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Post-Season Tournament Selections

UC San Diego—NIT (3rd seed in East Region)

Georgia State—NIT (4h seed in West Region)

Southeast Louisiana—CIT (3rd seed in Midwest Region)

Coach McMillan (MD-Eastern Shore) and Coach Morillo (Western Illinois) will be watching the post-season tourneys on TV.

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NIT Results

Round1

Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles—72, UC San Diego Tritons—64 (7 minutes into the game, the Tritons slipped behind after 8 lead changes and by the half trailed 38-29. The Golden Eagles then led by as much as 15 points in the 2nd half as they knocked UC San Diego out of the tournament. Southern Mississippi scored 12 more points at the free throw line than did the Tritons. SG Brandon Payne—14 pts, 4 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk; C Tommy Jordan—13 pts, 6 reb; PF Bryce Stafford—12 pts, 7 reb; PG Solomon Rayner—12 pts, 8 reb, 5 ast.)

Georgia State Panthers (21-8)—70, Hofstra Pride—58 (The Panthers grabbed the lead very early and never gave it back. They led 42-23 at halftime. Midway through the 2nd half their lead had grown to 30 points. They then coasted to an easy victory. C Jeremy Young—19 pts, 11 reb; SF David Selby—13 pts, 6 reb, 3 ast; SG Clint Strohm—11 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk; PG Elton Sheals—10 pts, 4 ast.)

Round 2

Old Dominion Monarchs—81, Georgia State Panthers (21-9)—70 (While Old Dominion was ahead almost the entire first half, the Panthers were within 2 points at the half, 43-41. The Monarchs maintained a very small lead throughout much of the 2nd half and then lengthened their lead in the final 4 minutes. C Jeremy Young—22 pts, 8 reb, 2 stl; SF David Selby—13 pts, 3 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk; PF Aaron Samuels—9 pts, 7 reb, 3 blk. Note: SF David Selby completed his collegiate career for the Panthers, having scored 1673 points. He was a model of consistency, averaging between 12.6 ppg and 14.9 ppg each season, hitting between 39.5% and 41.2% of his field goals each season, and also pulling down from 4.4 rpg to 5.3 rpg each season.)

CIT Results

Round 1

Southeast Louisiana Lions (18-11)—57, Northern Colorado Rams—55 (The two teams duked it out the entire game. There were 16 lead changes and 8 ties. At halftime the score was tied 35-35. The 2nd half was a defensive display during which the Lions came back from 5 down to edge past the Rams with 2 minutes to go and then hung on to gain the victory. SG Thomas Matthews—13 pts; PF Mike Sanders—12 pts, 8 reb, 2 stl; C Duane Simmons—10 pts, 6 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk.)

Round 2

Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers—85, Southeast Louisiana Lions (18-12)—62 (The Lions fell behind 3 minutes into the game. By halftime they trailed 47-39. The Mountaineers pressure defense stymied the Lions in the 2nd half. SG Thomas Matthews—13 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl; PF Mike Sanders—12 pts; SF Shawnelle Allen—12 pts, 9 reb.)

[Once all of the coaches’ teams had lost and were out of their respective tournaments, Coach Morillo set up a conference call and the five decided to attend the Final Four games and Championship game together.]

Tournament Championship Games

CIT: New Mexico—80, Mount St. Mary’s—59
CBI: UC Santa Barbara—79, Colorado—76
NIT: Belmont—89, Georgia—86
NCAA: Temple—80, San Diego State—75

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Awards:

C Tommy Jordan, UC San Diego, Conference R Player of the Year

C Tommy Jordan, UC San Diego, Conference R 1st Team All-Conference

SG Brandon Payne, UC San Diego, Conference R 1st Team All-Conference

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Comments by the 5 Coaches (Mike McMillan, Ramon Montez, Terry Morillo, Dontell Spencer, and Ken Yamoto) at their dinner get-together

Since the seasons for all 5 coach’s teams were over, they decided to attend the NCAA Final Four and Championship games. They all got together for dinner the day before the championship game:

