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LOCATION: Conway, SC
CONFERENCE: Big South
LAST SEASON: 7-20 (.259)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 4-6 (t-4th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 2/3
NICKNAME: Chanticleers
COLORS: Coastal Green, Bronze & Black
HOMECOURT: Kimbel-Brice Gymnasium (1,800)
COACH: Pete Strickland (Pittsburgh '79)
record at school 7-20 (1 year)
career record 7-20 (1 year)
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ASSISTANTS: Baker Neal (Glenville State '79)
Ganon Baker (UNC Wilmington '95)
Lewis Preston (VMI '93)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 6-5-11-8-7
RPI (last 5 years) 270-299-225-300-304
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference first round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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There's something about this Coastal Carolina team that finally feels right to Pete Strickland. Maybe that's because it finally feels like Strickland's team. In his second season as the Chanticleers' coach, Strickland has had two recruiting classes and an entire season to implement his system. He will toss eight newcomers into the equation this season, but he also has an athletic, experienced backcourt returning from a team that won just seven times a year ago. "Everything was new last year," said Strickland, a former assistant at Pittsburgh. "The kids were new, and I was new. We had seven seniors, and six of them were junior college kids who came over and played one year. It was the strangest composition of a roster I'd ever been around. "I like what we have right now. We're young, but we do have three senior guards who've been with us and know what we're doing. All three are quality players." Todd Shannon (9.5 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 46 three-pointers), a 6-0 senior, will be one of the best point guards in the league if he can take better care of the ball. He had more turnovers (63) than he did assists (52).
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT B+ BENCH/DEPTH C+
FRONTCOURT C- INTANGIBLES B
If the Chanticleers can figure out a way to rebound and defend taller teams, they could emerge as one of the surprises of the league. Getting away with playing a smaller lineup is easier to do in the Big South. And as coach Pete Strickland points out, teams will have problems matching up down low with the quickness of Torrey Butler and Steve Miles. The schedule is perhaps the toughest in Coastal Carolina history. The Chanticleers, for the first time, are playing all Division I teams. There are trips to Maryland, Georgetown, Ohio State and Dayton. "We've got to stay together, even if that road becomes rocky," Strickland said. "I've got to do a good job of keeping them together so that when we get into the league, we're prepared to go to work with our confidence intact." Matt Gladieux is good enough that he should be a difference-maker. And Todd Shannon and Miles should be better with Gladieux around. "We're better than we were last season," Strickland said. "The key is getting to the conference season and having things go well for us." |
His forte is scoring, though, and he should see his average increase this season with the people around him. The Chanticleers' most experienced and most accomplished player hasn't played a game in a Coastal Carolina uniform. Matt Gladieux, a 6-5 senior, will play the shooting-guard position after sitting out last season. He should be one of the premier newcomers in the league after bouncing around at different places earlier in his career. He started at Toledo. After two seasons and a coaching change there, he transferred to Bellarmine College in Louisville, Ky., and led his team in scoring and steals as a junior. Wanting to get back into Division I, Gladieux paid his own way last season to Coastal Carolina and practiced with the team. He only has one year remaining, but Strickland has high hopes for him. How high? Gladieux, who can play any position on the perimeter, will be one of the Chanticleers' captains. "He's smart, skilled and plays with great savvy," Strickland said. "He will be one of the leaders of our team." Strickland expects to use a three-guard lineup most of this season, and why not? Also back is 6-2 sophomore Steve Miles, last season's Big South Rookie of the Year. Miles (9.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 59 assists, 38 three-pointers) led the Chanticleers in nearly every statistical category a year ago. Backing up Shannon at point guard will be 6-0 sophomore Shane Wright (3.3 ppg, 23 assists, 15 three-pointers, 14 steals). He played 11.9 minutes per game as a freshman and is a big-time athlete. Strickland is counting on a big senior season from 6-3 guard Jerrod Paige, who may be as good an athlete as there is in the league at his size. Paige (2.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 10 steals) could play shooting guard or small forward. Two signees will compete for playing time in the backcourt. Nick Hermosilla, a 5-9 freshman from Fairmont, W. Va., is a true point guard. Brandon Newby, 6-2, from Lanham. Md., is more of a combo guard. Don't count on the Chanticleers overwhelming anyone this season with their size. In fact, they could be one of the shortest teams in the country. Even with Shannon, Gladieux and Miles in the game, Strickland's not ruling out using 6-3 sophomore Torrey Butler at power forward. Butler (7.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 16 assists) started in half the games last season. "That would be a tough lineup for people to guard, but we also have to figure out a way to guard with that group," Strickland said. Butler is probably best-suited to play on the wing, but he had a couple of big games in the post late last season. "We're babes at forward," Strickland said. "As great as our experience is at guard, it's the antithesis of that inside. Other than Butler, who's really a three man, we don't have anybody else who's played for us. I don't know of any other team in Division I that has that kind of dearth in the post." The void is glaring. Marcus Stewart was on the all-rookie team two years ago. He was dismissed from the team last season and has transferred to Winthrop. Cedric Davis was with the team last season but sat out as a partial qualifier. Davis, a sophomore, has grown from 6-5 to 6-9 and weighs 225 pounds. He is a strong candidate to start at center. "When I saw him, I thought he was the best high school rebounder I'd ever seen," Strickland said. "He still needs to work on his offensive post moves." Freshman Anthony Susnjara, a 6-8 center from Fairfield, Australia, will provide depth in the interior. Oliver Hinckson, a 6-6 junior from Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Fla., has experience, but it's all at the junior college level. He averaged 6.5 points and 3.7 rebounds last season and is probably the strongest player on the team. Of the Chanticleers' freshmen forwards, 6-4 Derrick Robinson of Myrtle Beach, S.C., may be the most exciting. Strickland loves his competitive spirit and thinks he will prosper in an up-tempo offense. '"If he were 6-6 or 6-7, we'd be watching him every Monday on TV in one of the bigger conferences," Strickland said. Mihai Raducanu, a 6-9 freshman from Hamilton, Ontario, is working on developing his post game. Right now, he is more of a perimeter player with good ball-handling skills and fluid moves for a guy his size. Yet another freshman, 6-6 Clint Reed, will probably end up at small forward. A native of Georges Hall, Australia, Reed is extremely mobile and shoots the ball with confidence. Antonio Darden, a 6-3 sophomore, returns in a reserve role after averaging 2.4 points and 2.0 rebounds in seven games last season. "We need our forwards to grow up in a hurry," Strickland said. "We're not going to expect them to do a lot early, as long as they rebound and go defend."
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