Men's Basketball | 11/10/2015 10:55:00 AM

The 2014-15 season was a banner year for Georgia Southern men's basketball. Multiple sellout crowds with a raucous atmosphere in Hanner Fieldhouse, the first 20-win season in nearly 10 years and a conference championship game appearance for the first time since 1992 highlighted the campaign.

It's time to turn the page to a new chapter, and the 2015-16 edition of the Eagles will seek to build on that success. With 11-of-12 scholarship student-athletes on the roster who are either freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores, the Eagles are forging their identity, both individually and as a team, through the first month of full-team practice.

"Everyone on the team is in a new role, whether they are returning or an incoming freshman or transfer," said Georgia Southern coach Mark Byington. "So the guys are trying to figure out how they are going to help the team, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to use them."

As the team continues to practice and opens its non-conference portion of the schedule in November, the biggest key will be moving forward as a program.

"You can't rush experience and you can't rush maturity," said Byington. "Those are things in life that require time, and this is going to be a team that gets better and better throughout the year."

The coaching staff believes that a lot of talent exists from top to bottom throughout the roster and that the ceiling is high.

"I think the past two recruiting classes are very talented," said Byington. "Right now, I think we might be able to go 10 or 11 deep without a big drop off. We have more guys capable of playing, which should help us be able to play harder for longer periods of time."

As with all young teams, finding consistency from practice to practice and game to game will be extremely important in terms of overall success but also in terms of adding nuances to the system as the season progresses. The Eagles need to master the offensive and defensive systems before they can add to them.

"We have a base for things, and we go through a progression on how complicated we're going to get, depending on how much they pick up on what we're doing," said Byington. "Last year's team was able to get to a system in which they could understand things very quickly and adjust on the fly. It won't be schematic differences, but everybody will start at the elementary phase and we'll see how far along we can get."

The Senior
Devince Boykins, the older brother of sophomore guard Devonte Boykins, is the lone senior on the roster. The 6-foot-4 guard graduated from Marshall after a three-year playing career and transferred to Georgia Southern with a year of eligibility left. 

"Devince brings experience, and we don't have it," said Byington. "He's played years of college basketball in different venues and under different circumstances.  He's extremely versatile he can play anything from the point guard all the way through the power forward.  He makes good decisions and is very athletic, so he's a position-less player, and I like that because I can put them on the floor at any time in any spot."

The Sophomores
Georgia Southern returns four sophomores who saw playing time a season ago. A 6-foot-3 guard, Mike Hughes started every game and averaged 7.6 points and 4.9 rebounds. He was second on the team in assists (70) and steals (40).

"Mike is a do-it-all guy," said Byington.  "He can score, he can pass, he can play defense and he's very smart.  The challenge for Mike is going to the next level and being a go-to guy. We want him being a huge impact on a game positively, and he definitely has it in him so we're asking a lot more from him this year."

Jake Allsmiller, a 6-foot-5 guard, moved into the starting lineup prior to the beginning of Sun Belt Conference play and emerged as one of the league's best shooters, canning 40 triples and shooting 36 percent from long distance.

"Jake is going to be a lot more aggressive offensively, and we're asking him to do that," said Byington. "He shot the ball well during conference play last year. We have to do things as coaches to get him more involved, and he has to stay aggressive to get shots and get looks."

Devonte Boykins and Coye Simmons saw fairly significant playing time for freshmen on a senior-laden squad last year. Boykins, a 6-foot-2 guard, played in 25 games, and Simmons, a 6-foot-8 forward, saw action in 19.

"I think Devonte has improved as much as anybody on the team from year one to year two," said Byington. "I want him to be more aggressive, and I want him to get to the lane a lot and make plays for himself and his teammates. Coye helps us leave an imprint on the game with his physicality and his athletic ability. He's still learning the game, but he's really gotten better since last year."

