament in some respects, was unacceptable.
The College of Charleston looked to be on its way to a successful 2004-05 campaign after edging out Georgia Southern for the number two seed in the South Division. After battling hard over the final two weeks to garner the seed, the Cougars trip to the 2005 Kyocera Southern Conference Tournament was short-lived. The Cougars fell in their opening contest, 63 60, to Appalachian State, a team they had lost to in the regular season.
CofC had a senior-laiden starting five led by guard Tony Mitchell. Mitchell, a deadly outside shooter, also was able to create his own shot off the dribble. He finished his career as one CofC’s premier outside shooters with 216 triples over his four years in Charleston. That was enough to place him second on the all-time ledger behind Marion Busby (93-96). Mitchell’s 82 trifecta’s during the 2005 campaign were second-most in a season behind former guard Troy Wheless (99-03) who posted 102 three-point field goals in 2003.
Mitchell finished the 2004/2005 campaign fifth in the SoCon in socring averaging 14.9 ppg. Another senior that had a solid impact throughout his career as a Cougar was Bernard Jackson. Jackson’s story goes beyond just being an emotional leader on the court for the Cougars, it’s about what he did off the court to play the game he loves. Jackson went through seven knee surgeries and a medical redshirt to play for the Cougars.
His story is remarkable and garnered him recognition as a finalist for the V Foundation Comeback Award. Jackson also had a solid impact on the court, especially as a senior this past season. Jackson averaged 10.9 ppg and led the club in rebounding pulling down 6.2 caroms per contest. In the tournament loss to Appalachian State, Jackson registered a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards against the Mountaineers.
A year earlier, Jackson grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds for the Cougars in their first-round win over Appalachian State in the 2004 SoCon Tournament. Jackson’s emotional leadership and his work ethic will definitely be missed next season. Rounding out the senior starters in 2004-05 was slasher Stanley Jackson. It’s not actually clear whether Jackson was a guard or a forward, and that versatility and his ability as wing defender were huge assets throughout the season for CofC.
Jackson, a tremendous athlete, did a lot of the little things that helped the Cougars be successful during the 2004/2005 season. Jacskon is known most for his ability to get to the rim but also displayed the ability to hit mid-range and long-range jumpers. Jackson was third on the team in scoring averaging 10.6 ppg and ranked second in rebounding snagging 5.2 boards per contest. Jacskon’s finest performance of his career came this season against UNC Greensboro, as he scored 26 points in leading the Cougars to a 79-67 victory.
In that contest, Jackson went 11-of-16 from the field and was 4-of-8 from the charity stripe. The loss of the aforementioned seniors puts head coach Tom Herrion in a difficult position. CofC's three seniors were key cogs in the Cougars’ late-season run to steal the No. 2 seed and subsequent bye in the Southern Conference Tournament, and that late-season run by the Cougars, which saw them win their final three games to steal the No. 2 seed for the tournament, but the bye ultimately didn't help with a loss to a team, in App State, who had already played a game in the tournament.
Mitchell was a part of some great teams over the past four years including the Cougars’ 25-8 team in 2003, a team that made an appearance in the NIT.
Sadly, Michell, Jackson, and Jackson never saw the NCAA Tournament during their respective careers in the Port City. All three were the final legacy of the John Kresse era as he recruited each of those performers. Now it is Herrion’s turn to win with his players.
The regular-season had its share of ups and downs, but the Cougars finished strong to garner the South Division’s number two seed. The Cougars’ early exit in the SoCon Tournament was disappointing, but the season at-large wasn't short on excitement, including several clutch wins.
In the early portion of the non-conference schedule, the College of Charleston faced off against coastal rival UNC Wilmington in John Kresse Arena. UNCW came into the contest with a 4-2 mark and were looking to avoid losing their second consecutive contest coming off of a 76-67 setback to the University of Illinois-Chicago. The game started out well for the Seahawks, as they jumped out to as much as a 14-point lead in the opening stanza and held a 32-25 advantage at the intermission.
Charleston, which cut the margin to one on two occasions over the final four minutes of the game, enjoyed its only lead of the night at the end. With just 5.3 seconds re maining in the contest, Dontaye Draper inbounded the ball to Bernard Jackson, who passed it to Drew Hall. Hall, after sprinting past midcourt, found a hustling Draper on the right wing. Draper caught Hall’s pass, turned and fired a high-arching 25 foot shot over the outstretched hands over a pair of UNCW defenders for the game-winner.
