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LOCATION: Greensboro, NC
CONFERENCE: Southern (North Division)
LAST SEASON: 7-20 (.259)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 5-11 (5th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 0/5
NICKNAME: Spartans
COLORS: Gold, White & Navy
HOMECOURT: Fleming Gymnasium (2,320)
COACH: Fran McCaffrey (Pennsylvania '82)
record at school First season
career record 49-39 (3 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Ken Dempsey (Moravian '83)
Darryl Kosciak (UNC Greensboro '95)
Billy Taylor (Notre Dame '95)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 23-20-10-9-7
RPI (last 5 years) 99-121-232-229-282
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference first round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Fran McCaffrey may be the right man, in the right place, at the right time. McCaffrey comes to UNC Greensboro as the Spartans' head coach after serving as an assistant at Notre Dame for the last 11 seasons under Digger Phelps and John Macleod, and as the head coach at Lehigh for three years before that. McCaffrey takes over at UNCG for Randy Peele, who won 20 games in his first season as head coach but only 26 more over the last three seasons. Although McCaffrey inherits a team that won just seven games last season, he is also taking over one with blossoming talent. McCaffrey believes he has the necessary pieces in place to turn things around as early as next season. "The team and I have the same goal," he said. "We want to win more games and be as difficult a team to play as we possibly can. We have the talent, depth and versatility in our lineup to be a factor in the conference championship race, and that's where we want to be." The Spartans have perhaps the Southern Conference's deepest frontcourt with returnees such as 6-6 sophomore James Maye (10.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg), 6-6 senior forward/center Sam Brinson (8.5 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 46 steals, 42 blocked shots), 6-7 junior Aaron Chavis (7.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and 6-10 senior center Ricardo Trevisan (6.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 25 blocked shots). That depth should be bolstered by the return of oft-injured 6-10 senior center Demetrius Cherry (12.8 ppg, 10.6 rpg), a Southern Conference Player-of-the-Year candidate. The backcourt has a quick, penetrating point guard in 5-9 sophomore Courtney Eldridge (7.1 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 80 assists, 28 steals), an excellent three-point shooter in 6-2 junior Nathan Jameson (10.6 ppg, .2.1 rpg, 51 assists, 18 steals, .471 3 PT, .867 FT) and a reserve who can play both backcourt positions in 6-2 senior Warren Cunningham (3.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 55 assists, 16 steals).
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C BENCH/DEPTH B
FRONTCORT B+ INTANGIBLES C
The Spartans should be a team on the rise in the Southern Conference. Many of the Spartans gained valuable experience last season, and the presence of new coach Fran McCaffrey should pump some much-needed enthusiasm and optimism into the program. The return of Demetrius Cherry should ensure that UNCG will begin making a move forward, provided he can stay healthy. Cherry is perhaps the conference's top pro prospect, and his presence should make better players out of Nathan Jameson, Sam Brinson, James Maye and Co. Statistically, one key for McCaffrey will be finding a way to shore up the Spartans' porous defense. UNCG was 10th in the conference last season in scoring defense (74.0 ppg). Much of the Spartans' defensive deficiency last season wasn't hard to figure they gave opposing teams too many easy baskets. UNCG also committed a league-high 512 turnovers last season. Jameson, Brinson and Maye were the biggest culprits, committing 79, 69 and 68, respectively. With Cherry's return, that trio should not have to shoulder as much of the scoring burden, which should help cut down on the mistakes. Look for the Spartans to finish in third place in the North Division. |
McCaffrey's biggest challenge this season may be changing the attitude surrounding the program. He hopes he's done that by the implementation of a rigorous preseason conditioning program. "I want to create a winning atmosphere," McCaffrey said. "The seniors set a tone in the spring, and that indicates where they want the program to go. "I've tried to develop a relationship where the players have confidence in me, and I think that we're succeeding." Of course, the return of Cherry should also help create the winning atmosphere McCaffrey is trying to instill. Cherry missed the latter part of the 1997-98 season because of a broken foot and almost all of last season because of nagging problems related to that injury. He played in just five games before being forced to the sideline. In his brief stint last season, Cherry had 18 points and 11 rebounds against Nebraska, 16 points and 14 rebounds against St. Francis (Pa.) and 18 points against William & Mary. "Demetrius is our leader," McCaffrey said. "He has proven that he's one of the best players in the Southern Conference. He's determined to come back from his injury and be even better than he was. Everything I've seen in his attitude and in individual workouts is excellent. He'll have a great season." Cherry is an excellent rebounder. He was second in the conference in that category in 1997-98 (8.6 per game), largely because of his work on the offensive glass. He grabbed a league-high 83 offensive rebounds that season. Cherry was also beginning to come into his own offensively until his injury. He had scored in double figures in 19 straight games two seasons ago before suffering his broken foot. In Cherry's absence last season, Jameson and Maye became the Spartans' primary offensive weapons. Cherry can always look to Jameson for inspiration in his comeback from injury. Jameson had a solid season last year despite missing the second half of his freshman season with a torn knee ligament. Jameson was second in the conference last season in three-point percentage and fifth in three-point shots made per game (2.1). He led UNCG in scoring 11 times last season, including a 23-point effort in a 73-67 home victory over Davidson. Overall, he shot .432 from the field and .867 (39-of-45) from the free-throw line. "Nathan is one of the finest shooters I've ever coached," McCaffrey said. "He has tremendous confidence and he worked on his ballhandling and movement away from the ball this summer, so he'll be more dangerous offensively as a result." Maye was one of the conference's top freshmen last season. A small forward with good size, he can score inside, on mid-range jumpers and from long range. He shot .420 (21-of-50) from three-point range. Maye had 20 points last season in a home victory over East Tennessee State and ended the year by scoring 21 points in the Spartans' loss to Georgia Southern in the first round of the Southern Conference Tournament. "James had a terrific freshman year," McCaffrey said. "He's a young man of great character. He worked hard this summer to get stronger and has improved his athleticism. I expect him to be one of the better players in the conference for the next three years." Backing up Maye at small forward will be 6-4 junior Geoff Williams (4.7 ppg, 1.6 rpg), who played in 21 games last season. Brinson started 24 games after arriving at UNCG after stops at Wyoming and Northeastern (Colo.) Junior College. He gives the Spartans a physical presence inside. Brinson led the team and was seventh in the conference in rebounding. He was also the league's third-leading shot blocker. At times, Brinson was a little too active inside. He committed 86 fouls and was disqualified from eight games. Brinson can post big offensive numbers on occasion. He shot just .381 from the field last season but equaled Jameson for the highest single-game Spartan scoring performance (23 points in a loss to VMI). He also had 19 points in a non-conference victory against Coastal Carolina. Additional muscle inside this season will be supplied by Chavis, Trevisan, 7-1 freshman center Nathan Popp (Lexington Catholic HS/Lexington, Ky.) and 6-8 redshirt freshman Luke Boythe (0.7 ppg, 0.3 rpg). Chavis, an adequate scorer and rebounder, is a hustler and a banger. He led the Spartans in scoring three times last season, hitting for 19 points in a late-season victory against Georgia Southern, 14 points against Tennessee and 11 points against Appalachian State. Trevisan, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, rebounded from an inconsistent sophomore season and improved his scoring and rebounding numbers last season. Trevisan shot .508 from the field and was seventh in the conference in blocked shots. Popp will be the first 7-footer in school history. He averaged 12.0 points and 8.0 rebounds and had 41 blocks last season. Popp originally signed with Georgia, but was released from his scholarship after coach Ron Jirsa was fired and replaced by Jim Harrick. Popp was recruited by several upper-level Division I schools after Georgia released him. Boythe played in just three games last season because of an ankle injury. He is a former all-state performer in high school and is capable of scoring inside or from the perimeter. Eldridge worked his way into the starting lineup last season at the point. He has good quickness, can create off the dribble and is a good on-the-ball defender. Eldridge was ninth in the conference in assists and 10th in assist-turnover ratio (1.2-1.0). Although he attempted just 19 three-point shots last season, teams must pay attention to Eldridge because of his ability to penetrate. He scored 22 points last season in a game against Davidson. Cunningham should play major minutes in the backcourt as a backup to Jameson and Eldridge. He started 19 games last season at the point before Eldridge took over. Although not a creator on offense, Cunningham is an adept ballhandler who handles pressure well.
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