Ramon: None of us had really great seasons this year.
Terry: Well, I certainly didn’t.
Mike: I hear ya, brother. There were times when I thought the season would never end.
Dontell: Anyone planning to explore the job market this year?
Ken: Not me. I’m pretty happy at UC San Diego. They’ve been treating me pretty well and it’s a great place to live, particularly since I live right near the beach. Just can’t beat the weather.
Mike: I’m just happy that I’m not getting canned.
Ramon: My team will remain in Conference N. I want to try to get the Lions promoted next year. Had we won one more freakin’ conference game this season, we’d have made it, so that really sucks.
Terry: Nah, I’m pretty damned bummed about how we did this year. But I’m hanging in. I sure hope that things will improve this coming season.
Dontell: Man, it’s hard to believe I’m 67 years old. I used to think that was ancient. So I really should be retiring. But I’m not ready for the rocking chair yet. The Panthers will be moving up to Conference I this coming season, so I want to see how we do there. But we’re losing a lot of good players to graduation next month, so maybe I should have retired.
Mike: 67? Man, Dontell, you don't look a day over 66. But does that mean we need to start to call you Pops?
Terry: Congratulations are in order for you, Dontell, and also for Ken. Of the five of us, your two teams are the only ones that will move up to a new conference next year.
Ken: Looking at your rosters Ramon, Terry and Mike, I’m betting that your teams to be promoted after the upcoming season.
Terry: With UC San Diego moving up to Conference Q, Ken, we’ll be going up against each other again next season.
Mike: Here’s to all of us having fantastic seasons in the coming year.
Ramon: Yeah guys, let’s all have our teams selected for the NCAA Tourney and get our teams promoted next season.

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Recruits

Western Illinois

PG Jeremy Williams, 6-5 HS Sr from Crescent City, IL. Averaged 16.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 5.1 apg, 2.8 spg, and 1.9 bpg. #878 ranked recruit. Excellent outside shooter and good passer and ball handler and also a great leader and hard worker.

PF Damien Cornell, 6-8 HS Sr from Decatur, IL. Averaged 16.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.4 apg, and 1.6 spg. #757 ranked recruit. Outstanding inside shooter who also shoots well from outside.

Coach Terry Morillo said, “We needed a PG and an inside player and we got both, so our recruiting effort was a success. I think Williams is underrated. You never know if a kid can come in and handle starting at PG, but I think he at least has a chance. Cornell could possibly challenge for a starting job also.”

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Recruits

Southeast Louisiana

PF Andrew Stokes, 6-8 HS Sr from Kenner, LA. Averaged 11.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.9 spg, and 2.5 bpg. #861 ranked recruit. Very good outside shooter and rebounder.

SG Jafar Roe, 6-5 HS Sr from Clarksville, TN. Averaged 10.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.5 apg, and 2.7 spg. #1757 ranked recruit. Good outside shooter, passer, and ball handler. Has had some attitude and discipline issues.

C Changa Battle, 6-9 HS Sr from Faifax, SC. Averaged 13.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.9 spg, and 2.0 bpg. #852 ranked recruit. Great inside shooting skills. Hard worker.

C Aaron Sims, 6-10 JC Soph from Gray, LA. Averaged 13.0 pgg, 6.8 rpg, 4.2 apg, 2.0 spg, and 2.6 bpg. #754 ranked recruit. Excellent inside shooter who’s a solid rebounder with good passing skills.

Coach Ramon Montez said, “We filled all our scholarships and the four we landed are at positions to provide the additional depth we’ll need this coming season.”

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Recruits

Maryland Eastern Shore

SG Jason Surpin, 6-3 HS Sr from Chicago, IL. Averaged 11.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.6 apg, 2.3 spg, and 2.0 bpg. #1381 ranked recruit. A good shooter from both outside and inside and also a good passer and ball handler.

SG Daymeon Fuller, 6-5 HS Sr from Phoenix, AZ. Averaged 13.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.2 apg, 2.8 spg and 2.3 bpg. #1297 ranked recruit. Great outside shooting skills and a good passer.

