November 12, 1998
November 12, 1998
| With the addition of College of Charleston
into the Southern Conference and Appalachian’s team, there is one certainty
in the 1998-99 season: Davidson won’t have an easy time getting to the
championship game of the Southern Conference Tournament.
Davidson enters the season as the favorite to repeat as North Division champions. The Wildcats got just a taste of the NCAA Tournament in their brief stay last year, with a not so pleasant showing against Michigan. The Wildcats return nine players including four starters, but Davidson lost the soul of last year’s squad, Mark Donnelly. The Wildcats’ leading scorer averaged 14.6 ppg in the championship run last season. The returning class is led by tournament MVP, Ben Ebong. He may not have been a starter last season, but Coach Bob McKillop will have to start the forward that averaged 9.4 points off the bench. Junior Stephen Marshall’s play will be important. Marshall scored 9.6 points per contest last season. Also back to run the offense is Ali Ton. Davidson’s list of freshmen includes a group of diverse players. One comes from Ireland and another from England. The Wildcats also welcome 7’2” Martin Ides from East Burke High School. Their non-conference schedule is one of the toughest in the conference. The Wildcats are slated to meet ACC foes Duke and Wake Forest. They will also face the likes of Nebraska, UNC-Charlotte and Massachusetts. The season opener against Duke will take place at the Charlotte Coliseum on Nov. 17. The Virginia Military Institute looks to better its third-place finish in the North from last year. The Keydets lead the lower half of the Division and will have tough times against Davidson and ASU. VMI runs an up-tempo style of offense. The Keydets led the league in scoring, three-pointers and steals last season. VMI’s mark of 14-13 and 8-7 in the conference last year may be a goal for this year’s team. The Keydets return three starters. Their non-conference schedule includes trips to Penn State, UNC-Charlotte and Virginia. VMI will also host Wake Forest this season. The Keydets open their season against Elon this Saturday. East Tennessee state will finish like they did last season: in fourth place. The Buccaneers return four starters and will be more competitive this season. ETSU’s biggest asset is senior Greg Stephens, who returns his 17.2 points per game and team-high 133 assists. The Bucs are a dangerous team in the North, but won’t be able to keep up with the likes of ASU and Davidson. ETSU has three tough non-conference matches against Virginia Tech, Clemson, Wake Forest and Michigan State. UNC-Greensboro looks to improve on last season’s debut in the conference. They did surprise some people in the tournament by upsetting Western Carolina and falling to Chattanooga by a single point. The Spartans (9-19, 6-9) won’t be a pushover this time around, despite losing three starters. UNC-G will go outside of the conference this season against Nebraska, Tennessee, #1 Duke and Wake Forest. Western Carolina will be a league of their own this season. The Catamounts only return one senior and also lost their entire coaching staff with the exception of Phil Hopkins. But after this season, Hopkins thinks even that might change. “If I don’t beat ASU, I might not be back,” said Hopkins. |
The chance of lowly Western knocking off Appalachian
is small this season. If you see the Catamounts on paper, you’d better
recycle that paper, because that’s all it will be worth.
Western Carolina will not have any trouble losing at least 20 games this season. The baby of the conference may be a spoiled brat. The College of Charleston has made two trips to the NCAA Tournament in a row. The Cougars have excellent odds of taking the depleted South Division. Charleston also plays North Carolina this season in Charlotte. They dominated the TAAC over the past few seasons, and will challenge ASU and Davidson for the right to represent the conference in March. Charleston will take part in the NIT early in the season with a game against Georgia. The Cougars also face Massachusetts and South Carolina. The defending South champs, Chattanooga will battle with Charleston for the South title. The Mocs, picked a close second to the Cougars, will try to improve on last season’s semifinal exit from the conference tournament after falling to ASU. The remaining four teams in the South: Wofford, Citadel, Georgia Southern and Furman are all close in talent level. Their level is quite a bit less than the powers of Chattanooga and Charleston. The Wofford Terriers surprised the league by finishing second last year. Wofford wasn’t allowed to compete in the conference tournament last year, but this is a new year, one in which they’ll get a chance to go to Greensboro. Wofford ‘s non-conference plans include all the military schools: Air Force, Army and Navy. The Terriers will also battle Brigham Young, South Carolina, Auburn, Georgia Tech and N.C. State. The Citadel will likely bring up the rear in the South. The Bulldogs finished third last season and advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to Appalachian. The good news for the Bulldogs is they open against Anderson, but then comes a couple of tough non-conference schedule games against Georgia Tech and South Carolina. Georgia Southern is a team that is coming back. The Eagles are a rebuilding squad, but as they proved last year, they’re no easy cookie. Georgia Southern will battle for third in the South and could surprise some of the other teams in the conference. Furman, picked by many to finish third, will battle with the other four schools for that not-so-precious position. The Paladins’ loss was a big one during the off-season. The player of the year, Chuck Vincent, took his 17.2 ppg when he graduated. Furman will be tough this season, but the loss of Vincent will prove too much for the Paladins to contend with the powerful four: Appalachian State, Charleston, Davidson and Chattanooga. The Southern Conference has their own final four which will decide the champion come March. Will it be Appalachian, Davidson, Charleston or Chattanooga? |