Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

[jksander]

February 23, 2021
Kennesaw State (7-19, 3-12) @ SC Upstate (14-12, 9-6)

I tried to lighten the mood as we went into our final regular season game: “Hey, heads up! At least they can't relegate us!” It must have worked at least a bit, as we came out with some spark, leading 7-2 after two minutes and up 12-5 with 15:12 to play (against a team with everything to fight for – they are within a game of first in the conference!) Strong three-point shooting kept us on a strong pace, up 24-13 with 8;52 to go in the half, and Upstate simply couldn't match our intensity. We led by as many as 16 midway through the half and carried a great deal of momentum into the break. Halftime: Kennesaw State 38, SC Upstate 30.

They fought back furiously in the second half but we held onto a 42-37 lead with 15:46 left in the game. Unfortunately they tied it 45-45 a moment later, 50-52 with 9:02 to play we looked absolutely gassed. We were able to keep our heads high despite trailing 54-64 with four minutes remaining, and though SC Upstate won this one 64-74 we showed why we have a lot of upside heading into next season.

Kareem Roach broke his ankle late in the game, but since only the top 12 teams in the conference make it to the Conference tournament our season is over anyway.

Player of the Game: Larue Ragin (13 pts 4 reb 1 ast)
Honorable Mentions: Kareem Roach (12 pts 1 reb 2 blk) Brandon Manley (10 pts 4 reb 7 ast)

Conference Standings
(01) SIU Edwardsville (11-5, 15-12)
(02) Florida Gulf Coast (11-5, 15-12)
(03) TX Rio Grande Valley (10-6, 15-12)
(04) Longwood (10-6, 15-12)
(05) SC Upstate (10-6, 15-12)
(06) North Dakota (9-7, 16-11)
(07) Massachusetts-Lowell (8-8, 12-15
(08) Houston Baptist (8-8, 12-18)
(09) Presbyterian (7-9, 10-17)
(10) Incarnate Word (7-9, 10-17)
(11) Abilene Christian (7-9, 9-18)
(12) Bryant (7-9, 10-17)
(13) North Alabama Lions (7-9, 8-19)
(14) California Baptist (7-9, 10-17)
(15) Omaha (6-10, 13-14)
(16) Kennesaw State (3-13, 7-20)

[PointGuard]

Ain't no place to go but up!

[jksander]

Ain't no place to go but up!

Indeed

[jksander]

Conference “V” Tourney Results

March 1, 2021
(8) Houston Baptist 80, (9) Presbyterian 67
(5) SC Upstate 79, (12) Bryant 96
(6) North Dakota 81, (11) Abilene Christian 68
(7) Massachusetts-Lowell 72, (10) Incarnate Word 81

March 2, 2021
(1) SIU Edwardsville 68, (8) Houston Baptist 56
(4) Longwood 104, (12) Bryant 96
(6) North Dakota 85, (3) TX Rio Grande Valley 78
(10) Incarnate Word 73, (2) Florida Gulf Coast 92

March 3, 2021
(1) SIU Edwardsville 47, (4) Longwood 75
(6) North Dakota 78, (2) Florida Gulf Coast 68

March 4, 2021
(6) North Dakota 90, (4) Longwood 83

So 6th seeded North Dakota earned the 4th promotion spot from Conference “V” to Conference “U”, alongside the top three conference finishers, SIU Edwardsville, Florida Gulf Coast and TX Rio Grande Valley. Stony Brook, Tennessee-Martin, Central Arkansas and Chicago State will drop down to our conference in the fall.

North Dakota (20-11) lives to play in the NCAA Tournament as the 15th seed against 2nd seeded Gonzaga (24-9). Meanwhile, TX Rio Grande Valley and Longwood earned spots in the fourth-tier College Basketball Invitational. Rio Grand Valley will face (3) Harvard in the Midwest bracket,with Longwood taking on (2) Lafayette in the West bracket.

TX Rio Grande Valley lost in the first round to Harvard 75-78.
Longwood advanced by upsetting Lafayette 76-64, but lost in the second round to Canisius 73-93.
North Dakota was crushed by Gonzaga, as expected, 53-75.

