Owls Flying High: A Promotion / Relegation Dynasty

[jksander]

November 6, 2021
Recruiting has not gone particularly to plan. We're nearing the end of our list of recruits I am willing to go after during the regular season, and with a pair of good players incoming and several targeted recruits who still say they are considering our scholarship offers, I am ready to step back and focus on the new season. If we wind up a player or two short in this effort I am willing to pursue a couple players in the transfer market come April and May.

Our team chemistry looks great heading into the new season, and though he's going to be coming off the bench, Chris Earl looks like he'll fit in just fine. We do not plan to redshirt anyone.

2021-22 Kennesaw State Roster
PG – Brandon Manley (6'4” 191 lbs Sr) Warner Robins GA (Warner Robins HS) 2.5 GPA
SG – Chris Snyder (6'4” 174 lbs Sr) Columbus GA (Hardaway HS) 2.7 GPA
SF – Kareem Roach (6'7” 197 lbs Jr) Fairburn GA (Landmark Christian HS) 2.8 GPA
PF – Griffin Casper (6'6” 223 lbs Sr) Cleveland GA (White County HS) 2.8 GPA
C – Larue Ragin (6'10” 276 lbs So) Cumming GA (North Forsyth HS) 2.5 GPA

6 – Shane Ross (7'1” 250 lbs Sr) Cordele GA (Crisp County HS) 2.9 GPA
7 – Chris Earl (6'3” 215 lbs Fr) Tyrone GA (Sandy Creek HS) 2.9 GPA
8 – Damon Christie (6'8” 196 lbs Jr) Lincolnton GA (Lincoln County HS) 2.6 GPA
9 – Nick Granberry (6'6” 241 lbs So) Gainesville GA (Gainesville HS) 2.6 GPA
10 – Michael Tyler (6'3” 210 lbs Sr) Hamilton GA (Morris County HS) 2.7 GPA
11 – Jim Cullen (6'5” 195 lbs Jr) Suwanee GA (North Gwinnett HS) 2.8 GPA
12 – Michael Cage (6'6” 234 lbs So) Blackshear GA (Pierce County HS) 3.4 GPA
13 – Kevin Hill (6'7” 216 lbs Jr) Darien GA (McIntosh County Academy HS) 3.2 GPA (+)
14 – Darryl Barron (6'0” 199 lbs Fr RS) East Point GA (Tri-Cities HS) 2.3 GPA (++)
15 – Mike Cook (6'8” 230 lbs So RS) Woodstock GA (Woodstock HS) 2.9 GPA (+)

(+) Walk-on
(++) On academic watch

[jksander]

November 13, 2021
For those who take bets on **** like this, Kennesaw State has been picked by fellow conference coaches to finish 7th in the conference this year. Longwood is by far the favorite to win it all, with Chicago State, Stony Brook and the UT Martin Seahawks seen as most likely to be promoted (go figure, coaches seem to lean towards recently relegated teams getting their acts togther). I'm going to go on a limb, despite the fact that we journalists aren't supposed to try predicting things, and say this team has the senior leadership to finish top five and make a run to win the tournament. If they can make it through the pre-conference slate without too many brutal road losses, I see 15+ wins as distinctly possible.

[jksander]

November 16, 2021
Kennesaw State (0-0) @ Georgia Southern (0-0)

Georgia Southern came out fast and took us to school early, leading 21-11 with 12:06 to play in the first half. And our starters never really woke up during the remainder of the first half, which is frustrating considering our general lack of depth. By halftime we trailed by 15 and were lucky it wasn't worse. Halftime: Kennesaw State 33, Georgia Southern 48.

We fought back to within nine early in the second half but Georgia Southern stifled us down the stretch, rebuilding their lead and making us work. We were down 49-58 and still in the game with 11:07 to play, however. We were briefly within two possessions but they ran away with it again and this time we were ready to surrender. They went on to beat us handily 70-83.

Player of the Game: Brandon Manley (23 pts 3 reb 7 ast 1 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Chris Snyder (14 pts 7 reb 2 ast 1 stl) Larue Ragin (8 pts 13 reb 1 ast 1 blk)

[jksander]

November 18, 2021
Florida A&M (0-1) @ Kennesaw State (0-1)

Another absolutely inexcusably sluggish start and we were in a 2-11 hole against Florida A&M with 12:20 to go in the first half. We came to life slowly and made key plays to stay within flirtatious distance of a comeback, but the home crowd was growing restless late in the half with us trailing 21-28 with 4:20 left before the break. By halftime we were still mired in mediocrity and I readied myself for an uncharacteristically rough halftime rant. Halftime: Florida A&M 35, Kennesaw State 26.

