AMERICUS —
Georgia Southwestern played with the big boys at Auburn last year, and the Hurricanes will play some of the big boys of the ACC this fall.
GSW will travel to Florida State on Nov. 7 to play the Seminoles in an exhibition.
“Anytime you can play against one of those SEC/ACC type schools, it can only make you better,” said reigning Peach Belt coach of the year Mike Leeder. “I think having the experience of playing Auburn last year was a lot of fun for our campus and basketball program. Playing a program as good as Florida State will be a different kind of challenge. There’s nothing but positives for this game.”
The Hurricanes won the Western Division last year and were knocked out in the PBC semifinals and first round of the NCAA Tournament. They return four starters, including player of the year Phillip Brown and freshman of the year Colin Slotter.
GSW added two Division I transfers in the offseason and will have Ian Andre and Will Kenimer coming in off redshirt seasons.
Florida State was 23-11 last season and 11-5 in ACC play. The Seminoles were 12-3 at home and had their season end by Virginia Commonwealth, 72-71, in the NCAA Second Round.
FSU graduated one senior starter, and junior Chris Singleton was selected 18th overall by the Washington Wizards in June’s NBA Draft.
“I think this will get their attention,” said Leeder. “It will be something to help push us through practice and make practice competitive knowing we’re playing a team that’s picked in the top two or three to win the ACC. It will certainly require us playing our best to compete with a school that size.”
Leeder said the game, which tips at 7 p.m., will also be a night when FSU raises proceeds the Aubrey Boyd Foundation. Boyd, a Macon native, played from 1988-91 and was paralyzed during a pick-up football game in 1995 when he broke the fourth vertebrae in his neck.
Conditioning and skill workouts begin Monday for GSW, and the first day of practice is Oct. 15.
GSW will hold its first-ever home exhibition Oct. 31 against a team to be announced. It will start the season Nov. 15 in Jacksonville, Fla. against Trinity Baptist.
———
In other news, Leeder said former forward Trayce Macon, a Second Team All-Conference performer last season, is playing five games in Iceland with several teams looking to gain his services.
The 6-foot-7 forward averaged 13.7 points and 6.4 rebounds while making nearly 41 percent of his 3-pointers.
Local Sports
Hurricanes to play Seminoles in exhibition
- Local Sports
-
-
Lady Jets’ Portia McCray signs with Lander University
South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets sophomore guard Portia McCrary has signed a letter of intent to play basketball with Lander University, a small public university located in Greenwood, South Carolina, for the 2013–2014 season. Lander University plays in the Peach Belt Conference.
-
Leonard Pope Kids Day provides fun, laughter
On Saturday, June 15 children from across Sumter County descended on the Sumter County Fairgrounds to participate in the 7th Annual Leonard Pope Kid’s Day. Just as he does every year, Pope hosts the event as a way to get kids active by providing fun activities and entertainment for the children at no cost.
-
Marion County standout kicker A.J. Wells commits to Appalachian State
A long recruiting process came to an end on Tuesday for Marion County senior place kicker and punter A.J. Wells. After completing a recent visit to Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. Wells had seen all he needed to see to make his college choice. Following his senior year at Marion County this season, Wells will don the black and gold as Mountaineer on the Appalachian State football team.
-
SGTC Lady Jets sign Kadejah Saunders
South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets head basketball coach James Frey signed Kadejah Saunders from Tarpon Springs, Florida to be a member of the South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets 2013–2014 basketball team.
-
Dwight Harris Boys Club promotes active summer time lifestyle
Four years ago, Dwight Harris noticed that many of the area’s local youth were cruising the streets and finding their way into trouble during the summer months between school years. Rather than looking the other way, Harris decided to make a difference by creating a summer time activity for local boys of all ages and races to participate in. In the summer of 2009 he began the Dwight Harris Boys Club of Americus, Inc. as a youth development program to give children a fun activity to keep them off the streets and bridge the local racial gap.
-
GSW's Gahman named PING All-Region
Georgia Southwestern men's golfer Nate Gahman was named to the NCAA Division II PING All-Region Southeast Team on Friday afternoon by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
-
Lady ‘Cane Mollie McGowan earns Academic All-District Cross Country honors
Mollie McGowan, a senior on the Georgia Southwestern women's cross country team, has been named to the 2012-13 Capital One Academic All-District III Women's Track & Field/Cross Country Team.
-
Local runners dominate ‘Loop the Lake’ 5k at Georgia Veterans Park
On Saturday runners from several southern states converged on Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park in Cordele for a run to benefit the GraceWay Recovery Residence in Albany, Georgia. GraceWay is a non-profit, faith-based, long-term substance abuse/addiction treatment community for women, and the ‘Loop the Lake’ run around Lake Blackshear was organized to raise funds for this great cause.
-
Star Racing brings home a win from Englishtown
Sovereign-Star Racing’s Michael Ray claimed his second career victory in his first final round appearance of 2013 at the Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., this past weekend.
-
Hughes highlights postseason awards with All-State selection
Dillon Hughes made sure that he put an exclamation point on the end of a stellar baseball career at Southland Academy during his senior season. Hughes was recently selected to the 2013 GISA Class AAA All-State Team following a monster year, capping off postseason honors that included three All-Region 3-AAA selections and two Region 3-AAA Honorable Mention selections.
- More Local Sports Headlines
-
