- October 30th, 2008, 7:11 pm
#205649
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (Last Season: 13-15; 6-8, 6th in Big South; Lost in First Round of Big South Tournament; RPI - 276)
Head Coach: Cliff Ellis (2nd season at CCU)
Players that are Returning:
F Anthony Breeze, So. (6'5", 185 lbs) – 9.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 51.9 FG%, 0 made threes, 63.6 FT%
F Joseph Harris, Jr. (6’5”, 180 lbs) –Played in 8 games, 8.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.6 bpg, 2.1 spg, 58.0 FG%, 0 made threes, 53.3 FT%
G/F Logan Johnson, Jr. (6’6”, 195 lbs) – 7.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.3 apg, 43.3 FG%, 30.8 3PT% (12 made threes), 76.2 FT%
G Steven Sexton, Sr. (6’2”, 200 lbs) – 6.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 34.0 FG%, 32.6 3PT% (43 made threes), 72.7 FT%
G Mario Sisinni, Sr. (6’0”, 175 lbs) – 5.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.7 apg, 35.3 FG%, 36.9 3PT% (31 made threes), 78.6 FT%
F Matt Brennan, Sr. (6’8”, 210 lbs) – 1.9 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 66.7 FG%, 50.0 3PT% (1 made three), 33.3 FT%
F Ashton Lawrence, Sr. (6’5”, 210 lbs) – Played in 4 games, .5 ppg, .5 rpg
Players that are Gone:
G Jack Leasure (6’3”, 185 lbs) – 16.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, 42.1 FG%, 41.3 3PT% (111 made threes), 87.3 FT%
G Everage Richardson (6’3”, 185 lbs) – 13.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.3 apg, 2.0 spg, 51.9 FG%, 36.8 3PT% (25 made threes), 59.1 FT%
F Phil Wallace (6’5”, 225 lbs) – 7.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 46.0 FG%, 0 made threes, 59.5 FT%
G Joshua Mack (5’11”, 185 lbs) – Played in 6 games, 2.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.5 apg, 19.0 FG%, 16.7 3PT% (2 made threes), 80.0 FT%
F Chad Ferguson (6’8”, 220 lbs) – 2.2 ppg, .9 rpg, 28.3 FG%, 26.7 3PT% (8 made threes), 100 FT%
G David Long (6’5”, 180 lbs) – 1.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 51.9 FG%, 60.0 3PT% (6 made threes), 50.0 FT%
C Bryant Wallace (6'8", 270 lbs) – Played in 13 games, 1.6 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 58.8 FG%, 0 made threes, 16.7 FT%
New Players:
C Jon Pack, Fr. (6'10", 230 lbs) – Redshirt Freshman, East Paulding HS, Dallas, GA
G Mario Edwards, Jr. (6’3”, 210 lbs) – Transfer from Chipola Junior College
F Sam McLaurin, Fr. (6’8”, 210 lbs) – East Gadsden HS, Havana, FL
F Marcus Macellari, Fr. (6’7”, 240 lbs) – St. Joseph’s HS, Granger, IN
G Dexter Moore, Fr. (6’2”, 180 lbs) – Bluefield HS, Bluefield, WV (via Hargrave Military)
G Darius Steger, Fr. (6’1”, 185 lbs) – Guntersville HS, Guntersville, AL
F Chad Gray, Jr. (6’7”, 205 lbs) – Transfer from Univ. South Carolina – Sitting out 08-09 due to transfer rules
The Cliff Ellis era at Coastal Carolina moves to Year 2, but the Jack Leasure era has come to an end in Conway. Leasure was one of the NCAA’s most prolific three-point shooters over the previous four years, and the Chanticleers will have to adjust to life without the go-to guy that they relied upon so often. The good news for the Chants is that they get Joseph Harris back from injury and return a group of scrappy, hard-nosed players. The bad news is that they do not have a reliable scorer and that they will again (like in most years) be undersized in the frontcourt.
