MBB: Great South Athletic Conference

[Ralph Turner]

I am always optimistic about the other teams in the GSAC and if they will give the Scots competition for the upcoming year.  And then I sit back and think of the stats....

Piedmont  0 - 7 years
Lagrange  0 - 7 years
Huntington 2 - 6 years
Fisk 3 - 7 years

That being said, you see why Maryville struggles after the first round in the tournament every year. 

In all fairness to the GSAC, you are just a conference that is trying to get off the ground.  The men are not yet an official conference in the eyes of the NCAA.  The women only get their AQ this fall.

As I understand it, Piedmont, LaGrange and Huntingdon were primarily NCCAA (more like them than NAIA-2, if they had dual membership) until just a few seasons ago.  The conference is trying to grow.  You have done a great job of finding schools that want to adopt the D3 model.  You can also make the case that everyone is catching up to Maryville as those aformentioned schools become "more D3" than NCCAA.

With the moratorium on moves to D3 from outside the NCAA, it looks like the GSAC will need to hang on for a little longer.

[scottiedoug]

Ralph:  What is the alleged purpose of the moratorium?  And is that the real purpose?

[younglion]

A little Piedmont recruiting news for you.

Joe Chilton 6'7 PF/C - Transfer from Montreat, played 8-10 minutes a game on the 20th ranked team in the nation as a sophomore, Will most likely start right away

Chuck McCoy 6'3 SG/SF - Etowah, averaged 15ppg, 5apg, 2spg, Will push for big minutes as a freshman

Michael Rubio 6'1 PG/SG - North Forsyth, averaged 18ppg, 3apg, 2spg, Will get minutes at both the point and 2 as a freshman

Wes Miller 6'6 PF - North Springs, averaged 14ppg, 8rpg, Athletic forward who will be a solid backup at both post positions as a freshman

Aaron Patton 6'2 wing - Hayesville, averaged 20ppg, 9rpg, Will push for minutes at both wing positions

That is just the cream of the crop.  Piedmont has got commitments from a couple other solid players including a transfer from Presbyterian College.  Piedmont also has two more post players that they are waiting on that could be solid players.

Along with 4 returning starters; Jake Green (potentially the best pg in the conference), Jake Baldwin (potentially the best player in the conference), Mike Adams (one of the best guards in the conference), and Tyler Whitlock (one of the hardest working players in the conference), Piedmont could surprise a lot of you haters out there.

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph:  What is the alleged purpose of the moratorium?  And is that the real purpose?

Scottie, as I understand the moratorium, the Presidents of D3 thought that D3 was being diluted too much by the new schools.  I think that there are many presidents and universities from the olden days of D3, (before so many NAIA schools came over), that D3 is changing to something they don't like or couldn't control.

In the 1980's the WIAC, the ASC, the NWC and many of the schools in the NAthCon and the PresAC were NAIA.  D3 is now over 400 schools.  The Future of D3 board has the results of many of the initiatives that came from the self-study, e.g., red-shirting and alternate season participation.  That split many of the old-timers from the newcomers.

Please look in the pages in the upper 30's on this pdf file at all of the schools in the NAIA in the 1970's-1990's who are now D2 and especially D3.

Birmingham-Southern made sure that they could move on their timetable before the June 1st dealine.

Good question...I think that the old-timers want some time to assimilate the new members.

[Pat Coleman]

I think it's that D-III is getting so large that it's getting difficult to administer. That's probably the primary motivation.

[old_lion]

A little Piedmont recruiting news for you.

That is just the cream of the crop.  Piedmont has got commitments from a couple other solid players including a transfer from Presbyterian College.  Piedmont also has two more post players that they are waiting on that could be solid players.

Nice scouting report, Young Lion.

The transfer from Presbyterian you referred to, Brandon Mayweather, also could be a real find for Piedmont. He is a 6'0 guard out of Dacula High School. He played in Region 8AAAAA in 2003-2004 ... one of the toughest regions (that year) ever in the state of Georgia.

That region sent a couple of dozen guys to college ball and one, Louis Williams, directly to the NBA. That region had at least 3 to 5 teams (South Gwinnett, Norcross, North Gwinnett, Shiloh, Central Gwinnett) that could have been very competitive if they had played a GSAC schedule.

My point is, Brandon has been battle tested ... so if he shows up in shape, and ready to play, he could bring a lot to the Piedmont team.

