| |
LOCATION: Cookeville, TN
CONFERENCE: Ohio Valley (OVC)
LAST SEASON: 12-15 (.444)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 8-10 (t-7th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 1/4
NICKNAME: Golden Eagles
COLORS: Purple & Gold
HOMECOURT: Eblen Center (10,152)
COACH: Jeff Lebo (North Carolina '89)
record at school 12-15 (1 year)
career record 12-15 (1 year)
|
ASSISTANTS: John Shulman (East Tennessee '89)
Tracy Garrick (Furman '91)
Dave Lebo (Elizabethtown College '66)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 13-13-15-9-12
RPI (last 5 years) 222-223-221-270-247
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference first round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
|
With his first season as a head coach behind him, Tennessee Tech's Jeff Lebo now knows about the talent level of the Ohio Valley Conference. It's Lebo's kind of league, where teams must perform in the backcourt to be successful. Lebo, a standout guard in his playing days at North Carolina, saw the balance the league presented last year when seven teams had either eight or nine OVC victories. "Our league from top to bottom is very, very equal," Lebo said. "Anybody can beat anybody on a given night." With the nucleus of last year's team returning and an outstanding recruiting class, the Golden Eagles certainly look like a team that can beat anybody on a given night. The top three scorers return in the backcourt, along with starting center Eric Akins. Three of those players are seniors. The Golden Eagles are not only talented, but experienced, and Lebo will get a chance to show his stuff as a head coach. "We have a lot of unknowns," Lebo said. "What's nice is we have four starters back and our sixth man back. I feel good that we've got people in spots with experience who have proven themselves in this league."
|
Blue Ribbon Analysis |
|
BACKCOURT A- BENCH/DEPTH B-
FRONTCOURT C INTANGIBLES B+
Tennessee Tech reloaded with perhaps the best recruiting class in the OVC. Two junior-college signees, Larrie Smith and Darrell Moore, should contribute right away. With an outstanding backcourt, the Golden Eagles hope to be in the thick of the league race. That could depend on their frontcourt, where senior Eric Akins looks to have his best season. If he does, and gets some help in the post, watch out for the Golden Eagles. Jeff Lebo has solidified the roster in two seasons as the Golden Eagles' coach. "I think we've got two guys at every position who can play," Lebo said. Lebo knows breaking to the top of the OVC is a tough chore, but he's recruiting with such a move in mind. "One game separated third and eighth place last season," Lebo said. "There's a lot of parity in this league." |
Corey Hemphill, a 6-1 senior point guard, is one of those players. Last season, Hemphill (15.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 135 assists) earned second-team All-OVC honors. He was sixth in the league in free-throw percentage (.766) and seventh in three-point shooting percentage (.393), making 64 of 163 from that range. He shot .373 from the field. Not only is Hemphill talented, he's a student of the game. Much of his spare time is spent in the gym. Lebo refers to Hemphill as "a basketball junkie." "Corey had a great year last year," Lebo said. "He played a lot of minutes and shot extremely well. He's very strong, extremely quick and defends very well. He has a good idea of what I want from a point guard. I like a point guard who will be able to score. A lot of coaches don't want that. They want a point guard to pass. I like to put five players on the floor who have to be guarded." Also back is starting shooting guard Josh Heard, a 6-2 senior who was also a second-team All-OVC player last season. Heard (16.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg) led the team and was fifth in the league in scoring. He led the league in three-point goals with 98 (3.63 per game), was ninth in three-point percentage (.374) and fourth in free-throw percentage (.792). "He's a threat to score every time he touches the ball," Lebo said. "He's got tremendous range and he's constantly in motion. He can shoot the three in transition. He doesn't tire and he can put a lot of points on the board in a hurry." Joey Westmoreland returns at small forward after a strong freshman season. Westmoreland (7.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg), 6-6 sophomore, overcame a slow start and became a key player for the Golden Eagles late in the season. He scored in double figures in eight of the last 10 games. "He's athletic, he can run and jump and he's gotten much stronger in the last year," Lebo said. "He's aggressive, he's tough and he won't back down. He has very long arms and can jump." At the center spot, the 6-9, 220-pound Akins (4.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg), a senior, hopes to have his best season at Tech. He has battled injuries for much of his career. Like Westmoreland, Akins played his best basketball toward the end of last season when he had a couple of games with 15 or more rebounds. "We hope Eric has a breakout year where he plays well consistently from beginning to end," Lebo said. "He's had a tendency to get in foul trouble. He has a nice jump hook around the basket." DeAntoine Beasley, a 6-6 junior, is one of the Golden Eagles' most verstatile players and could land the starting job at power forward. When Lebo arrived at Tennessee Tech, Beasley (5.