With the three-pointer at the buzzer, the Cougars got an important 59-57 early season victory over a traditional power in the Colonial Athletic Association and established some confidence heading into the Saturn Shootout.
The season also had some downs as evidenced by the Cougs Valentine’s Day meeting with the Davidson Wildcats in Kresse Arena. Trailing the Wildcats 74-69 with 33 seconds left, Charleston’s Dontaye Draper hit a pair of free throws that cut the margin to 74-71. Stanley Jackson stole the inbounds pass and fed Draper who nailed a long three-pointer from the right wing with 22 seconds left to tie the game at 74-74.
That set up Jason Morton’s game-winning heroics. Morton, who hadn’t tallied a single point in the contest, weaved his way through a couple of Cougar defenders, and launched a 13-foot jumper in traffic that bounced on the rim a couple of times before dropping through to give the Wildcats a 76-74 win at the buzzer.
Looking back now, the 2004-05 season would be the beginning of the end for Herrion, who in the very next season would lead a CofC team to just a 17-11 record, and the Cougars posted their lowest finish in the SoCon since joining the SoCon, leading to the program to move in a different direction following the season. The 17 wins were the first time CofC had fallen below winning at least 18 games in a season since 1991. Herrion would finish his career as the head coach of the Cougars having posted a 80-38 record in the four seasons he spent at the helm of the program.
Another first-game loss to Chattanooga at the North Charleston Coliseum in the 2006 tournament would be the final game for Herrion, as his successor would be a name that college basketball fans, especially in the Palmetto State, know all too well, in Bobby Cremins. Cremins would help re-establish some pride in the program in the ensuing season, as the Cougars found themselves back in the championship game. Though the Cougars would eventually drop a 72-65 contest to Steph Curry's Davidson Wildcats in 2007, the Cougars had the enthusiasm and winning momentum infused under Cremins that had begun to wane under his predecessor.
Appalachian State Ascends Above Preseason Low Expectations
Appalachian State had a precarious beginning to the 2004-05 campaign, as it entered the month of February with a 9-9 record and a 3-4 mark in league play. The Mountaineers were fourth place in the North Division, and a Wednesday afternoon contest in the Southern Conference Tournament appeared to be a formality.
However, Appalachian found its stroke during the month of love as it reeled off seven consecutive wins to soar to the top of the North Division standings. The February run reached a crescendo with an 83-61 victory over Chattanooga on Feb. 12 in the Holmes Convocation Center.
On that Saturday afternoon, the Mountaineers were golden from three-point range as they scorched the nets 16 times from long-range, which set a new school mark. In that win over the Mocs, Nathan Cranford lead the way with 23 points on 6-of-8 shooting from three-point range His 23 points equaled a career-high set against East Tennessee State just a few days earlier, and it marked the fifth straight game in which Cranford set or equaled a new career-high.
A lot of people will point to Appalachian’s turnaround as being sparked by Cranford’s play during that seven-game stretch. Over that stretch, Cranford averaged 14.0 ppg. and shot 50.9 percent (27-of-53) from three-point range. Point guard D.J. Thompson was also responsible for Appalachian’s resurgence. Thompson averaged 13.3 points per game during that stretch and knocked down 24-of-41 (58.5) three-point field goal attempts.
From Jan.31-Feb.16, ASU shot at 46.9 percent clip (201-of-429) from the floor, including a scorching 43.3 percent (84-of-194) from three-point range to average 80.6 points per contest during the seven-game win streak. The numbers were even more impressive during the first five games of the run, as Appalachian shot 48.4 percent from the field, and 47.6 from beyond the arc en route to scoring 85 points per contest.
Contributions from freshmen such as Jeremy Clayton and Douglas McLaughlin-Williams were also a major reason why the Mountaineers were able to get hot down the stretch. Seniors Clint Deas, Noah Brown, Chris McFarland and Herbert Jones provided leadership and maturity helping the Mountaineers advance all the way to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament.
