SoCon Notebook

Southern Conference Notebook

by Tyler Annett

As we begin 2007 in the Southern Conference, two teams have started out of the gate surprisingly strong both in conference and non-conference play. Appalachian State and Davidson have posted 4-0 records to begin conference play, as the Mountaineers are 12-3 and the Wildcats are 13-3. These two teams will meet January 20th in Davidson, NC, and it looks to be the big match-up in the conference so far.

Each of these teams is a surprise first-place leader at this point in the season. Davidson is coming off an NCAA appearance last season, yet lost four starters to graduation and close to 75 percent of their offensive firepower from a season ago. Despite this the Wildcats lead the conference in scoring at 81.9 points per game, which is 6.5 points higher than the next team in the league, and are currently riding a nine-game winning streak. Led by junior forwards Boris Meno and Tony Sander, Davidson continues to be the offensive juggernaut they have been for the past three seasons in leading the conference in scoring under coach Bob McKillop. The surprise player for Davidson has been freshmen Stephen Curry, the son of former NBA star Dell Curry, who has a provided a spark behind the arc for the wildcats. Curry, who was not heavily recruited out of high school because of his lack of size and unorthodox shot, leads the team in points per game at 19.6 and with his 40 percent clip from long range, and as a freshmen looks like one of the best players in the league already. The Wildcats’ rebounding has also been a key to their success with an average of 40.1 rebounds a game as a team.

Much of Appalachian State’s success has come on the offensive end of the court as well. Appalachian State is second to Davidson in scoring led by senior guard D.J. Thompson (1st-Team All-Conference last season), who is top ten in the conference in points, steals and assists in once again making a bid for player of the year. The Mountaineers also are one of the top five teams in the league in rebounds, assists, field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage. Senior guard Nathan Cranford joins Thompson in one of the strongest backcourts in the conference, as Cranford has helped bring stability to a young team. A tough schedule early on out of conference included road games against ACC members Clemson (the last undefeated team in the nation), Virginia Tech and Virginia along with a strong opening to conference play have helped give the Appalachian State a strong RPI (ratings Percentage Index) ranking. Currently the Mountaineers have the No. 9 RPI rating, a chief tool used to by the Tournament Committee on Selection Sunday on March 11th. Yet most analysts believe this ranking will drop as the season continues, so the Mountaineers will need to maintain their momentum to try and win the conference outright. No Southern Conference team has ever received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and a bid this season is highly unlikely.

Both of these teams have positioned themselves nicely for a strong run to the conference regular season title as well as the conference tournament title. We will watch closely as to what these two hot teams do as the season moves along.

Player of the Week: Nathan Cranford, Appalachian State
Cranford scored 30 points and grabbed five rebounds, hitting four 3-point baskets in the first six and a half minutes to help pull off a strong victory against the College of Charleston, who was the pre-season pick by many (including myself) to win the conference. This victory helped push the Mountaineers to 4-0 in the conference and the status of a true contender for the conference title at this early point in the season.

Team of the Week: The Citadel
Although the Bulldogs are still only 5-10 overall, this week they won two conference games against Elon and Wofford, which matches their conference win total from a year ago with 12 games in conference to go. Both wins came on the road and pushed their conference record to .500 at 2-2. With eight of their last fourteen conference games at home, the Bulldogs have a definite shot to surpass their win total by a couple games from last season.

Upcoming Game of the Week: Furman vs. College of Charleston
Both clubs have not started as well as they hoped, considering they believed they had strong teams this season. The Cougars, at 2-2, were pre-season favorites to take the Conference and need a victory at home badly to stay in the race with Appalachian State and Davidson, while the Panthers at 1-2 would like a get a strong road victory to jumpstart their slow start to the season. Look for this Saturday afternoon matchup to be a low-scoring affair, as neither team averages over 70 points per game or above 45 percent from the field.