We briefly fought to within four early in the second half but our offense was so deeply stuck in the rut we've dug ourselves, the Rattlers simply had to keep slithering out of our way and we could do nothing about it. Down 40-48 with 11:24 to play, we needed a solid run to shut them down and get ourselves some much needed confidence. Snyder got a great steal and passed the rock to Roach with 7:59 to go, pulling us with a deuce, down 52-54. And finally, with 7:19 left, Manley nailed a wicked three pointer to put us in the lead 55-54 for the first time all game. Finally, some life! We then collapsed like we weren't on our own home court, letting the Rattlers go on a 9-0 run and the vocal boos were audible fro the court. We lost this one 59-69 and bloody well deserved it.

I have to get to the bottom of this or we're in for a long, rough season.

Player of the Game: Kareem Roach (14 pts 8 reb 3 ast 1 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Larue Ragin (12 pts 6 reb 1 ast 2 stl 3 blk) Brandon Manley (12 pts 4 reb 7 ast)

[jksander]

November 22, 2021
Kennesaw State (0-2) @ TX Rio Grande Valley (1-1)

Last game I experimented by switching Griffin Casper and Shane Ross, putting Ross at center and Casper near the front of the bench. I put Ragin at power forward, hoping to see good things when pairing the two big men for bigger minutes. It didn't go particularly well, and though he had a decent game, Ragin wound up in foul trouble again limiting his minutes. So today I'm starting our third lineup in as many games, going with Manley / Snyder / Roach / Casper / Ross to see if having Ragin coming off the bench helps us depth-wise.

Finally I saw spark from us early on! We never got to play these guys last year before they moved up to Conference “U” so I was interested to see what pace they'd come at us with, and we responded well by going up 11-7 with 17:16 to play in the first half! Both teams chose shots well, however, and though we were both shooting well we held a slim 22-21 lead on the Vaqueros with 10:48 remaining. Several lead changes later we were knotted 29-29 with 7:05 left, and Chris Snyder hit a fiery triple with 3:50 to go giving us a 32-31 advantage. Another Snyder deuce on the next trip down the court made it a three-point game, and Ross dunked the hell out of it with 2:47 left making it a 36-31 margin! Unfortunately we let the Vaqueros go on a 10-2 run from there to close out the half. Halftime: Kennesaw State 38, TX Rio Grande Valley 41.

We tied the score up quickly in the second half, 45-45 with 16:32 remaining. But midway through the half we struggled to not let Rio Grande Valley run away with it, trailing 54-65 and looking gassed. We had our chances but failed to capitalize and wound up losing this one down the stretch 71-89. But for this being a battle in a hostile environment where we finally showed some motivation, I can at least take some good things from it.

Both Ragin and Ross failed to do much of anything with the minutes they had, but neither did Casper. It is looking like despite the sparks he showed last year, Ragin is far from ready for prime time and will need time to develop off the bench. And we're going to suffer at power forward and center until I can find a consistent pair for bigger minutes.

Player of the Game: Chris Snyder (22 pts 3 reb 2 ast 3 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Kareem Roach (19 pts 5 reb) Brandon Manley (12 pts 2 reb 11 ast 2 stl)

[jksander]

November 25, 2021
Morehead State (1-1) @ Kennesaw State (0-3)

This was a shootout from the start, with all the lead changes such a thing entails. We'd led by as many as three, while they did by as many as four, but with 11:28 to go in the half we were knotted 19-19. Brandon Manley put us ahead 28-25 with one of his patented threes from far out (incidentally his first points of the night) and Roach hit one moments later to make it a 33-27 lead with 5:01 to play. But Morehead went on a 12-2 run to erase all our momentum, and by halftime it was “look at the new result, just like last game's result” from the fans, trailing 39-46 against the Eagles. They flat-out humiliated us on our own court in the second half, about which the less said, the better. We lost this one along with pretty much all the good will of our die-hard fans, 76-86.

Player of the Game: Kareem Roach (18 pts 5 reb 1 ast 2 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Brandon Manley (13 pts 3 reb 5 ast 1 stl) Larue Ragin (10 pts 4 reb 1 stl 1 blk)

[jksander]

November 29, 2021
Kennesaw State (0-4) @ Mississippi State (2-0)

We've now lost nine straight since getting a 75-63 win February 6th against Bryant. Not the time I want to be heading to play Mississippi State on the road, but you have to make what you can of things. We came out and fought hard early but were simply outmatched by our opponent, trailing 9-19 with 13:54 to play, and the Bulldogs never let up. With 8:32 to go they led 16-29 and they were able to coast from there to halftime. Halftime: Kennesaw State 31, Mississippi State 45.

