[jcmanson]

So who do you think will win it all next year? Who will suck? Which coaches will get fired this offseason? Will CCU be reprimanded? Who will be player of the year?

It's a long time until November so let's talk about it.

[jcmanson]

I’ll say UNCA is the preseason favorite. To be the champ you have to beat the champ. They only lose John Williams, but their guards make them go.

We will be right there with them. I’ll say #2 for now.

I will reserve any type of discussion on Coastal until we find out more about who will and won’t be there.

I see Winthrop and VMI competing for a ‘ship.

1. UNCA
2. Liberty
3. VMI
4. Winthrop
5. G-W
6. Presby
7. High Point
8. CSU
9. Radford

Throw CCU and Campbell in there somewhere.

[jbock13]

I say

CCU
UNCA
Liberty
VMI
Winthrop
Presby
Gardner-Webb
CSU
High Point
Campbell
Radford

[jcmanson]

Why CCU? They lose Chad Gray and it’s doubtful that Greenwood will ever play for them again.

[jbock13]

Why CCU? They lose Chad Gray and it’s doubtful that Greenwood will ever play for them again.

They're still pretty deep. And even though Ellis is a cheater he's still a great coach. Of course, that all depends what happens with possible violations.

[SuperJon]

Greenwood did nothing but hurt his knee.

I think HPU has a chance to get better with Shine and Barbour. Those two guys are good. Barbour had a really weird year this year.

I don't know how much better Winthrop will be. Granted, I don't know their recruits either but I'd peg them around the middle again.

G-W was very close this year to winning quite a few games. The breaks go their way next year and they are the 2011-2012 version of us.

We should be top 3. Anything less is a disappointment.

Asheville will be good.

PC could be good if they're motivated/healthy.

VMI is the team to watch out for. They could sneak into the top 2-3.

[Bigsouthking]

My sources indicate Holloway will never play. Greenwood will be back but never will be 100% again.
A lot depends on the coaching changes and I think there could be 2 this year. (CSU and CCU) Barclay to be an assistant at a HM school and possible CCU letting Cliff go.

1. UNCA
2. Winthrop
3. Liberty
4. CCU
5. PC
6. CSU
7. Campbell
8. VMI
9. GW
10. HP
11. Radford

League will be tough. CSU and VMI losing Warren and Kenon will hurt them more than everyone thinks.

[jcmanson]

Greenwood did nothing but hurt his knee.

Of course I meant Holloway

[ballah09]

CCU has another headcase coming in in Gradnigo

i think NCAA will do something since they suspended Holloway


i really like the recruits coming in tho...watching little bit of Film of Gielo..really quick and skill, can cause alot of miss matches. Few and Zaga was on him, so he's good. Same with Smith at the 3 spot. I think lib will see a Juco Guard come in.

i agree UNCA is clear cut number w/ Primm, Dickey, Cunninham, Lane, and a really good incoming freshman Hornsby

i dont know anything about campbell


1. UNCA
2. Liberty
3.Winthrop
4.Coastal Carolina
5.Presbyterian
6.Gardner-Webb
7.VMI
8.Campbell
9.Charleston Southern
10.High Point
11.Radford

[ToTheLeft]

Winthrop
UNCA
LU
VMI
HPU
CCU
Presby
G-W
Campbell
CSU
Radford

Our recruits + Baird could be the difference between being 1 and 5. We're going to be the stagnant, boring, lackluster team that ended the season if none of them provide a spark. I'd LOVE to see a JUCO guard come in, as Ballah has advocated for. A mature body with college playing experience who can get to the rim and score and create. Give us a scoring spark to match what JB gave us on the boards and around the rim this past season.

UNCA with Cunningham is a contender, but that kid seems to be an injury waiting to happen. Should they lose Cunningham for a long period of time, switch VMI and UNCA. I think Covington is going to be a star in this league.

Winthrop loses a couple of decent players in Burton and Corbin, but they're bringing back a lot and bringing in what looks to be a solid "Winthrop" recruiting class. I think they'll get back to the Winthrop of old this upcoming season and lock teams down and dominate at home.

[BJWilliams]

My feeling on a recruiting class is its hard to know just how "solid" they can be til they get on the court at the collegiate level. Winthrop's recruiting class (or ours or VMI's or UNCA's or whoever's) could come in and set the world on fire, of course they could come in and all be total duds, or you can get what you usually tends to happen and have one or two pretty solid contributors (depending on the size of the class).

Judging by what Ive seen of all the conference teams this year Id go with this:

UNCA
LU
WU
VMI
CCU
PC
HPU
Campbell
CSU
Radford

[kingaling42]

Man, is it ever early for this thread.. I'm not nearly prepared to weigh in on who is going to finish where, etc, etc..

Most schools are still working on landing final recruits- some current players may not make grades/need summer classes, some aren't happy with playing time or the lack thereof and will move on, and it wouldn't shock me if there were coaching moves that occur. But all of this assumes that current players are returning for now..