Tournament Champions
NCAA Tournament: (10) Boston College 82, (2) Duke 98
National Invitational Tournament: (2) Auburn 88, (1) Minnesota 73
Collegiate Insider Tournament: (8) Colorado 81, (5) Connecticut 72
College Basketball Invitational: (1) West Virginia 78, (7) Alcorn State 63

It'll be interesting to see how things shape out long term in this world, as I have leaving early for the NBA turned off, and since the Promotion / Relegation system leads the top conferences to be so stacked with ranked powerhouse teams it's very difficult to move up or down in the national rankings during the conference season (this year nine of the top 25 in the final AP poll had 10 or more losses). Will having players stay all four years make the bigger teams even more powerful long term, or will they just keep beating up on each other making it harder for each team to get the key blue chip players? Only time will tell.

Team Leaders
Scoring: Larue Ragin (11.7 ppg) Chris Snyder (10.5 ppg) Kareem Roach (9.8 ppg)
Rebounds: Kareem Roach (6.0 rpg) Larue Ragin (5.0 rpg) Damion Christie (4.0 rpg)
Assists: Brandon Manley (4.2 apg) Chris Snyder (2.4 apg)
Steals: Larue Ragin (1.1 spg) Damion Christie (1.0 spg)
Blocks: Kareem Roach (1.3 bpg) Damion Christie (0.9 bpg)

Graduating
SF – Josh Cherry (2.5 GPA) 1.0 ppg 0.7 rpg 0.2 apg 0.2 spg (26 games, 0 starts)

Postseason Awards
None.

Upcoming Season Goal
Don't finish last in the conference.

[jksander]

May 1, 2021
For 26-year-old second-year Owl head coach Darrell Valvano, everything's looking up. It would have to, as the team finished dead last in the last-ranked conference in Division I basketball, though even that performance was an improvement over the prior year's single win (this year they had seven!) But there's more reason for positivity than those basic jibes. The team returns a lineup including five seniors, all with significant playing experience from last year, as well as two junior starters and a sophomore (Larue Ragin) who was a close contender for Freshman of the Year last season. And their lone incoming recruit, Chris Earl, is a guard with discipline, court intelligence and endurance who could prove to be another solid three-point shooter in their already solid arsenal from deep.

All told, expectations are high for Kennesaw State, though Valvano's recruiting mettle will be certainly tested. Five scholarships are available, and though the program has a budget in the $38,000 range, recruiting beyond the Georgia borders will prove incredibly difficult – and they're up against in-state schools like Georgia State and Georgia where players have a much stronger shot of ever dancing in March.

Fans look forward to seeing what level of opponents wind up on the schedule in the fall, and hope that Valvano's rebuilding of this team is well on its way, rather than at a bare beginning.

[jksander]

July 11, 2021
We're told that Kennesaw State has already offered a pair of scholarships to in-state students as the recruiting season ramps up. One, 6'10” center Eddie Williams, of Rochelle's Wilcox County High School, has a parent who is a Kennesaw State alum according to our sources, though it's uncertain which other schools may have made an offer.

Rumor has it the other scholarship has been offered to highly contested forward Jon Morris, of Atlanta's Lakeside High. Morris has reportedly expressed at least some interest in the Owls program, though he is a top 50 recruit who is expected to draw offers from any number of top schools, including Georgia.

[jksander]

September 4, 2021
This year's recruiting has been tougher than I expected, but I think we're narrowing in on players who have skills we can utilize to build a strong team. Unless we luck into someone who is a top tier player overall nationally, we can only expect to bring in players who have pieces of the puzzle. No one player is going to be the “magic piece” that saves our program. Diamonds in the rough are the goal, players I can mold and fit in to our solid team atmosphere. Though I'm still hoping Jon Morris decides to join us here in Kennesaw, my other scholarship offers have gone to players who are more in our “wheelhouse.” Still, nothing wrong with reaching when given a chance, right? If it blows up in my face, just blame my age and inexperience.

Darryl Barron and Kevin Hill are our academic focus this fall, trying to get them in better shape from a GPA standpoint. Barron redshirted last year and still has four years of eligibility, so there's time to acclimate him to the rigors of education. Hill, a junior walk-on, needs to show he can handle school and being a practice body for our program.

[jksander]

September 18, 2021
Jon Morris chose to go to LSU, leaving us an open scholarship and taking a good chunk of the wind out of my sails as **** starts getting real.

[jksander]

September 25, 2021
The highlight of the Owls' schedule heading into the 2021-22 season has to be our home game against Georgia on December 13th. We only have five home games before conference play, so we definitely need to get those wins that we can. As for our road schedule, Coach Valvano and the AD have us facing some tough teams, including trips to Auburn and Alabama in December, as well as to Mississippi State the weekend of Thanksgiving. We open the season on the road against Georgia Southern as well. Those games should showcase nicely what our team has to offer before we hit the long conference season.

[jksander]