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg) was a guard. Lebo then moved Beasley to small forward and power forward. His experience in the backcourt has helped him in his move into the post. "DeAntoine won't go out and score a lot of points," Lebo said. "He can put the ball on the floor and he's an excellent passer." Adonis Hart, a 6-8 sophomore center, is coming off a medical redshirt season and will give the Golden Eagles depth in the frontcourt. Two seasons ago, Hart averaged 4.5 points and 3.0 rebounds as a freshman. Eight newcomers give the Golden Eagles one of the OVC's top recruiting classes, and a couple of those players will push Beasley for the starting job at power forward. Darrell Moore, a 6-5 junior forward, was third in the nation among Division I junior-college players in scoring last year when he averaged 26.6 points at Jefferson Davis (Ala.) Community College. He averaged 8.1 rebounds, 2.1 steals, and shot 61 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free-throw line. "He's pretty dadgum good," said Jefferson Davis coach Allen Gainer. "We expected him to score every point and to guard their best player. Besides being a great player, he's also a great kid." Larrie Smith, a 6-5 junior forward, averaged 18.4 points and 11.9 rebounds last season at Aquinas JC in Nashville. Smith led Aquinas to a 24-8 record and the NJCAA national tournament. "He brings tremendous versatility and maturity as well as a winning background to our program," Lebo said. Lebo pulled off a recruiting coup when he landed Trey Ferguson of Hoover High School in Birmingham, Ala. Ferguson, a 6-5 freshman guard, was headed to Indiana to play for Bob Knight. Plans were for Ferguson to replace Luke Recker in Indiana's starting lineup this season. Ferguson, who averaged 16.5 points, 5.0 assists and 3.0 steals as a senior last season, backed off of his commitment to Indiana. While Lebo was an assistant at South Carolina, he had recruited Ferguson during his freshman and sophomore seasons. Lebo said he doesn't know why Ferguson changed his mind about Indiana. "When I came here I didn't think we had a chance to get him," Lebo said. "All of a sudden I get a call from his dad saying things weren't going to work out (at Indiana). For whatever reason, I didn't ask. He signed on his visit here. It was incredible." Another top recruit is Brent Jolly, 6-5 freshman guard from White County (Tenn.) High School in Sparta, which is a short drive from the Tech campus. Jolly was an all-state point guard who averaged 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals as a junior while leading White County to a 34-2 record and Class 3A state championship. He was most valuable player of the Class 3A state tournament and an honorable mention All-American by USA TODAY. As a junior, Jolly was a finalist for the Mr. Basketball Award given to the top players of each class in the state, and he won the award after his senior season when he led White County to its second straight state title. He averaged 23 points, 4.0 assists and 3.8 rebounds last season. Jolly's sister, Kelly, was a standout point guard at NCAA champion Tennessee, but his parents both played at Tennessee Tech. "We're certainly happy to have Brent in our program," Lebo said. "When you talk about a student-athlete, you're talking about Brent Jolly. He's a winner." Other freshmen recruits are 5-10 guard Leigh Gayden, 6-9 freshman Rusty Strange and 6-7 forward Jason Harrell. Gayden, Jolly and Harrell were early signees. Strange averaged 9.7 points and 6.7 rebounds last season at Bearden High School in Knoxville, Tenn. He had 210 career blocked shots. Gayden averaged 22 points and 6.0 rebounds as a senior at Landmark Christian High School in College Park, Ga., near Atlanta and was rated one of the Georgia's top 10 prospects by at least one recruiting service. As a junior, Gayden, a point guard, averaged 20 points, 7.0 assists, 5.0 steals and 3.0 rebounds. Harrell averaged 16.5 points and 8.0 rebounds as a junior at Obion County (Tenn.) HS. Last year, Harrell averaged 19.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists. "We helped ourselves in positions where we needed help," Lebo said. "We feel we have good kids coming in, but it's a huge jump from high school to Division I basketball. We hope these kids will adjust and adapt well. It's a hard process." Brad Walker, a 6-5 sophomore forward, transferred to Tennessee Tech from Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) University before the spring semester last season. Walker won't be eligible until after Christmas.
 | The 19th edition of Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook is on sale now. To order, call 800-828-HOOP (4667), or visit their web site at
http://www.collegebaskets.com
|
| |
Conferences
America East
ACC
Atlantic 10
Big East
Big Sky
Big South
Big Ten
Big 12
Big West
Colonial
Conference USA
Independents
Ivy League
MAAC
Mid-American
Mid-Continent
Mid-Eastern Athletic
MCC
Missouri Valley
Mountain West
Northeast
Ohio Valley
Pac-10
Patriot
SEC
Southern
Southland
Sun Belt
SWAC
TAAC
WAC
West Coast
|