Coastal- likely to lose the most- Gray (14 pts; 8.4 boards) is already gone; Greenwood (7.8 pts / 4 assists per game) and Gray (14.7pts; 6.3 boards) will graduate I presume: I'm hearing that Holloway (18.5 pts; 6.9 boards) will never play for CCU again but there's def the question of the unresolved NCAA stuff.. Who knows who will be back yet..

Liberty- no one of note graduating; faltered down the stretch obviously and will need to find their identity; identify consistent go-to player for Sanders to get the ball to..3 seniors, 4 juniors returning.

UNCA- loses John Williams (8.4 pts/5.1 boards/ 1.7 blocks) & Eric Stubbs to graduation; JW is the obvious loss on defense with his athleticism and as an team leader- JP & DIckey can lead the team but someone or the collective group is going to have to step up on defense. Will be an experienced & hopefully confident team returning 4 starters that are all seniors. 5 seniors; 2 juniors returning.

VMI- loses Kenon (18.4pts/gm); but returns everyone else- will be another experienced squad full of upperclassmen. Need to identify whether they are going to be more post oriented with Covington & Sargent- otherwise why recruit those type of players if you're gonna just chuck it up from outside? 5 seniors; 3 juniors..

WU- loses Corbin (11.5 pts; 8.4 boards) and Burton to graduation; Defense was down this year, offense is inconsistent.. needs to find consistency somewhere.. 4 seniors; 3 juniors returning

CSU- Warren (17.6 pts; 3 boards; 2.8 assists; 1.4 steals) is the lone senior of note but he was the Bucs go-to guy and could bring them back in a hurry when he got going.. 4 seniors; 4 juniors returning.

Presby- Allen (7.2 pts; 4.1 boards) was the lone senior. Coleman should recover from the ankle injury suffered this year. Presby is a tough call, I keep thinking that with their collective experience and the brutal schedules they have played the last couple of years that that is all going to kick in sometime- it didn't happen this year.. 3 seniors, 5 juniors returning.

HP- Bridges (4.8 pts; 4 boards) & Cox (6.9 pts; 2.5 boards; 2.8 assists) are seniors. I am hearing of several player transfers involving the Panthers- Maxwell has already said he's out... Likely that Barbour/Shine return otherwise too early to say much else about HP.

GW- Moore (13.5 pts; 4.3 boards), Engelken (4.5 pts/1.4 boards) and Burrell are seniors. G-W's remaining production is from the young guys on this team and the new coach energized the Runnin' Bulldogs- G-W had 4 conference game losses of less than 5 points and beat CCU at home with Holloway- question is with their leading scorer and go-to guy graduating will it carry over to next year..

Radford- Robinson is the lone senior of note (5 pts; 2 boards; 2 assists). RU was terrible on offense & their defense was like swiss cheese. Will Masse ever play. Greenberg & Co have a lot of work to do in the off season..

Campbell- Fighting Camels finished 12-19 overall and 6-14 in the A-Sun this year; tied for 8th with 2 other teams- Only USC Upstate had a worse conference record. Got off to a 7-3 start this year with wins over Auburn, Western Carolina, UNC Wilmington. Only lost by 10 pts to VA Tech in the season opener but looks like conference play chewed them up & spit them out.. 2 seniors this year graduating. Leading scorer was a freshman, Griffin (13.2 pts/6.9 boards/1.7 steals) but was not on the A-Sun all freshman team.. 6 seniors, 1 junior, 5 sophomores returning..

Stay tuned for all the moves..

[g-webb1994]

My feeling on a recruiting class is its hard to know just how "solid" they can be til they get on the court at the collegiate level. Winthrop's recruiting class (or ours or VMI's or UNCA's or whoever's) could come in and set the world on fire, of course they could come in and all be total duds, or you can get what you usually tends to happen and have one or two pretty solid contributors (depending on the size of the class).

Judging by what Ive seen of all the conference teams this year Id go with this:

UNCA
LU
WU
VMI
CCU
PC
HPU
Campbell
CSU
Radford

Fine...just forget about us, we're cool with that.

Campbell went 12-19 this year, 7th in the A-Sun, and lose two seniors off of their roster. They had no players get all 1st or 2nd team A-Sun this season, and no players on the all freshman team. Their head coach Laing has been there awhile, but has an overall losing record.

My question in trying to gauge next season is which team or teams drop the most? Is Greenturd in trouble at RU?

We all should start using a big * next to Coastal's name.