The Mountaineers relied on the seniors to come of the bench and sustain the energy provided by a younger starting five. For 10 of the last 12 games, Appalachian used a starting lineup consisting of freshman (Douglas McLaughlin-Williams), three sophomores (Nathan Cranford, Demetrius Scott and D.J. Thompson) and just one senior (Clint Deas).
Western Carolina Adjusts to Life Without Kevin Martin
The 2004-05 season for Western Carolina basketball would ultimately be one of adjustment and change. It would turn out to the final season in charge for then head coach Steve Shurina, who at the end of the season, resigned after having spent four years as the head coach of the Catamounts.
The Catamounts would post just an 8-22 overall record and a meager 3-13 record in Southern Conference play, and that was enough to signal it was time for a change for Director of Athletics Chip Smith.
When Western Carolina guard Kevin Martin decided to enter the NBA draft after his junior season in Cullowhee, the Catamounts had to scramble to find a scorer to match Martin’s capabilities. Unfortunately for head coach Steve Shurina, a player of Martin’s caliber isn’t replaceable, at least not in one season.
The Catamounts had a tough non-conference schedule playing Sweet Sixteen qualifier Wisconsin, while also battling NCAA Tournament participants Iowa and Alabama, along with NIT champion South Carolina. Entering the 2004-05 campaign their were a lot of fresh faces for the Catamounts. Veterans Corey Muirhead, David Berghoefer, Rans Brempong and Terrance Woodyard figured to be the leaders of the otherwise youthful squad.
Guards Antonio Russell and Trey Hopkins were newcomers to the WCU program, and both had an impact in their initial sea son of play for the purple and gold. Hopkins, who found himself in the starting lineup just five games into the season against South Carolina, Hopkins was one of the bright spots in an otherwise dismal season for the Catamounts. Hopkins, a native of Orlando, Florida, started his college ca reer strong as he tallied eight points in the Catamounts’ 75-64 loss to Marquette. Hopkins’ best performance of his freshman campaign came against East Tennessee State on Valentine’s Day in Johnson City.
Against the Buccaneers, Hopkins poured in 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, including 4-of-10 from three-point range, but it wasn’t enough as the Catamounts dropped a 92-83 decision. For his efforts in 2004/2005, Hopkins was named to the SoCon All-Fresh man team and finished the season averaging 9.7 ppg and averaged 11.0 ppg in SoCon play. Hopkins led all freshman guards in assists with 100 assists (3.33 apg) on the season.
Freshman guard Antonio Russell was also part of the new-look Cata mounts and he proved he could hold his own as a starter. The Tampa, Florida prod uct started in 21 of the Catamounts’ 29 contests in 2004/2005. Russell led the Cats in scoring on four occasions with his top performance coming on Dec. 1 against Liberty. In that contest, Russell scored 18 points and pulled down four rebounds in helping lead WCU to a 75-63 victory. Russell also recorded three assists and three steals in the victory over the Flames.
Russell finished the 2004-05 season rank ing 10th in the SoCon in steals averaging 1.70 thefts per contest. Perhaps the biggest storyline of the Catamounts 2004-05 season was senior center Rans Brempong. Brempong, who entered the 2004/2005 campaign with 225 career blocked shots, broke the Southern Conference career blocked shots record on Jan.3 against Georgia Southern. Brempong, who missed all but one game of the 2004-05 season with a broken jaw, had six blocked shots against the Eagles giving him 270 for his career.
Brempong bested the mark of 269 set by former Furman Paladin standout George Singleton. Singleton needed 106 contests to set the mark at 269 while Brempong needed just 106 games to set a new mark at 270. He finished with 308 blocked shots for his Catamount career. lot to look forward to in 2005-06. Despite the struggles, the Catamounts will welcome back leading scorer and rebounder David Berghoefer, along with a new boss.
Defending Champion East Tennessee State Has Disappointing Exit Season
The East Tennessee State men’s basketball team walked away from the 2003-04 season as two-time defending Southern Conference champions and entered the 2004-05 season with its collective eyes focused on a three-peat.
With the losses of Zakee Wadood and Jerald Fields, many believed the Bucs may struggle early, but had enough to challenge for a third consecutive Southern Conference title. Things couldn’t have been more mis calculated. The Bucs struggled out of the gates losing its first five games to NCAA Division I competition, while posting wins over King College and Virginia-Wise. A bevy of preseason injuries, coupled with several in-season injuries, and one key departure, left the Bucs reeling for much of the 2004-05 regular-season.