With a little good fortune, maybe we'll be improved enough that we can step up the level of competition in the GSAC. Lord knows we all need to pick it up so that Murvul can advance past the first round of the NCAA tourney. From everything I've been reading on here lately, obviously, it is the rest of the GSAC's  fault that Murvul hasn't been able to go further.

Hopefully, we'll be able to begin to right that terrible wrong of the rest of the GSAC letting Murvul down.   

[scottiedoug]

old_lion:  You're not too bad at sarcasm. 

It will be better for everybody if you are right about Piedmont and its future prowess.  Not only will it be helpful if the competition up and down the GSAC gets tougher, maybe it will help persuade a couple of teams to want to join.  Then again it could do the opposite.

[ohyeah]

With a little good fortune, maybe we'll be improved enough that we can step up the level of competition in the GSAC. Lord knows we all need to pick it up so that Murvul can advance past the first round of the NCAA tourney. From everything I've been reading on here lately, obviously, it is the rest of the GSAC's  fault that Murvul hasn't been able to go further.

I cant recall the last time Maryville didnt get past the 1st round.  They struggle with the second round, normally on the road.  How many GSAC schools give Maryville a hard time on the road, game after game.  You even made the point for Maryville in your post by stating that the transfer is battle tested.  Maryville is not b/c of the lack of competition in the GSAC.  Until proven otherwise, I will firmly believe this. 

And Younglion, I hope you are correct about this group.  I remember old lion singing the praises of recruits for the past two years and they have been a let down.  It gets old watching Piedmont get smoked at Maryville by 20 and 30 points.  Totally loses the interest of the fans until Bradley Blair misses two dunks. 

[old_lion]

old_lion:  You're not too bad at sarcasm. 

Sarcasm? No, not at all ... I prefer to think of it as a dry sense of humor. 

But, thanks anyway.

[mattgrubb]

a good saying i once heard,
There comes a point where potential only means you are not doing what you are supposed to.
-someone smarter than me and definitely smarter than Lil' Rib

[old_lion]

quote]

I cant recall the last time Maryville didnt get past the 1st round.  They struggle with the second round, normally on the road.  How many GSAC schools give Maryville a hard time on the road, game after game.  You even made the point for Maryville in your post by stating that the transfer is battle tested.  Maryville is not b/c of the lack of competition in the GSAC.  Until proven otherwise, I will firmly believe this. 

And Younglion, I hope you are correct about this group.  I remember old lion singing the praises of recruits for the past two years and they have been a let down.  It gets old watching Piedmont get smoked at Maryville by 20 and 30 points.   Totally loses the interest of the fans until Bradley Blair misses two dunks. 

My bad, ohyeah, I misspoke. I should have said 2nd round. I was just kidding around anyway ... trying to get a little discussion going. I agree with your basic point re good competition making you better.

Ohyeah, I beg to differ about the recruiting class from 2 years ago being a letdown. They haven't been as successful as we would have liked, but there has definitely been progress.
Someone, I believe it was Grubb, correctly pointed out how difficult it is for new players to come in and compete with veterans from established programs.

When that class came in, there were only 2 players returning (from an unsuccessful team) who had played any minutes to speak of, the year before. That first year, with 3 of the 5 starters being freshmen, they went 10 -16. Last year, they improved to 13-12. Not great, but definitely progress against some pretty good veteran GSAC teams ... Personally, I wouldn't describe them as a letdown.

IMHO, we should have all the pieces in place to improve again. Everyone, players and coaches, just has to dedicate themselves to building an effective team and get it done.

And finally, you think its getting old? Imagine how we feel ...

[old_lion]

a good saying i once heard,
There comes a point where potential only means you are not doing what you are supposed to.
-someone smarter than me and definitely smarter than Lil' Rib

Grubb,

As usual, you speak the truth.

The way I heard it phrased was ...  Potential means you haven't done it yet.

But that's essentially the same point ... and a good one.

[mattgrubb]

the grubby one will be seen in maryville tonight, be ready
16-9 for life

[mattgrubb]

Here are 9 losses for the scots
1.Carson Newman  tough to beat a D2 at their place
2.King same as CN  King is transistioning to D2 with the legendary george pitts as their coach
3. Will lose 1 of first three games to Centre, Emory, or OU
4. Possibly 2 of first three
5. Otterbein
6. Transy
7. 1 of the O Club classic games
8. Fisk in nashville
9.  GSAC tourney game

This looks like a possibility, some what of a worst case scenario, but possible, what do you maryville fans think about these losses

[Pat Coleman]

Some of you already know this, but we've gotten it from enough sources that we consider it reliable now:

http://www.d3hoops.com/notables.php?item=735