My guess right now would be:

1. UNCA - clear cut favorite right now

2. WU - could have big sized chip on shoulder, Peele may feel some warmth on his seat

3. VMI - if they find anyone to step up into Kenon's shoes, they vault upward

4. LU - another year for Jesse to get better, along with his brother

5. G-W - big question...can freshman Landis come in and provide scoring punch we lose in Moore.
Stef Johnson comes out big next year I believe and turns into a team leader. Starting Luke Davis at point as a true freshman will pay dividends

6. PC - does Coleman come back healthy...big question...if so, move them up a notch or two with the payoff playing youth this past season

7. HPU - if Cherry can avoid losing more players and find some inside play to compliment Barbour and Shine, they could move up quickly as well

8. CCU* - if nailed by NCAA, program will have stigma to fight through and focus will be lost, especially with no postseason to play for at all

9. CAMPBELL - some decent talent on the roster, coach if he remains will be on short leash however, not good when trying to feel your way through a conference for the first time

10. CSU - the biggest dropper in my opinion, losing Warren will hurt enough, but possibly breaking in a new coach as well will be tough

11. RU - in disarray now that their precious European lifeline has been cut, not to mention Greenturd under microscope after suspension.

[BJWilliams]

Aha! I thought I forgot one...lets try this again:

UNCA
LU
WU
VMI
CCU
G-W
PC
HPU
Campbell
CSU
Radford

[Sly Fox]

I'm loving the insights, guys. Looking to next year helps ease some of the pains of the past couple of weeks.

[olldflame]

I could understand why you would think Greenwood is graduating kingaling, since this is a Cliff Ellis team and he has been there for 2 years. Actually, he will only be a Junior next year. One of the few Freshmen Cliff has recruited recently.

I'm a bit surprised at the virtual consensus on UNCA so far. Yeah, I get that they won the tournament this year. That doesn't wipe out what happened in the regular season, when they were barely over .500 in the BSC (and lost twice to LU). Yes, they have almost everyone back, but they lose John Williams, who was a HUGE factor in their win over Coastal in the final. LU is returning everyone who contributed, and it looks like our recruiting class (including Baird) will match up with anyone's as well. I like our chances.

[jcmanson]

They lost to us twice yes, but early in the season before they got it turned on and on our home court in overtime on a last second putback. Dickey and Primm are good. This will be their 4th year as starters. When you have 2 guards that good it’s tough to beat them especially in March. They now know what it takes to win it.

Also, they were 11-7 in conference play - not quite "barely over .500", and beat CCU twice when no one else (save the GW fluke) could beat them.

I’m not saying they won’t be beat, but they are the team to beat entering the season.

[WinthropEagleFan]

I haven't had time to really look at everything yet to weigh in on next year as a whole (and I'm still waiting to see how things shake out at CCU)...

But in regards to UNCA, they struggled early in the first half of the year after John Williams got hurt..and he took a while to get comfortable playing with the mask. He missed the first two conference games and played a limited role in the next two, and UNCA was 1-3 in those games..now obviously that shows how valuable he was and that they will miss him next year, but it's easier to adapt to playing without someone when you know it is going to happen. And that helps explain their slow start. Also, DJ Cunningham was in and out of the lineup for the the last 20 games or so. If (big if) he can stay healthy next year, he should help UNCA adapt to not having John Williams.

[coastalalum]

Why CCU? They lose Chad Gray and it’s doubtful that Greenwood will ever play for them again.

i know your hatred for all things coastal won't allow you to see, but why not ccu?? they proved that they were no slouch in this league with only 6 guys playing. word is that chris gradnigo is every bit as talented, if not moreso, than chad gray. the guy was offered schollys at arkansas, cincinatti, notre dame and south florida to name a few. he led his team in scoring his freshman and sophomore years. before you call him a headcase - all i've seen is u-la fans that badmouthed him AFTER he transferred. eerily similar to what happened here after seth left. cliff (and gary gilmore) landed a highly rated 3-star 6'7 kid as well. now i'm not saying that ccu should be a consensus number one on everybody's prediction list, but to place them down in the 5th-8th place range is just unrealistic.

***of course any ncaa penalties in the near future could change lots of things, but as of now there is only speculation as to what might happen.***

[jcmanson]

I was questioning why he had Coastal at #1. I wouldn’t put them at 5-8 at this point either. If I had to pick them I’d say top 4 easily, but there are so many unknowns with Coastal at this point it’s almost impossible to predict. Will Cliff still be coach? Will Holloway play next year? How will Greenwood recover? How far will the NCAA probe reach?

All of those questions make it nearly impossible to predict, at this point, Coastal #1. If ALL of those questions turn out in Coastal’s favor, then yes I would say put them at #1. But I HIGHLY doubt that happening.

[jbock13]

I predict Coastal will win next year in football, basketball, womens basketball mens soccer, womens soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, track, discus throw, golf, womens golf, paintball, rowing...

[Chippy]

I predict Coastal will win next year in football, basketball, womens basketball mens soccer, womens soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, track, discus throw, golf, womens golf, paintball, rowing...

You missed equestrian and swimming

[Chippy]

oh! And Lacrosse - sorry girls

[jbock13]

thanks chippy I thought about it and then I lost my train of thought and left out some stuff haha

[jbock13]

I know this is super off topic but I just figured I'd mention in my NCAA Basketball game Liberty is playing at Robert Morris 39 to 17 with 8 minutes remaining in the 1st.

If only Liberty could win national championships in real life... Heck, if only we could win our own conference...