ETSU, already thin in the frontcourt with the losses of Fields and Wadood, would have to rely heavily on returning post presence Brad Nuckles. Nuckles was a key component of the Bucs’ 2003-04 run and was expected to carry the torch left by Wadood and Fields. The key word in the aforementioned sentence is ‘‘was’’.
Nuckles, who battled an injured foot in the early part of the 2004/2005 campaign, returned from injury a couple of games later only to re-injure that foot. The injury forced Nuckles to miss the rest of the 2004/2005 season, and with it, went the Bucs chances to win a fifth straight North Division crown. Though the loss seemed bad at the time, things only got worse for the defending Southern Conference champions.
JUCO transfer Chris Mitchell, who occupied the starting spot vacated by Nuckles, decided to leave school after Christmas Break. When Mitchell left the lineup, he was averaging 6.4 ppg and a team-leading 8.2 rpg. Two-time Southern Conference Tournament MVP Tim Smith paced the Southern Conference in scoring in 2004-05 as he averaged 22.2 ppg.
Without Mitchell and Nuckles in the Buccaneer lineup, the ETSU was very thin in the frontcourt. Fortunately, Dillion Sneed stepped up and became the Bucs’ main post presence. Because of injuries to the frontcourt, the Bucs had to rely solely on Sneed for rebounding and scoring in the post. Sophomore forward Aaron Scott stepped in and provided good minutes for tbe Bucs and even logged some starting minutes. Sneed went on to top the SoCon in rebounding pulling down 9.1 rebounds per contest.
The junior from Chicago, Illinois pulled down a SoCon season-high 22 rebounds against Georgia Southern in the Bucs’ last regular-season contest. Despite struggling to a 9-18 regular-season mark and fifth place finish in the North Division, the Bucs defended their title with vigor. Led by the league’s top scorer Tim Smith, the Bucs roared into the Kyocera Southern Conference Tournament with confidence not seen for much of the regular season. In the first round of the SoCon Tournament, the Bucs faced the Furman Paladins, a team that beat the Bucs 76-68 earlier in the season in Johnson City.
The Bucs played maybe their best game of the year against the Paladins winning a shootout, 87-84, and two-time SoCon Tournament MVP Tim Smith turned in a 37-point effort to help lead ETSU to the win. Playing only seven players, the Bucs played on emotion but would eventually run up against eventual league champion Chattanooga, and it would be the Mocs that would send the Bucs off the Atlantic Sun with a 77-70 loss to end Smith's standout three seasons in the Southern Conference.
Youthful Bulldogs Show Promise
The Citadel would put up a solid fight each night out under head coach Pat Dennis, and it was apparent that the veteran head coach was making some promise in the talent he had put together to assemble a team that was asked to not only be competitive in the always-tough Southern Conference, but one that could win some games.
The Bulldogs would finish out the 2004-05 season with a 12-17 overall record, which included a league mark and included a 4-12 mark in Southern Conference play, however, it still wasn't enough to keep the Bulldogs out of last place in the SoCon's South Division.
But looking at it in a different way, the Bulldogs doubled the record from the previous season, improving from six wins overall to 12, and then in conference record, the Bulldogs went from two wins in 2003-04 to four wins a year later.
The secret sauce in The Citadel's improvement was connection, and with so much continuity within the program and dedication to the process, especially in improving on the defensive end of the floor, the Bulldogs would see gradual improvement as the season progressed, which began with a late November contest West Point, NY, and road win against Army and ended abruptly in the Southern Conference Tournament in Chattanooga, with an opening round loss to Appalachian State, however, the improvement and coming of age for the 2004-05.
The Citadel started to learn how to win basketball games. Dennis’ philosophy was to start the season playing winnable games so the young Bulldogs could feel what it would be like to win basketball games. The plan seemed to work as the Dogs started the season with an 8-2 record after 10 contests and had already surpassed the previous season’s win total getting off to their best start in 23 years.
The early season schedule included the likes of Army, Voorhees, Chowan, Atlanta Christian and Savannah State. This was hardly a meat and potatoes type schedule, but the Bulldogs did drop a contest to Emmanuel in 2003/2004, so nothing was a given. What was noticeable was the confidence The Citadel seemed to be playing with, especially at the beginning of the always-tough SoCon slate. The Bulldogs showed their toughness in an early season road contest at Chattanooga.
