Men’s Basketball Season Outlook at Emmanuel College
The 2011-2012 season promises to be exciting for the Emmanuel College Lions men's basketball team. The team returns five players from a team that went 26-8, and won the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament championship. This marked the first time in school history that an Emmanuel athletic team of any sort has won an SSAC conference tournament championship.
Other highlights of last season include finishing second in the SSAC East Division for the regular season, four victories of Top 25 teams including an upset of then--number 2 Mountain State University who finished as the national runner-up, and the Lions' second ever trip to the NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City, Missouri. The Lions showed no shortage of success away from the court either as they were named 2010-2011 SSAC Sportsmanship Team Award. The team finished the year with a national ranking of #21 in the NAIA.
A big reason for much of the Lions' success last year lies in head coach T.J. Rosene. Rosene enters his fifth year as head coach of the men's program, and ninth year as a head coach overall. He was named 2011 SSAC Coach of the Year, as well as 2011 NCCAA South Regional Coach of the Year.
"This should be an interesting and exciting year," said Coach Rosene about the upcoming year. "We have a unique mix of new and old players. I am really proud of, and excited about our captains, seniors Graham Maxwell and Tiek Fields, along with sophomore point guard Michael Stanley. They bring a lot to the team both on and off the court. I think they will help push the younger guys to be up for the challenge."
Rosene will be assisted by Derrick Mason, who enters his third season as assistant coach for the Lions. Mason also serves as the head coach for the Lions' JV program. Also, assisting will be newcomer Jonathan Mattox who is a 2011 graduate of Emmanuel College. Mattox was also a part of the 2010-2011 Lions' conference championship team.
After losing six seniors from last year's team, this year's Lions team will be thin on experience. Although they only have five players returning from last year's team, three of those players seek to play a major role. Michael Stanley, Asmatiek Fields, and Graham Maxwell are the leaders of this year's team.
Stanley will be doing much of the play making this year as the team's point guard. Much of the offensive decision-making lies upon his shoulders, but he embraces challenges. The sophomore played in all 34 games last year, and even led the team in minutes played. He was the team's fourth-leading scorer at just over 8 points per game, and was the team leader in assists. For all of his contributions, Stanley was named SSAC Freshman of The Year at season's end. Plus, after his extraordinary play during the conference tournament, he was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Fields and Maxwell are both four-year players for the Lions' program. The two seniors will be relied on heavily for on-court production, as well as leadership of a young Lions team. Fields was one of the best sixth men in the conference last season. Even though he was not considered a starter, he played huge minutes and was often making plays in clutch time. Known as a very versatile player, Fields would often fill up a box score. He was the team's third leading scorer, bringing 9.5 points off the bench last season, and also led the team in steals at nearly 1.5 per game.
Field's partner in crime Graham Maxwell is the team's leading returning scorer. Maxwell is a deadeye shooter who averaged nearly 11.5 point per game while shooting an outstanding 41.4% from three-point range last year. He was named to the SSAC East Division All-Division Team, while also being named a National NAIA Champion of Character Recipient. This award only goes to four players from NAIA schools throughout the country, who exhibited exceptional character on the court, in the classroom, and in the community.
This year's Lions team also returns guards Isaiah Tyus and Joey Moon. Tyus a junior, and Moon a sophomore both played unselfish roles on last year's team. Chad Callaway is a newcomer to the varsity team, having two years of experience with Emmanuel's JV program.
Other newcomers include Jeremy Burgess, Nathan Tew, Jason Smith, and Andre Holder all of whom redshirted last season. Burgess and Tew look to make contributions on the perimeter, while Smith and Holder look to bring an inside game. Also looking to bring an added inside presence will be transfer Francisco Luano. Emmanuel also looks to get contributions out of freshmen Austin Biggs, Luke Miller, and Johan Pennerat.
This year's team looks to play a more up-tempo style than a year ago. It should be another exciting year for the Emmanuel College men's basketball team.
Posted on
Fri, November 4, 2011
by Hugh Morgan