67-54 win over Samford. The first game of the CT goes without incident; we were up 13 at the half and coasted due to very good rebounding. RPI 107, SOS 282.

(boxscore)

Lost in the CT to E. Kentucky. Here come the senior retrospectives...

Robert Bailey
PF | Senior | 6'10" | 230 lbs. | 3.4 gpa
Clarksville Academy Clarksville, TN | Recruited By: drst
PF
681

Athleticism 77
Speed 48
Rebounding 78
Defense 75
Shot Blocking 73
Low-post 81
Perimeter 30
Ball Handling 23
Passing 42
Work Ethic 37
Stamina 61
Durability 56
FT Shooting C-

Bailey was, in a word, efficient. He wasn't a starter, but he played 12 minutes a game this year and spelled the starters effectively. He's not a great loss, but he was a good role player.

RECORDS: 15th in blocks (87)

William Carnell
C | Senior | 6'11" | 242 lbs. | 3.1 gpa
Knoxville Central High School Knoxville, TN | Recruited By: drst
C
778

Athleticism 77
Speed 54
Rebounding 100
Defense 60
Shot Blocking 99
Low-post 99
Perimeter 1
Ball Handling 3
Passing 51
Work Ethic 80
Stamina 100
Durability 54
FT Shooting D-

Carnell was a tremendous low-D1 player. He won both POY and defensive POY honors this season in the Ohio Valley Conference, and was a force at center. Unfortunately, the low perimeter and ball handling stats assure he won't be drafted. Still, he had a great career.

RECORDS: 12th in points (888), 4th in rebounds (703), 2nd in blocks (189), 8th in steals (87), 6th in FG% (49%)

Luis Powers
SF | Senior | 6'9" | 225 lbs. | 3.3 gpa
Sylacauga HS Sylacauga, AL | Recruited By: drst
SF
816

Athleticism 61
Speed 75
Rebounding 64
Defense 99
Shot Blocking 27
Low-post 88
Perimeter 64
Ball Handling 48
Passing 57
Work Ethic 69
Stamina 98
Durability 66
FT Shooting C+

Powers, however, has an outside shot at the draft. He started for three seasons, and was a vital asset in all three. He put up big numbers, and leaves a gaping hole at the 3 next season.

RECORDS: 2nd in points (1,229), 2nd in steals (107), 8th in FT% (71%)

Powers wasn't drafted, which is no shock.

First order of business for the upcoming season...

College Sports Network Jacksonville St. rescinds scholarship Sean Entrekin. No reasons cited. 12/14 05:39 PM

Here's the roster heading into recruiting...

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It should be noted that Murphy was a non-qualifier his freshman year. Therefore, he's going to have another year here after this one.

All four spots are filled at 8 PM. The first is a JuCo player who will see significant time this year and the two years after that. Joseph Hurt (#256 overall, #68 PF, **) is listed as a PF, but will be our #2 SF this year due to his wing stats being OK. His rebounding will be good at the 3, as opposed to below average in the frontcourt, and while his FT shooting stinks, he's generally a good prospect who was within 110 miles.

Joseph Hurt
PF | 6'8" | 237 lbs. | 2.0 GPA
Shelton State Community College | Tuscaloosa, AL
59.9% FT shooter
654

Athleticism 54
Speed 47
Rebounding 69
Defense 73 (high potential)
Shot Blocking 89
Low-post 84
Perimeter 33
Ball Handling 24 (low potential)
Passing 33
Work Ethic 61
Stamina 69 (high potential)
Durability 18

The second spot is filled by a PG I'd love to redshirt. Julian Kile (#278 overall, #58 PG, **) has good core skills, and is the PG of the future who will take over once Taylor graduates. He won't max out, per se, in ballhandling, but if he takes the redshirt, he'll be a great fit here.

Julian Kile
PG | 6'4" | 212 lbs. | 2.3 GPA
Northridge HS | Dayton, OH
74.4% FT shooter (low potential)
599

Athleticism 48
Speed 73
Rebounding 27
Defense 81
Shot Blocking 12 (low potential)
Low-post 1 (high potential)
Perimeter 52
Ball Handling 77
Passing 84
Work Ethic 39
Stamina 69 (high potential)
Durability 36

The last two spots were filled by freshman bigs. One is Christopher Williams (#222 overall, #51 C, **). He's a rebounding and conditioning project, but his scoring is first-rate for a freshman. Once he gets his rebounding up, he'll be a valuable addition to the team.

Christopher Williams
C | 7'0" | 263 lbs. | 2.6 GPA
Reuben Mccall HS | Tallulah, LA
68.6% FT shooter (low potential)
592

Athleticism 43 (high potential)
Speed 39 (low potential)
Rebounding 67 (high potential)
Defense 61 (high potential)
Shot Blocking 78 (high potential)
Low-post 85
Perimeter 21 (low potential)
Ball Handling 5
Passing 50 (low potential)
Work Ethic 56
Stamina 55 (high potential)
Durability 32

The final recruit is Michael Horsley (#99 C, *, Arkansas' Mr. Basketball). He's low-ranked due to his low defense, but everything else about him is quite solid. There's nothing to really say about him; he's very solid in everything, and he'll continue to improve over the next few years.

Michael Horsley
C | 6'10" | 237 lbs. | 3.4 GPA
Pine Bluff HS | Pine Bluff, AR
70.2% FT shooter (low potential)
591

Athleticism 47 (high potential)
Speed 40 (low potential)
Rebounding 72 (high potential)
Defense 43 (high potential)
Shot Blocking 67 (high potential)
Low-post 80
Perimeter 22 (low potential)
Ball Handling 1
Passing 50
Work Ethic 34
Stamina 74 (high potential)
Durability 61 (high potential)

THOUGHTS ON RECRUITING

I like the job that I did here. All four guys were my primary targets early on, and I landed them without any fights at all. It's nice when things work out, and in this case, they did. I've got a little over $15,000 , almost $4,000 of which will carry over.

I could've done a bit better; no three-star recruits this year, just several two's and a one. Still, this is a very good class, and I'll give myself between a B+ and an A-.

73-66 win over Army in our first exhibition. We got to the line a ton, and our frontcourt played very well on defense, with Coffee and Wilcox combining for 11 blocked shots.

(boxscore)

58-34 win over NW Missouri State. Exhibitions against a D2 team really don't matter, but we did pretty well. Only 7 offensive rebounds is a bit of an issue, but we also limited our opponents to just 5.

(boxscore)

Also, Kile has been completely unreceptive to the redshirt. It's not like it'll kill me (or his use on the team) if he doesn't take it, but it would have been nice if he'd accepted it.

1-3 in our first four games. Our three losses came to good human-coached teams, but they show that this team is down from last year, at least right now.