Despite dropping a 66-57 decision, the Bulldogs proved that they were a different team than many had envisioned. The Mocs, who would go on to claim the Southern Conference crown, struggled to take the lead in the contest until a little under 14 minutes remaining in the contest and struggled to hold off the feisty Bulldogs down the stretch. In the next contest against perennial Southern Conference South Division power Georgia Southern, the Bulldogs used their best defensive performance of the 2004/2005 campaign to stifle the Eagles’ potent offense.
The Citadel held the SoCon’s most dynamic backcourt duo of Terry Williams and Elton Nesbitt to a combined 19 points and held them to 0-for-18 from three-point range and a paltry 6-of-34 from the field. For the game, the Eagles shot just 29.2 from the field and just 13.0 percent from three-point range. After this win, it was clear that the Bulldogs had vastly improved and were a team to be wary of in the South Division race. One of the main reasons for the early-season turnaround was the ability of the Bulldog newcomers to mesh with the veterans.
Both Warren and Donny McLendon were two of the newcomers that established themselves as scorers but fit in the lineup nicely with J’mel Everhart and Kevin Hammack.
With the addition of the McLendon brothers, the improvement of The Citadel basketball program was noticeable in 2004/2005 and two of the main reasons for such an improvement were as a result of the first set of siblings to ever play for the Bulldogs at the same time, in Donny and Warren McLendon.
Sophomore guard Donny and freshman forward Warren certainly helped The Citadel get back some respect in 2004/2005. After finishing the 2003/2004 season with a mere six wins to its credit, The Citadel and head coach Pat Dennis were on a respirator. The Bulldogs were in need of some scorers, and they needed them A.S.A.P. With the loss of Max Mombollet, Warren McLendon was able to step in and provide an in mediate boost to the low post.
Warren served notice to the rest of the league in just his second game as a Bulldog. The Dublin, Georgia native scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds in leading the Bulldogs to a 73-62 win over Washington & Lee. Warren went on to lead the Bulldogs in scoring in 2004/2005 as he averaged 12.8 ppg and ranked second in rebounding pulling down 6.7 caroms per contest. Warren’s finest performance of the 2004/2005 campaign came against SoCon North Division foe East Tennessee State.
Against the Bucs, Warren tallied 27 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. Donny McLendon sat out the first six contests until becoming eligible and wasted little time in making his presence felt.
In his first contest against Savannah State, Donny tallied 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field and 3-of-10 from three-point range. Two days later against ACC member Clemson, Donny scored 15 points and was 6-of-11 from the field leading the Bulldogs in scoring. Donny’s top performance of the 2004/2005 season came against Geor gia Southern. He tallied 31 points on 9-of-16 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point range.
The Bulldogs' improvement during the 2004-05 season was not only revealing of how much the Bulldogs had improved as a program under 13th-year head coach Pat Dennis, but also evidence of just how much the league was improving from top to bottom, and how much more competitive the league was becoming.
The disappointing 68-59 loss to App State in the opening round would be a steppingstone to an opening round upset of Furman (W, 65-63) and a near upset win over eventual champion Davidson in the quarterfinals in what was a return that would see a return to North Charleston and the North Charleston Coliseum.
The 2005-06 season would be the final of 14 seasons for Pat Dennis in charge of The Citadel's basketball program, with Les Robinson taking over as the Director of Athletics, hiring Ed Conroy to be the new leader of the Bulldogs' basketball program in 2006-07.
Wofford Learning How to Win in the Southern Conference
It was Mike Young's third year as the head basketball coach of the Terriers, and the young coach was still learning how to lead his team through the different 'seasons' within one season to prepare them for March when everything ultimately matters.
For Young, that meant navigating a tough non-league slate with several tests against power conference foes along with being able to figure out substitution rotations in the non-conference, managing injuries, minutes and adversity and all that comes with it during the grueling SoCon regular-season slate, and then making sure his team was fresh and ready to go when they arrived in Asheville for the 2005 Southern Conference Tournament.
It was a tall order for an experienced head coach to manage, much less a young coach in just his third year of head coaching experience.