The Redshirt Freshmen
Three Eagles – Shawn O'Connell, Aubrey McRae and Jonathan Sanks – redshirted the campaign and will get their first taste of game action in 2015-16. 

O'Connell, a 6-foot-8 forward, averaged 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and three blocked shots as a senior at Milton High School.

"Shawn has gotten a lot stronger from last year and with that his game has changed so now he's extremely athletic and he can play inside and outside," said Byington. "He understands what I want on the court and understands our style and schemes as well as anybody."

A 6-foot-3 guard, McRae scored over 1,000 career points at Glenn Hills High School and averaged 19.3 points per game as a senior.

"Aubrey is one of our best shooters," said Byington. "He makes a lot of shots, and those guys are valuable. He's gotten stronger from last year and did a great job in the weight room."

A 6-foot-4 guard, Sanks averaged 13 points, six rebounds and five assists per game as a senior at Berkmar High School.

"Jonathan is a guy who is just scratching the surface with how good he can be," said Byington. "He can handle the ball, he can shoot, he can guard and he is learning to be consistent.  He's going to help the team this year, and there's going to be opportunity for him."

The Freshmen
Four freshmen will compete for playing time, and the Eagles will need them to pick up the nuances, physicality and speed of college basketball at a rapid pace.

A 5-foot-11 guard, Tookie Brown scored more than 3,000 career points at Morgan County High School. He led his team to a state championship and was voted Mr. Basketball in the state of Georgia as a junior after averaging 25.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals a game.

"Tookie is very competitive, and he's willing to make plays," said Byington. "I like the way he plays basketball - he's very aggressive, he sees the game well and has a good IQ. We're expecting big things from him this year."

Jason Burnell, a 6-foot-7 forward, earned second-team all-state and first-team all-county honors after averaging 16.1 points and 8.5 rebounds as a senior at Providence School in Jacksonville, Fla.

"Jason is one of our best shooters," said Byington. "He comes from a basketball family that knows how to play.  He makes a lot of offensive plays, whether it be passing or shooting. that are just impressive plays.  He'll play a bigger wing or post for us, and I've been really excited about his development since he got here."

A 6-foot-8 forward, Montae Glenn was named 4A Region 5 Player of the Year and GACA 4A North Georgia Player of the Year after averaging 21 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots as a senior at Carrollton High School.

"Montae gives us size and even though he's only been here for about six months, he's really changed his body to get more athletic, to get slimmer, to get in better shape," said Byington. "He has great hands, and I think he's a guy who is going to be a different player in March than he is in November because he is really progressing fast since he's been here."

A 6-foot-4, versatile guard, Smith averaged 18.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and three assists as a senior at Gainesville High School and hit 40 percent from 3-point range.

"He's able to drive the ball, shoot the ball, and he's able to handle the ball like a point guard and also play a power game," said Byington. "We think he's going to have a really big impact on this young team and keep on growing, but he's been very impressive in the summer and the preseason and we're really excited about him."

The Schedule
The schedule will provide numerous learning opportunities during the non-conference phase to help get the team ready for the challenges of the Sun Belt Conference slate. Road games at Ole Miss, Auburn and defending national champion and fourth-ranked Duke as well as home contests against Winthrop and Stetson will be good barometers. The more often the Eagles are tested in a variety of different situations, the more opportunities to learn and improve exist.

"I probably overdid the scheduling considering how young and inexperienced we are, but I feel like we're going to grow up faster if I put them in challenging situations," said Byington.

Preseason prognosticators expect Georgia State, UL Lafayette and ULM to be in the mix for a conference title in 2015-16, and Byington thinks the Sun Belt will be a better league from top to bottom than last year. Because of their youth, the Eagles, who played in the 2015 championship game after being picked ninth in the preseason poll, will have to prove themselves again. It is a difficult challenge but one the Eagles are embracing.

"There is going to be some adversity and rough times just like every team faces, and sometimes even more challenging for a young team," said Byington. "I think you are going to see the progression of an upward climb that we're going to get to by March."