Men's Basketball | 10/24/2016 3:35:00 PM

Buy tickets | Schedule

Preview schedule
Today - Overview
Oct. 28 - Juniors
Oct. 31 - Sophomores and Freshmen 
Nov. 2 - Schedule
 
Below is the first in a four-part series previewing the 2016-17 season.

STATESBORO, Ga. – College coaches have been saying it for years – the good thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores. In the case of the Georgia Southern men's basketball program, that growth has likely been accelerated because of the amount of time Eagle freshmen spent on the court last season.

Georgia Southern was the youngest team in the country last season, starting three sophomores and two freshmen, and yet, the Eagles managed to hover around .500 all year and won 10 Sun Belt games to finish fifth in the league standings. 

Freshmen and redshirt freshmen who are back accounted for 40 percent of the Eagles' minutes played, and Georgia Southern returns all five starters, eight of the nine players who were in the rotation and 94 percent of its scoring and rebounding.

That experience should pay enormous dividends. Along with becoming comfortable with the speed of the college game and understanding the need for maximum effort for 40 minutes, the Eagles are now well versed in coach Mark Byington's base system, which is great news for a coach who likes to use some pretty intricate schemes, especially on the defensive end. 

Byington said at the beginning of last season that the Eagles had to become proficient in the building blocks of his system before he would add to it, and GS fans saw that progression as the season rolled along. He admits they were nowhere near the level of proficiency that the senior-laden 2014-15 squad that advanced to the Sun Belt championship game was, and attaining that expertise is the ultimate goal.

"We are going much faster this year because we have returners who started and played, and that's completely different than the years since I've been here," said Byington. "Even though this my fourth year, this the first time I've had a three-year guy in the program, which is what I have now in Mike Hughes, Devonte Boykins, Jake Allsmiller, Coye Simmons, Shawn O'Connell and Aubrey McRae. Those guys understand what we are doing and having that helps me move along faster, but it also helps me because when I see them struggle on something, it means I didn't do a very good job of teaching it and we have to go back and do it over again."

Byington and his staff have also had the chance to recruit personnel that fit their system. Offensively, that means spreading the floor with a lot of shooters to open up the inside as well as provide plenty of driving lanes to get to the basket. It also means taking and making a lot of 3-pointers, a similar style of play to what fans are seeing in the NBA. The Eagles set school records in 3-point attempts and makes last season.

"It fits our style, it fits the way I like to play and it also fits the analytics of the game now," said Byington. "It increases spacing on the floor, which means we should get more layups and shots at the rim. So if everything is working together, we're not just shooting 3s but also being able to space the floor so we can get to the basket."

Georgia Southern struggled to defend without fouling early in the campaign, but the Eagles made tremendous strides as the season progressed. Defense was a major point of emphasis in the offseason and continued improvement will be a key to success this year.

"We did get better by the time we got to January and February, but we never got to be above average so defensively, it has to get much better," said Byington. "The one number thing that we focused on in the offseason and our initial practices is defense. We want to get better defensively, want to be tougher, both physically and mentally, and doing both of those things is going to help with our rebounding. Those three things were a major focus in the offseason and going into this season."

Improved depth will be a factor with so many young players seeing major minutes last year, and Byington hopes to be able to extend the rotation.

"We are deeper and more proven," said Byington. "The sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th guy on our team is a good player who has some experience. We haven't had that before. What's exciting for me as a coach is that I don't even know who's going to start and the amount of minutes they're going to play.  We have had some guys who have played really well, but we have also had some guys get a lot better and have expanded their games to where they can do different things now."

The Eagles host Lees-McRae in an exhibition game in Hanner Fieldhouse Nov. 3, before opening the season at NC State Nov. 11.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. Fans can purchase tickets to Georgia Southern Athletics events by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS or by visiting GSEagles.com.