He would manage a Wofford team that was underestimated and undervalued by the media coming into the season, however, the Terriers would prove to be a tough out, and though Wofford would finish fifth in the South Division, it was a team that for Young, was one that would prove a breakthrough team for his later teams as the Terriers, which helped pave the way for five title-winning teams that Young would manage during his 17 seasons as the head coach of the Terriers. If anything, the 2004-05 team was the first step in that incremental process of taking one small step forward each season until the inevitable 2009-10 season, which marked the first of five Wofford SoCon titles and subsequent NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Terriers would finish the 2004-05 season with a .500 record overall, finishing the campaign with a 14-14 record, and it would be five-year building process from this point forward before the Terriers would eventually cut down the nets as Southern Conference champion.
With players like Tyler Berg and Howard Wilkerson in the fold, Wofford was going to prove to be a tough out for all comers during the 2004-05 season, and the Terriers had one of the top front courts in the SoCon.
In the season opener at Miami in Coral Gables, the Terriers showed up and showed out in what would prove to be a 67-64 loss to the Hurricanes. Wilkerson posted 23 points flirted with a double-double, finishing with nine rebounds.
Wofford had a chance to actually take the game into overtime, however, freshman point guard Drew Gibson missed a three-pointer with 14 seconds left, but the ball rolled around and came out, issuing a cruel fate after such a great effort in the season opener for Wofford.
The Terriers got a couple of wins over non-Division I programs Milligan and Bluefield, the Terriers would get their next chance at a power conference upset when it traveled to Tennessee for their fourth game of the season, however, once again the Terriers came up just just--this time by six--as the Volunteers held off the Terriers with a 73-67 victory in Knoxville.
The early competitive edge and confidence that a young Terriers lineup would garner as a result of going toe-to-toe would with a pair of conference teams would ultimately lead to another breakthrough of sorts--winning a game against a power conference team.
It would also lead to Wofford's best start to a season since becoming an NCAA Division I basketball member in 1995, the Wofford men’s basketball team looked as though it would be a serious contender for the South Division title.
After narrow defeats in Coral Gables, Knoxville and Athens against Miami (67-64), Tennessee (73-67) and Georgia (89-83), the Terriers made some noise that reverberated throughout the Southern Conference when it traveled to face the SEC member Auburn in Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum in early December. Earlier that same afternoon, the Chattanooga Mocs had defeated SEC East member Tennessee in Thompson Boling Arena.
Wofford would complete the SEC sweep on that day, as it defeated Auburn 83-75 after trailing by as many as 15 points early in the contest. The Terriers played extremely tight defense on Auburn’s perimeter shooters limiting the Tigers to just a 16.7 percent (4-of-24) shooting clip from long-range. The Tigers entered the match-up with the Terriers leading the SEC in made three-pointers (11.0) per game.
While the Tigers experienced their fair share of troubles shooting the ball from long-range, Wofford nailed 8-of-18 attempts (44.4) from long-range and managed to claim a 38-29 decision on the glass. The Terriers were also very proficient from the charity stripe hitting at a 77.3 percent clip for the contest.
The Terriers were led in scoring by guard Adrien Borders who tallied 21 points, while Terrier forward Howard Wilkerson chipped in with 19 tallies to lead Wofford to its first win over an SEC foe in 21 attempts since beginning NCAA Division I play a decade prior.
From Dec.1 - Dec.18 the Terriers won five straight games jumping to a 7-2 mark overall, and 1-0 in league-play, as the winning streak included a 75-66 Southern Conference victory over Appalachian State on Dec.11. The five-game winning streak was the Terriers’ longest win ning-streak since becoming a Division I basketball member. The Terriers began conference play with three tough games as they played at UNC Greensboro and College of Charleston, before coming home to host Chattanooga.
The Terriers dropped all three contests before hosting a hot Citadel team on Jan.17 in Benjamin-Johnson Arena. Wofford’s mettle would be tested for the rest of the season as a result of a key injury in the contest. Junior forward Howard Wilkerson went down in the first half of the contest with a season-ending knee injury. When Wilkerson left the Terrier lineup, he was leading the leading the club in scoring (13.8 PPG) and rebounding (7.8 RPG).