The return of Harris from injury allows Coastal to have their best rebounder and most energetic player back on the court at the power forward position. He will not earn a lot of style points, but Harris is always around the ball and always seems to give the Chants a spark when he is on the court. He will be joined in the frontcourt by forward Anthony Breeze, who earned a spot on the all-freshman team last year with his solid interior play, and by Logan Johnson. There will not be many nights where the trio of Harris, Breeze, and Johnson are outworked. However, as a front line they are rather small and only Breeze has a scorer’s mentality. Coastal will have some size coming off the bench, but aside from rarely-used senior Matt Brennan, the height off the bench lacks experience. Redshirt freshman Jon Pack, and true freshmen Sam McLaurin and Marcus Macellari will all get opportunities to contribute for Coastal this season. McLaurin has the best shot to make an impact this year.
The backcourt will be anchored by a pair of seniors, point guard Mario Sisinni and shooting guard Steven Sexton. Sisinni is a pass-first point guard, who made big improvements last season in protecting the basketball. Sexton has backed up Leasure the last three years, and has yet to consistently find his outside shot. JuCo transfer Mario Edwards could possibly push Sexton for a lot of the playing time at the 2-guard spot, as he comes from a very successful Junior College (Chipola) and brings a bit more of a slashing attack to the court to compliment the spot-up shooting style of Sexton. Freshmen Darius Steger and Dexter Moore will likely see some time backing up both guard positions. As a unit, the backcourt will need to find a way to make up for the scoring that left when Leasure and Everage Richardson ran out of eligibility, though nobody on the roster seems to fit the role as a big-time point-producer.
The Chanticleers were a tough team down the stretch last season, even when they were not winning games, they were taking teams to the wire, despite not having Harris (due to injury) and Richardson (due to illness) in the lineup in the last few weeks of the season. Coach Ellis did a good job of keeping the team together and putting the pieces together to keep the Chants competitive. Despite Harris’ return, Ellis will have a tough task this season. Leasure constantly carried the Chanticleer team on his back, and there seems to be a big void left behind in his wake. Coastal will play a lot of close, low scoring games this year. Their rebounding ability and their hustle will keep them in games, but until somebody emerges to take (and make) big shots down the stretch, they will likely come up on the short end of the scoreboard on many nights. But the gap between the Chanticleers and the teams I am picking in the few spots ahead of them is very small, so if a scorer does emerge, they could easily finish ahead of where I am picking them.
My Prediction:
12-18 overall, 7-11 in the Big South; Ninth place finish; Will not Qualify for Big South Tournament
Head Coach: Cliff Ellis (2nd season at CCU)
Players that are Returning:
F Anthony Breeze, So. (6'5", 185 lbs) – 9.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 51.9 FG%, 0 made threes, 63.6 FT%
F Joseph Harris, Jr. (6’5”, 180 lbs) –Played in 8 games, 8.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.6 bpg, 2.1 spg, 58.0 FG%, 0 made threes, 53.3 FT%
G/F Logan Johnson, Jr. (6’6”, 195 lbs) – 7.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.3 apg, 43.3 FG%, 30.8 3PT% (12 made threes), 76.2 FT%
G Steven Sexton, Sr. (6’2”, 200 lbs) – 6.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 34.0 FG%, 32.6 3PT% (43 made threes), 72.7 FT%
G Mario Sisinni, Sr. (6’0”, 175 lbs) – 5.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.7 apg, 35.3 FG%, 36.9 3PT% (31 made threes), 78.6 FT%
F Matt Brennan, Sr. (6’8”, 210 lbs) – 1.9 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 66.7 FG%, 50.0 3PT% (1 made three), 33.3 FT%
F Ashton Lawrence, Sr. (6’5”, 210 lbs) – Played in 4 games, .5 ppg, .5 rpg
Players that are Gone:
G Jack Leasure (6’3”, 185 lbs) – 16.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, 42.1 FG%, 41.3 3PT% (111 made threes), 87.3 FT%
G Everage Richardson (6’3”, 185 lbs) – 13.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.3 apg, 2.0 spg, 51.9 FG%, 36.8 3PT% (25 made threes), 59.1 FT%
F Phil Wallace (6’5”, 225 lbs) – 7.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 46.0 FG%, 0 made threes, 59.5 FT%
G Joshua Mack (5’11”, 185 lbs) – Played in 6 games, 2.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.5 apg, 19.0 FG%, 16.7 3PT% (2 made threes), 80.0 FT%
