AMERICUS —
Auburn’s not on the schedule, so the Peach Belt Conference slate will have to do.
Georgia Southwestern will play half of its 26 games at home, including seven of its final 10 conference games at the Storm Dome in the 2011-12 season.
The Hurricanes finished 20-9 last season, winning the Western Division with a 12-5 mark. They finished the year 5-5 over their last 10, dropping their final two games in the PBC semis and the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Coach Mike Leeder said it will be harder to notch a higher win total this season.
“We certainly played our best basketball in January,” he said. “We have to find a way next year to sustain it over the last month. After the first week of February, we really struggled down the stretch and played OK. We have to play like we did in January all year long. We hope to take the next step. I told the guys when it was over that it’s easier to go from 7-20 to 20 wins than 20 to 23 or 24 wins. That’s a much more difficult step.”
GSW will play its nine non-conference games before the new year. It opens the year at home on Nov. 15 with Trinity Baptist, and the Hurricanes will play Fort Valley State and Clearwater. They will play a home-and-home with West Florida and play four games at neutral sites against North Alabama and West Alabama (at Montevallo) and Lenoir-Rhyne and Coastal Georgia (at Lander).
Coastal is leaving the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association for the NAIA.
“I think our league is so good that we’ve got to be careful to not overextend ourself in non-conference,” said Leeder. “Traditionally, North Alabama has been in the Elite 8 over the last three or four years, and this is the first year we play West Florida. I think our non-conference schedule is OK. It’s not overpowering, but I think it will have us prepared for the Peach Belt.”
The Hurricanes played Auburn in the regular season last year, but Leeder said they couldn’t find any takers this time. They contacted between 20 and 30 schools, including Auburn, Georgia and Georgia Tech.
But that’s fine with Leeder.
“If we’re competitive in conference play, we’ll be competitive on a national level,” he said. “We had three teams ranked in the top 10 at one point last season.”
GSW plays two division games early, at Montevallo on Dec. 3 and at Clayton State on Dec. 14. It didn’t play a conference game until after Christmas last season.
The Hurricanes have two sets of two road games, and they have three home slates of two, three and three games.
They do travel to Augusta State and host Francis Marion and UNC Pembroke again.
“You wish it could be a little more balanced,” said Leeder. “I know with 17 teams, it’s hard. I’d like to think in a perfect world it would be Augusta’s turn to come here, and I’m sure Pembroke and Francis Marion feel the same way about getting us up there.
“If we can weather the storm early on the road in conference, anyone would take seven out of the final 10 at home. I think that was one of the things that caught up with us, traveling so much in February.”
Young Harris was accepted into the NCAA probationary period last week, and it’s working toward membership into the Peach Belt, making it an even 18 teams.
GSW lost two players off last year’s team — Trayce Macon and Talmadge Bell. Macon graduated, finishing the year as the team’s third-leading scorer and a Second Team All-Conference pick. Bell is out because of academics.
The Hurricanes will have Ian Andre (6-8, 235) and Will Kenimer (6-7, 210) after red-shirting last year, as well as new signees Milos Kleut (6-10, 225) from Lipscomb and Marlon Rivera (6-2, 210) from Florida Gulf Coast.
Leeder believes they should be considered one of the favorites in the PBC, returning Phillip Brown (PBC Player of the Year) and Colin Slotter (PBC Freshman of the Year).
“We have a lot coming back, and I think just based on paper, I think we have as good of a corps group coming back statistically in the league,” he said. “Clayton State really made a statement picking up four Division-I transfers. Montevallo will always be good, and Augusta State has always been good. A team like USC Aiken, the teams usually up at the top will still be there. I think we can include ourselves in that conversation now.”
Exhibition games will be released at a later date.
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Phillip Brown and the Georgia Southwestern Hurricanes look to repeat as the Peach Belt Western Division champions. GSW has no big-name opponents on the schedule in 2011-12 other than conference games. Chris Fenn/GSW Sports Information
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