Wilkerson, who was a serious candidate for Southern Conference Player-of-the Year, was the Terriers’ main post presence and his loss forced head coach Mike Young to make some adjustments in his starting five. Junior forward Tyler Berg was forced into the starting lineup and made the adjustment quite nicely. Berg played well enough down the stretch to garner second-team All-So Con honors. He also earned SoCon Player-of-the- Month laurels for his play in the month of February.
Berg averaged 14.6 PPG and 9.4 RPG in leading the Terriers to a 5-3 record during the month. He posted four double-doubles and shot 61.6 percent from the field during the month. The Terriers also had to deal with the loss of guard Justin Stephens who suffered a second knee injury which ended his career. With the loss of Stephens, the Terriers were thin at the guard position as well. Wofford guard Adrien Borders stepped and provided solid play over the final month of the season.
Borders, the 2003 outdoor SoCon track and f field triple jump champion, became the 36th player in Wofford basketball history to register 1,000 points and ranks 28th on Wofford’s all-time scoring list with 1,087 points. Borders led the Terriers in scoring for the season as he averaged 12.6 ppg.
Wofford would eventually bow out of the 2005 Southern Conference Tournament with a 64-58 loss to Elon in the opening game of the 2005 SoCon Tournament in Chattanooga. It was a disappointingly short stay in Chattanooga after what had been such a strong breakthrough season for Wofford.
It would be four years before Wofford would eventually build and surpass this season as its best since joining the NCAA Division I ranks, as the Terriers would finish the 2008-09 season with its first winning record as an NCAA Division I program with a 16-14 record. The very next season would see Mike Young and Wofford go dancing for the first of five times in a 10-year span.
Elon and Ernie Nestor Underwent a Tough 2004-05 Campain in the SoCon
If someone had told Elon head coach Ernie Nestor that he would lose his two top players early in the sea son, he would have probably had a nice chuckle and shrugged off such a comment, however, that is exactly what the second-year head coach had to deal with. Just six games into the regular season, the Elon boss had to deal with the loss of two of its top performers.
Forward Jackson Atoyebi was the first to go down as he suffered a shoulder injury in the first half of the Phoenix game against the Richmond Spiders. In that contest, Atoyebi dove out of bounds trying to save a loose ball but landed wrong on his shoulder.
Atoyebi was forced to take a medical redshirt and sit out the rest of the season after having shoulder surgery. When Atoyebi left the Phoenix lineup, he led the club in scoring averaging 14.0 ppg. The second departure from the Elon basketball team came as a bit of a surprise to Nestor. Sophomore guard Matt Nowlin, who was a member of the 2003-2004 All-Freshman team, left the team in early December and the Phoenix followed with a subsequent swoon.
After defeating the Greensboro College Pride 66-50 in non-conference basketball action, the Phoenix didn’t tally a mark in the right-hand column again until Jan.31. During the 14-game losing streak, the season reached a low-point on Jan.3 with a 65-63 home loss to NAIA Division II member Bluefield College. The same Bluefield College squad that was dropped 90-66 by SoCon member Wofford in November. The Phoenix finally turned the season around on Jan.31 against rival UNC Greensboro.
The Spartans entered the contest as the number two team in the North Division standings and were one of the hottest teams in the league. In that contest, sophomore forward Chris Chalko stepped and led the Phoenix to an improbable 54-50 win over UNCG.
Chalko posted his first double-double of his career by scoring 12 points and snatching 12 rebounds to lead the Phoenix to their first win in nearly two months. On the night, Chalko went just 4-of-18 from the field, including just 2-of-11 from three-point range. But his tenacity underneath the basket gave the Spartans trio of Josh Gross, Ronnie Burrell and Kyle Hines all kinds of problems on the night. Elon then began to believe in themselves, and the system that Ernie Nestor demands of his team.
The Phoenix embarked on a road trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee to take on North Division leader Chattanooga in Mckenzie Arena. The early February match-up offered a chance to see how much Nestor’s new lineup had adjusted to Nestor’s meticulous style.
The Phoenix had a new leader at the point guard position. Freshman point guard Brian Waters had an immediate impact in the lineup after being implemented into the starting five in mid-January. Against Chattanooga, the Phoenix were again sparked by the play of Chalko as he had another career day.
