"I just felt like it was time to move on" Coach loserkid32 stated after announcing that he will be leaving South Arkansas to take the coaching vacancy of Morehead State. When asked about reasons why he South Arkansas coach lk stated "I just felt like it was time to move on, for me and the program. I couldn't get them over the hump of the second round of the tournament no matter what i did. I loved all my players over there. Heck I asked Tony (Riggle, C) and James (Nail, SG) to come over here and join me, but I was proud of them when they decided to stay and take care of the program over there. Besides I feel like i them in good hands with coach avbrownsfan taking over. I wish them the best of luck." When asked why he decided on Morehead State he referred back to the national championship the Eagles won just 5 seasons ago "I want to get this program back to the top back to the glory days before coach thoknight for the California Job. I realize that coach Sim AI won the national championship while he was here, but the past few years have been a killer for this once proud program." He also went on to say "I know that its gonna take a few years and these first couple of seasons are going to be rough for me, the players, and the fans but it will all pay off in a couple of years. I can tell you this much... The rebuilding is about to begin"

This team only had 5 returning players! And only a couple looked useful for me so it was looking like i had a lot of work to do FAST!

Returning Players
Jonathan Thompson So. PG 36 82 13 91 11 1 56 74 70 46 80 71 B- 631
Jimmy Carter Jr. SG 77 66 5 99 27 23 61 90 72 65 81 95 B 761
John Robinson Sr. SF 90 52 25 99 57 66 77 35 22 95 99 59 B- 776
Ryan Wolfe Sr. C 22 30 89 96 62 81 5 1 34 54 71 71 C- 616
Isaac Antonio So. C 50 28 76 55 85 83 1 7 46 71 74 40 D+ 616

Recruiting Needs
Pretty much everything! I would like to have new starters at every position except SF. and need a backup at that position.

I am planning to run a flex offense and a zone defense. My offensive gameplan is going to be a lot of threes so i really need some shooters. I am going to play some small ball at times to get the mismatch on the perimeter. I want my team to shoot almost 50% of their shots behind the three point line, sort of like an Ivy League school (RL)!

I filled 6 of the 7 scholarships but couldn't find a JuCo or Transfer that I really liked so I took the walk-on. I was actually satisfied with my class being as it was the first D-1 recruiting class i have ever had. I got some of the shooters i wanted and even got a couple of bigs that i liked.

John Hand
SG | 6'4" | 197 lbs. | 2.7 GPA
Norfolk Academy | Norfolk, VA

Athleticism 33
Speed 69
Rebounding 11 (low potential)
Defense 45 (high potential)
Shot Blocking 10
Low Post 21 (low potential)
Perimeter 83 (high potential)
Ball Handling 59
Passing 49 (high potential)
Work Ethic 55
Stamina 64 (high potential)
Durability 57 (high potential)

I like this kid perimeter a lot and i think he has the potential to thrive in this offense. Good bit of high potentials which i like but i am concerned with his speed and athleticism. Overall I like this kid and planned to redshirt him for class balance purposes and because he wasn't gonna get much playing time with Young (see later) also coming in.

Merle Hawk
SG | 6'5" | 216 lbs. | 2.4 GPA
Chisholm HS | Enid, OK

Athleticism 43 (high potential)
Speed 71
Rebounding 8
Defense 59
Shot Blocking 1
Low Post 12 (low potential)
Perimeter 78 (high potential)
Ball Handling 40
Passing 40
Work Ethic 19
Stamina 70 (high potential)
Durability 71 (high potential)

Once again I love his perimeter but don't like his athleticism. ball handling, or passing. I also don't like his work ethic. Was my third option for this spot but the other two signed with other schools so i had to take him from a d-2 school. Overall I think he could turn into a quality backup as a spot up shooter and work himself into a nice role position.

Christopher Young
SG | 6'1" | 194 lbs. | 3.6 GPA
Sylvania Southview HS | Sylvania, OH

Athleticism 46
Speed 57 (high potential)
Rebounding 24 (low potential)
Defense 51 (high potential)
Shot Blocking 4
Low Post 22 (low potential)
Perimeter 71 (high potential)
Ball Handling 66 (high potential)
Passing 65 (high potential)
Work Ethic 43
Stamina 70 (high potential)
Durability 20

This is my favorite of all my recruits mostly for his potential. I'm hoping he can develop into a nice shooting point guard by his sophomore or junior year so i can let him and Hand run the back court together. I guaranteed him a start, but i don't have a problem following that up.

Richard Rainwater
SF | 6'8" | 235 lbs. | 3.3 GPA
Spring Valley Academy | Centerville, OH

Athleticism 58 (high potential)
Speed 55
Rebounding 41 (high potential)
Defense 22
Shot Blocking 33
Low Post 50
Perimeter 48 (high potential)
Ball Handling 43
Passing 42 (high potential)
Work Ethic 40
Stamina 75 (high potential)
Durability 53

I like this kid as a possible 3-4 hybrid. Especially for the offense i'm trying to execute i think he can run the 4 a little maybe as a back up for the 3 and the 4. Love his athleticism, rebounding, and perimeter potential. The bad is that he isn't really developed yet but with this roster he is going to get some valuable minutes.

Brian Louis
C | 6'11" | 237 lbs. | 3.1 GPA
Walker HS | Jasper, AL

Athleticism 41 (high potential)
Speed 23 (low potential)
Rebounding 90
Defense 44
Shot Blocking 64
Low Post 77 (high potential)
Perimeter 14 (low potential)
Ball Handling 10
Passing 28
Work Ethic 57
Stamina 61 (high potential)
Durability 63 (high potential)

A little slow but overall hes an excellent rebounder so hopefully he can rake in 2-3 offensive rebs a game off our three point misses and give us more oppurtunities. Has the potentials to be a pretty good post player.

Jeffrey Hebert
C | 7'0" | 255 lbs. | 2.8 GPA
Cullman HS | Cullman, AL

Athleticism 50 (high potential)
Speed 50 (low potential)
Rebounding 80
Defense 50
Shot Blocking 79 (high potential)
Low Post 90
Perimeter 16 (low potential)
Ball Handling 4
Passing 22
Work Ethic 16
Stamina 74 (high potential)
Durability 21 (high potential)

A little slow but overall i think he is going to be a good post player. Him along with Louis are going to be a nice down low combo to open up the three point shooters. Great scorer on the low block, especially after we get the ath and reb up.The work ethic is going to be the only thing that keeps him down.

I waited a little late to post this. I just finished non-conference play up at 1-9, but I started 4 freshmen (Young, Hawk, Rainwater, and Hebert... I redshirted Hand and Louis went down with injury after a couple of games). I just switched back to a press/m2m defense and adjusted the depth chart.

It now looks like this.

PG- Thompson/ Young
SG- Young/ Carter/ Hawk
SF- Robinson/ Rainwater
PF- Rainwater/Louis/Hebert
C- Hebert/ Wolfe/ Louis

Conference play starts tonight against 0-10 Jacksonville State.

Well John Robinson was a beast tonight putting up 38 pts on 14-20 shooting including 10 3 pointers!! Unfortunately it wasnt enough to make up for everyone else 10-38 shooting and our 14 turnovers so we lose again 67-61 to fall to 1-10 (0-1)! Has anyone ever got fired after the first season of D-1?

JSU 67 MSU 61 Boxscore

Well we finished off the regular season at 6-20, and won the first rd game of the conference tournament before falling to Murray State in the 2nd. So 7-21 isnt ideal but its sort of what i expected coming into the season with the team being so young, not to mention the lack of talent.