We couldn't get much momentum going against them but did our best to claw our way back in shot by shot, outscoring them 11-2 in the first five minutes of the half despite not really putting together a “run.” Just strong defensive effort, something I was really happy to see! Granberry pulled us within four with a solid jumper, down 46-50 with 12:45 to play, but that was as close as we'd get. The Bulldogs opened it up again from there and it was a testament to how hard we fought for shots down the stretch that we weren't blown out. In the end they won 67-82 as we dropped our 10th game in a row.

Player of the Game: Chris Snyder (20 pts 4 reb 2 ast 1 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Shane Ross (10 pts 8 reb 1 stl 2 blk) Brandon Manley (9 pts 4 reb 6 ast)[/code]

[jksander]

December 2, 2021
Kennesaw State (0-5) @ Portland (0-5)

Though it would seem obvious that a winless team should still not take another winless team lightly, I warned our players that Portland has played a rough schedule, including losses at #7 Florida and #15 New Mexico. These weren't “close” losses or anything, but they lost a 77-79 slugfest with Army at home and a 92-96 shootout at Jacksonville as well, and this is only their second home game of the season. So we fully expected their best effort, considering that's what we've seen from everyone else so far this year.

The game started as an absolute shootout, with us trailing 18-19 against the Pilots with 14:02 to play in the first half, and with 10:01 to play we trailed 22-30 with Portland keeping a staggeringly fast pace. They blew us away from there, we're just not a team built to keep that kind of pace over the course of a game, and our defense was not up to snuff in the first half. They led 34-58 at the half and though we started strong in the second half, the hole was far too deep. That, and the Pilots shot consistently better than 50 percent the entire game, winning this one 71-101.

Player of the Game: Shane Ross (15 pts 5 reb 1 ast 1 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Kareem Roach (12 pts 3 reb 1 ast 1 stl) Griffin Casper (10 pts 3 reb 2 ast)

[jksander]

December 6, 2021
Alabama State (3-3) @ Kennesaw State (0-6)

Both teams started strong, and with 7:52 to go in the half we were knotted 17-17 against the Hornets. A battle of wills, this one went all the way to the half tied in a knot, though a last second deuce tipped the scales slightly in Alabama State's favor. Halftime: Alabama State 31, Kennesaw State 29.

But we collapsed to start the second half, letting the Hornets fly to a 35-46 advantage, our total lack of confidence leaving us wide open to be stung … repeatedly. We fought back, pulling within two possessions on a triple by Manley with 10:19 to play, and I paced the sidelines like a madman, coaxing any little bit of spark I could from our tired roster. Roach buried a trey with 7:14 to go making it a 51-52 game and igniting the spattering of Owl fans who hadn't left after halftime. And Ross, fouled on a lopsided jumper, watched the shot go in and nailed the free-throw to take a 53-51 lead! Knotted 57-57 with just 4:31 remaining, we settled in to fight tooth and nail not to let this one slip away. Ross hit a two to give us the lead again, and a pair of Roach free-throws made it 61-59 with just 2:52 to play! Tied 62-62 in the final 20 seconds, we let it all slip away as free-throws and ticky-tack fouls cost us a winnable game 63-67.

Player of the Game: Kareem Roach (15 pts 6 reb 1 ast 2 stl 1 blk)
Honorable Mention: Shane Ross (12 pts 10 reb 1 ast 1 stl 1 blk)

[jksander]

December 7, 2021
What is wrong with the Kennesaw State Owls, and can it be fixed or is this season already a pre-Christmas washout? Questions are swirling around 26-year-old Darrell Valvano's woeful hoops squad, not the least issue being their 0-7 start and inability to close out games or maintain a lead in any situation. Some question whether it's a matter of building coaching maturity for the young leader, in a job where there's no easy road to success. Others, citing his recruiting difficulties this season – the team's star recruit hasn't signed his LOI yet, sources suggesting because he is retaking the SAT in order not to be forced into Junior College – wonder whether a coach barely older than his own players is capable of leading a team in this day and age.

Sources close to the Athletic Department tell the Sentinel that Coach Valvano is not on the hot seat. “There is no hot seat,” AD Bryan Wilmer told us shortly after last night's game ended. “We're not a school that focuses only on wins. Coach Valvano has built this team into one where the players are tightly knit and close both on and off the court, and the players have worked together to improve their GPAs and work toward earning degrees. We're not going to cut him off at the knees over a losing streak.”

Still, if Shawn Bullock fails to qualify academically, right now we're looking at a recruiting class featuring one of the ten worst players in the nation according to WSSN's recruiting gurus, along with potentially four empty scholarships left for the transfer window or for a slew of walk-ons.

Is that really the best we can hope for in Kennesaw?