Chalko notched a career-high 20 points, which included a team-best four three-pointers to lead the Phoenix to their second consecutive SoCon win, and first two-game winning streak of the season. With the 62-59 victory over the Mocs, Elon served notice to the rest of the league that they had vastly improved and would no longer be the doormat of the North Division.
Elon was a team long removed from their hiccup against NAIA Division II member Bluefield College in early January. Freshman point guard Brian Waters earned SoCon All Freshman team honors for his efforts in 2004/2005. Waters averaged 11.7 ppg in conference play.
Summing up 2004-05
The 2004/2005 season was one of the most competitive seasons in recent memory in the Southern Con ference. The season saw steady Davidson complete the season unscathed while Appalachian State made a late season run at the North Division title. But when it was all said and done, the Chattanooga Mocs stood above all 11 other teams in the SoCon and claimed its ninth Southern Conference Tournament title.
The season was also filled with exciting finishes as evidenced by Davidson’s buzzer-beater to defeat College of Charleston and College of Charleston’s buzzer-beater in a non-conference affair against UNC-Wilmington. The Southern Conference proved again to be one of the most exciting mid-major conferences in America
Final Standings from 2004-05
North Division
1. Chattanooga 20-11, 10-6
2. UNC Greensboro 18-12, 9-7
3. Appalachian State 18-12, 9-7
4. Elon 8-23, 5-11
5. East Tenn. St. 10-19, 4-12
6. Western Carolina 8-22, 3-13
South Division
1. Davidson 23-9, 16-0
2. Charleston 18-11, 10-6
3. Georgia Southern 18-13, 10-6
4. Furman 16-13, 9-7
5. Wofford 14-14, 7-9
6. The Citadel 12-16, 4-12
SoCon Awards:
Coach of the Year: Bob McKillop (Davidson/Coaches and Media)
Player of the Year: G--Brendan Winters (Davidson/Coaches and Media)
Freshman of the Year: F--Kyle Hines (UNCG/Coaches and Media)
Tournament Most Outstanding Player: F/C--Mindaugas Katelynas (Chattanooga)
2005 Tournament (March 2-5, Chattanooga, TN/Mackenzie Arena)
| First round March 2 | Quarterfinals March 3 | Semifinals March 4 | Championship Game March 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Elon | 64 | |||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Wofford | 58 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Davidson | 67 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Elon | 53 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Davidson | 68 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UNC Greensboro | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UNC Greensboro | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Georgia Southern | 71 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Georgia Southern | 69 | |||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Western Carolina | 57 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Chattanooga | 66 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UNC Greensboro | 62 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Furman | 84 | |||||||||||||||||
| 10 | East Tennessee State | 87 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Chattanooga | 77 | |||||||||||||||||
| 10 | East Tennessee State | 70 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Chattanooga | 57 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Appalachian State | 51 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | College of Charleston | 60 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Appalachian State | 63 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Appalachian State | 68 | |||||||||||||||||
| 11 | The Citadel | 59 | |||||||||||||||||
2024-25 All-SoCon Teams
First Team (Media)
G--Brendan Winters, Davidson
G--Elton Nesbitt, Georgia Southern
G--Tim Smith, East Tennessee State
G--Tony Mitchell, College of Charleston
F/C Mindaugas Katelynas, Chattanooga
Second Team (Media)
F--Logan Kosmalski, Davidson
F--Ronnie Burrell, UNCG
F--Jean Francois, Georgia Southern
G--Terry Williams, Georgia Southern
F/C Tyler Berg, Wofford
Third Team (Media)
F--Kyle Hines, UNCG
F--Chris Brown, Chattanooga
G--DJ Thompson, Appalachian State
F/C--Moussa Diagne, Furman
C--David Berghoefer, Western Carolina
Coaches Team
G--Brendan Winters, Davidson
G--Elton Nesbitt, Georgia Southern
G--Tim Smith, ETSU
G--Tony Mitchell, CofC
F/C--Mindaugas Katelynas, Chattanooga
F--Logan Kosmalski, Davidson
F--Ronnie Burrell, UNCG
F--Kyle Hines, UNCG
F--Jean Francois, Georgia Southern
G--Terry Williams, Georgia Southern
**--Stay tuned for the final part of the three-part series leading up to the 2025 SoCon Tournament, as I take a look back 30 years ago to the 1994-95 SoCon Hoops Season. Hope y'all are enjoying the flashbacks.
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