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LOCATION: Martin, TN
CONFERENCE: Ohio Valley (OVC)
LAST SEASON: 8-18 (.307)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 5-13 (9th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 4/1
NICKNAME: Skyhawks
COLORS: Royal Blue, Orange & White
HOMECOURT: Skyhawk Arena (6,700)
COACH: Bret Campbell (Valdosta State '83)
record at school First year
career record First year
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ASSISTANTS: William Small (Belhaven '93)
Deane Martin (Central Missouri State '87)
Klint Pleasant (Lipscomb '98)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 7-13-11-7-8
RPI (last 5 years) 276-226-252-278-284
1998-99 FINISH: Did not qualify for postseason.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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New blood has arrived at Tennessee-Martin, and first-year coach Bret Campbell wants to pump new life into the program. Campbell, making his head-coaching debut, may be just the man to do it. He is no stranger to the Ohio Valley Conference after spending seven years as an assistant under Dave Loos at Austin Peay, one of the league's more successful programs. Campbell makes no secret that the Skyhawks will be a changed team from recent years. He replaces veteran coach Cal Luther, who retired after 38 years as a collegiate coach, the last nine at Tennessee-Martin. "We have guys who can create more of an up-tempo style of play," Campbell said. "We'll be more athletic. I think that has won in the OVC since I've been in it the last seven years. Those are the kind of players you need to be successful in the OVC." This season was an ideal time for Campbell to change the makeup of the team. Only two players returned from last year's 8-18 team that finished ninth in the league with a 5-13 record. One starter is back, but he's a good one to build a new team around. Andrae Betts, a 5-9, 160-pound point guard, made a solid debut as a freshman last season. Betts (10.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg) finished second in the OVC in assists (135) and second in steals per game (2.23, 58 total). He was third in the league in free-throw percentage (.817) and was the team's second-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder. Surprisingly, Betts wasn't a member of the OVC's All-Newcomer team last season.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C BENCH/DEPTH C-
FRONTCOURT D INTANGIBLES C
In his head-coaching debut, Bret Campbell inherits a program that will take time to develop. Give Campbell credit for finding some players late in the recruiting season after he was hired as the Skyhawks' coach. It's an amost entirely new team, so there are plenty of question marks heading into the season. Andrae Betts, the point guard, is the only returning stater. Steve Jordan, a senior guard who averaged 10.5 minutes in 24 games, is the only other returning player. Finding the right combinations will be no small task for Campbell. "That's the key for us, the chemistry we develop," Campbell said. "Everyone we brought in has been in a good program. We have a good mix of players for what we want to do. Obviously we're counting on our (six) junior-college players more than the (three) freshmen." Just because he has a new team doesn't mean Campbell intends to finish near the OVC cellar. "We want to lay a foundation for a winning program, and our goal this first year is to finish in the upper division of the OVC," Campbell said. That's an admirable goal, but accomplishing it won't be easy in the balanced OVC. Campbell might make that move into the upper division, but don't look for it to happen this season. |
"He was one of the top freshmen in the league," Campbell said. "He's a solid player in the OVC. He's a good one to start out with." The only other returnee is 6-3 senior swingman Steve Jordan, who will bid for the starting job at small forward. Jordan (1.8 ppg, 0.8 rpg) endured a tough junior year, one that was slowed by a dislocated finger early in the year. Jordan never fully recovered from the injury. Jordan gives the Skyhawks some versatility. As a sophomore at Okaloosa-Walton (Fla.) Junior College, Jordan averaged 14.5 points and 4.0 rebounds. A good ballhandler, Jordan played some point guard in junior college, but he's big enough to play on the wing. Two newcomers will also be in the hunt for the job as shooting guard. Steve Sensabaugh, a 6-3 junior, averaged 13.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists last season at Southeastern Illinois Junior College. Jared Bledsoe, a 6-3 freshman, averaged 14.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists at Hamilton High in Memphis. Oddly, Sensabaugh, Bledsoe and Jordan are all left-handers. "Sensabaugh is very athletic," Campbell said. "He will increase our athleticism and he's a player who has shown he can create his own shot. Jordan is a solid player. He has a little better range than Sensabaugh." Campbell said Bledsoe has a bright future. "I think before it's all said and done, Bledsoe will be a very good player for us," Campbell said. Hayden Prescott, a 6-5 junior forward, should move into the small-forward spot. After what he did in junior college, Prescott can expect to get the ball often in the Skyhawks' system. Last season at the College of Eastern Utah, Prescott averaged 18.2 points and 8.2 rebounds. "He's got an opportunity to be our go-to guy," Campbell said. "He's very athletic, he's strong and he can score a lot of different ways. He can score from the outside or inside." Backing up Prescott at small forward will be 6-5 freshman swingman Okechi Egbe, who averaged 19.1 points and 8.2 rebounds last season at Austin High School in Decatur, Ala. Despite his impressive stats from high school, Egbe could need a year or so at the college level to fine-tune his game. "He's very athletic," Campbell said. "He's a better athlete than player right now." In the frontcourt, Campell will be counting on four junior-college players to fill the void left by center Ryan DeMichael and forward Joe Crumby. DeMichael, chosen to the All-OVC second team, led the team in scoring (15.7) and was the league's third-leading rebounder (8.8). Crumby was the team's second-leading scorer (11.3). Replacing those two in the post could be a job done by committee, with all four junior-college players contending and contributing at power forward and low post. Dexter Webb, a 6-7 junior, averaged 12.7 points and 3.8 rebounds at Otero (Colo.) JC last season. Lee Williamson, a 6-6 junior, may be the most athletic of the four incoming frontcourt players. A very good leaper, Williamson averaged 14.5 points and 7.1 rebounds last season at Southern Union (Ala.) State Junior College. Byron Benton, a 6-6 junior from Chicago, averaged 14.0 points and 7.1 rebounds last season at Olney Central (Ill.) Junior College. The fourth newcomer in the frontcourt, 6-5 junior Donald Elder, won't be eligible until after Christmas. If Elder can produce some numbers like he did last season at Volunteer State (Tenn.) Community College near Nashville, he will be dangerous. Elder averaged 19.5 points and 12.6 rebounds as a sophomore. "They're all fairly similar," Campbell said of his junior-college frontcourt players. "They're all athletic and maybe a little undersized. They're all 6-6 or 6-7. There's not much difference between them." They are just the type of players Campbell wants in his bid to make the Skyhawks a contender in the OVC race. You don't need 7-footers to have a good frontcourt in the OVC. You do need quicker, athletic players in the paint. "The guys who have been successful are the 6-6 or 6-7 warriors," Campbell said. "I think that's been one of the trademarks of this league: Smaller, warrior-like post players." John Roos, a 6-0 freshman guard, rounds out the recruiting class. Roos averaged 12.2 points at Pike High School in Indianapolis last year.
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