Coach Mike McMillan said, “Surpin and Fuller will provide depth we needed at guard this coming season. We unfortunately failed to fill our 3rd scholarship. We had an international player we thought we had a good shot of landing in April, but without the money to actively recruit, we lost him to another school. We’ll go after a transfer player this summer and hopefully will pick up a big man to give us greater depth up front.”

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Recruits

Georgia State

SG Jim Gooden, 6-3 HS Sr from Atlanta, GA. Averaged 15.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 3.1 apg, 2.4 spg, and 2.5 bpg. #1319 ranked recruit. He’s a good scorer because of his very good outside shooting skills and is also a skilled passer and a hard worker who is very durable.

PF Terrence Smith, 6-8 HS Sr from Stone Mountain, GA. Averaged 16.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 0.2 apg, and 0.3 bpg. #1275 ranked recruit. A very good scorer with outstanding shooting skills from both inside and outside and also a good defender and hard worker.

PF T.J. Nicholson, HS Sr from Hawkinsville, GA. Averaged 10.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 3.9 apg, 2.2 spg, and 1.8 bpg. #687 ranked recruit. Very good outside shooter and good inside shooter and very good rebounder with a tremendous work ethic.

SF Paul Mapp, 6-7 HS Sr from Loganville, GA. Averaged 10.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.2 apg, 3.1 spg, and 1.9 bpg. #810 ranked recruit. Solid shooter from both inside and outside and a very good rebounder and ball hawk. He’s also a hard worker and great leader.

SG Curtis Lopez, 6-5 HS Sr from Cumming, GA. Averaged 14.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 3.6 apg, 3.0 spg, and 2.5 bpg. #1162 ranked recruit. Very good outside shooter who also is very durable, a strong passer and gets more than his share of steals.

SG Michael Maxwell, 6-3 JC Soph from Swainsboro, GA. Averaged 10.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.9 apg, 4.3 spg, and 2.4 bpg. #680 ranked recruit. Excellent outside shooter with outstanding stealing skills and very strong passing skills.

Coach Dontell Spencer said, “We had a lot of guys to replace and did it! We filled in where it will be needed next year. It’ll be interested to see which of the 3 guards steps up to fill the starting SG job for us.”

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Recruits

UC San Diego

SF Dermek Ledbetter, 6-7 HS Sr from Las Vegas, NV. Averaged 10.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 4.4 apg, 3.0 spg, and 2.1 bpg. #943 ranked recruit. Good outside shooter, rebounder, and passer with strong stealing skills. He’s durable, a great leader, and a hard worker.

SG Jake Stuart, 6-0 HS Sr from Wendell, ID. Averaged 9.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.7 apg, 2.9 spg and 1.8 bpg. #962 ranked recruit. Very strong outside shooter and passer who gets plenty of steals and has a tremendous work ethic.

SF Calvin Sears, 6-6 HS Sr from Murray, UT. Averaged 13.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.2 apg, 2.1 spg, and 1.9 bpg. #1098 ranked recruit. Very strong outside shooting skills, good rebounder and passer who is durable and a hard worker.

SG Shane Patton, 6-4 HS Sr from Arroyo Grande, CA. Averaged 11.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 4.0 apg, 2.7 spg, and 2.0 bpg. #1470 ranked recruit. Excellent outside shooter with strong passing skills and who is a hard worker.

C Mike Okotie, 6-8 HS Sr from Glendale, AZ. Averaged 11.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.6 apg, 2.6 spg, and 3.4 bpg. #893 ranked recruit. Outstanding inside shooter who also is an excellent shooter from outside. Good rebounder and shot blocker and a hard worker.

Coach Ken Yamoto said, “We landed players who will provide the depth we need at guard and SF and Mike Okotie may challenge Blizzard and Brooks, who both redshirted this season. to start at C this coming season. In addition all 5 recruits have great personal attributes that are a welcome addition to our team.”

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Requests to the Boards of Directors

All 5 coaches requested facility upgrades, but the only one to get their request approved was Mike McMillan at Maryland-Eastern Shore. The upgrades will improve their facilities to the C level.