Thursday, November 3
Statesboro, Ga.
7 p.m.
Georgia Southern University
vs
Lees-McRae (Exh.)
Junior Coye Simmons and the Eagles host Lees-McRae in an exhibition game Thursday.
Photo by: Frank Fortune - Georgia Southern Athletics
Men’s Basketball Season Preview: The Script is Flipped in 2016-17
11/2/2016 4:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The final installment of a four-part season preview.
Buy tickets | Schedule
Preview schedule
Oct. 24 - Overview
Oct. 28 - Juniors
Oct. 31 - Sophomores and Freshmen
Nov. 2 - Schedule
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.
Below is the final story in a four-part series previewing the 2016-17 season.
The schedule
Seventeen games in the state of Georgia, three contests in Savannah and 12 games in refurbished Hanner Fieldhouse highlight the Georgia Southern schedule.
In addition to nine Sun Belt and three non-conference contests at home, Georgia Southern plays two games at the Savannah Civic Center as part of the Savannah Invitational and travels to Savannah State, Mercer and conference rival Georgia State.
"We're ecstatic to be playing two games in front of our fans in Savannah and to be part of a great field for the first Savannah Invitational," said Georgia Southern coach Mark Byington. "It's a great way to spend a couple days around Thanksgiving, and we hope Eagle Nation will come out and support the hometown team."
The Eagles face defending Atlantic Sun Tournament champion Florida Gulf Coast in a home-and-home series and travel to Winthrop, which advanced to the Big South Championship game a season ago. Georgia Southern also travels to Power 5 opponents NC State and Minnesota early in the campaign and plays at Akron, which advanced to the Mid-American Championship game last season.
"It's going to be extremely challenging. A lot of those games are on the road, and I think a lot of the teams on our schedule have a chance to win their leagues," said Byington. "Sometimes you're going in a tough place to play, and you're going to find out how good you are. I'm hoping it makes us tougher, makes us learn about our self and makes us grow. Everything from the non-conference games has to be a learning experience to get you right for the Sun Belt. So we are going to be tested, it's going to be demanding and what we have got to do is by the time we get to the end of December, we have to know our self, we have to be confident we have been through everything and then we have to perform in league play."
All 12 teams will travel to the 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Championship as the tournament returns to New Orleans and Lakefront Arena for a fourth consecutive season March 8-12.
Preseason prognosticators expect UT Arlington, defending champion Little Rock and Georgia State to be in the mix for the 2017 conference title as all three got a first-place vote in the Preseason Poll with the Mavericks garnering 10 of the 12.
Picked near the bottom of the league in their first two seasons in the Sun Belt, the Eagles have played the role of spoiler quite well by posting double-digit league wins each year. With almost the entire squad back, Georgia Southern is picked fourth in the SBC Preseason Coaches Poll and will carry a bit of a target on its back.
"If you're motivated by what somebody else thinks of you, it's eventually going to wear out," said Byington. "You have got to have internal drive to be able to do things and prove to yourself what you can do. So, I never used that as motivation when we were picked low, and while outwardly, there will be more expectations placed on us, it doesn't make a difference. We have always maintained extremely high expectations of ourselves and what we are supposed to do."
The season is here, and the Eagles host Lees-McRae in an exhibition game in Hanner Fieldhouse Nov. 3. Admission is free, and tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
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.
Preview schedule
Oct. 24 - Overview
Oct. 28 - Juniors
Oct. 31 - Sophomores and Freshmen
Nov. 2 - Schedule
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.
Below is the final story in a four-part series previewing the 2016-17 season.
The schedule
Seventeen games in the state of Georgia, three contests in Savannah and 12 games in refurbished Hanner Fieldhouse highlight the Georgia Southern schedule.
In addition to nine Sun Belt and three non-conference contests at home, Georgia Southern plays two games at the Savannah Civic Center as part of the Savannah Invitational and travels to Savannah State, Mercer and conference rival Georgia State.
"We're ecstatic to be playing two games in front of our fans in Savannah and to be part of a great field for the first Savannah Invitational," said Georgia Southern coach Mark Byington. "It's a great way to spend a couple days around Thanksgiving, and we hope Eagle Nation will come out and support the hometown team."
The Eagles face defending Atlantic Sun Tournament champion Florida Gulf Coast in a home-and-home series and travel to Winthrop, which advanced to the Big South Championship game a season ago. Georgia Southern also travels to Power 5 opponents NC State and Minnesota early in the campaign and plays at Akron, which advanced to the Mid-American Championship game last season.
"It's going to be extremely challenging. A lot of those games are on the road, and I think a lot of the teams on our schedule have a chance to win their leagues," said Byington. "Sometimes you're going in a tough place to play, and you're going to find out how good you are. I'm hoping it makes us tougher, makes us learn about our self and makes us grow. Everything from the non-conference games has to be a learning experience to get you right for the Sun Belt. So we are going to be tested, it's going to be demanding and what we have got to do is by the time we get to the end of December, we have to know our self, we have to be confident we have been through everything and then we have to perform in league play."
All 12 teams will travel to the 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Championship as the tournament returns to New Orleans and Lakefront Arena for a fourth consecutive season March 8-12.
Preseason prognosticators expect UT Arlington, defending champion Little Rock and Georgia State to be in the mix for the 2017 conference title as all three got a first-place vote in the Preseason Poll with the Mavericks garnering 10 of the 12.
Picked near the bottom of the league in their first two seasons in the Sun Belt, the Eagles have played the role of spoiler quite well by posting double-digit league wins each year. With almost the entire squad back, Georgia Southern is picked fourth in the SBC Preseason Coaches Poll and will carry a bit of a target on its back.
"If you're motivated by what somebody else thinks of you, it's eventually going to wear out," said Byington. "You have got to have internal drive to be able to do things and prove to yourself what you can do. So, I never used that as motivation when we were picked low, and while outwardly, there will be more expectations placed on us, it doesn't make a difference. We have always maintained extremely high expectations of ourselves and what we are supposed to do."
The season is here, and the Eagles host Lees-McRae in an exhibition game in Hanner Fieldhouse Nov. 3. Admission is free, and tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
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.
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