F Chad Ferguson (6’8”, 220 lbs) – 2.2 ppg, .9 rpg, 28.3 FG%, 26.7 3PT% (8 made threes), 100 FT%
G David Long (6’5”, 180 lbs) – 1.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 51.9 FG%, 60.0 3PT% (6 made threes), 50.0 FT%
C Bryant Wallace (6'8", 270 lbs) – Played in 13 games, 1.6 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 58.8 FG%, 0 made threes, 16.7 FT%
New Players:
C Jon Pack, Fr. (6'10", 230 lbs) – Redshirt Freshman, East Paulding HS, Dallas, GA
G Mario Edwards, Jr. (6’3”, 210 lbs) – Transfer from Chipola Junior College
F Sam McLaurin, Fr. (6’8”, 210 lbs) – East Gadsden HS, Havana, FL
F Marcus Macellari, Fr. (6’7”, 240 lbs) – St. Joseph’s HS, Granger, IN
G Dexter Moore, Fr. (6’2”, 180 lbs) – Bluefield HS, Bluefield, WV (via Hargrave Military)
G Darius Steger, Fr. (6’1”, 185 lbs) – Guntersville HS, Guntersville, AL
F Chad Gray, Jr. (6’7”, 205 lbs) – Transfer from Univ. South Carolina – Sitting out 08-09 due to transfer rules
The Cliff Ellis era at Coastal Carolina moves to Year 2, but the Jack Leasure era has come to an end in Conway. Leasure was one of the NCAA’s most prolific three-point shooters over the previous four years, and the Chanticleers will have to adjust to life without the go-to guy that they relied upon so often. The good news for the Chants is that they get Joseph Harris back from injury and return a group of scrappy, hard-nosed players. The bad news is that they do not have a reliable scorer and that they will again (like in most years) be undersized in the frontcourt.
The return of Harris from injury allows Coastal to have their best rebounder and most energetic player back on the court at the power forward position. He will not earn a lot of style points, but Harris is always around the ball and always seems to give the Chants a spark when he is on the court. He will be joined in the frontcourt by forward Anthony Breeze, who earned a spot on the all-freshman team last year with his solid interior play, and by Logan Johnson. There will not be many nights where the trio of Harris, Breeze, and Johnson are outworked. However, as a front line they are rather small and only Breeze has a scorer’s mentality. Coastal will have some size coming off the bench, but aside from rarely-used senior Matt Brennan, the height off the bench lacks experience. Redshirt freshman Jon Pack, and true freshmen Sam McLaurin and Marcus Macellari will all get opportunities to contribute for Coastal this season. McLaurin has the best shot to make an impact this year.
The backcourt will be anchored by a pair of seniors, point guard Mario Sisinni and shooting guard Steven Sexton. Sisinni is a pass-first point guard, who made big improvements last season in protecting the basketball. Sexton has backed up Leasure the last three years, and has yet to consistently find his outside shot. JuCo transfer Mario Edwards could possibly push Sexton for a lot of the playing time at the 2-guard spot, as he comes from a very successful Junior College (Chipola) and brings a bit more of a slashing attack to the court to compliment the spot-up shooting style of Sexton. Freshmen Darius Steger and Dexter Moore will likely see some time backing up both guard positions. As a unit, the backcourt will need to find a way to make up for the scoring that left when Leasure and Everage Richardson ran out of eligibility, though nobody on the roster seems to fit the role as a big-time point-producer.
The Chanticleers were a tough team down the stretch last season, even when they were not winning games, they were taking teams to the wire, despite not having Harris (due to injury) and Richardson (due to illness) in the lineup in the last few weeks of the season. Coach Ellis did a good job of keeping the team together and putting the pieces together to keep the Chants competitive. Despite Harris’ return, Ellis will have a tough task this season. Leasure constantly carried the Chanticleer team on his back, and there seems to be a big void left behind in his wake. Coastal will play a lot of close, low scoring games this year. Their rebounding ability and their hustle will keep them in games, but until somebody emerges to take (and make) big shots down the stretch, they will likely come up on the short end of the scoreboard on many nights. But the gap between the Chanticleers and the teams I am picking in the few spots ahead of them is very small, so if a scorer does emerge, they could easily finish ahead of where I am picking them.
My Prediction:
12-18 overall, 7-11 in the Big South; Ninth place finish; Will not Qualify for Big South Tournament
- By LU Armchair coach