Thursday, October 26, 2006

Ten Days of A-Sun Basketball returns to the Sunshine State with a focus on the UNF Ospreys. The University of North Florida men's basketball team won't start from scratch in 2006-07, but the Ospreys will have plenty of new faces. With only two starters and six letterwinners returning from a year ago - the program's first at the Division I level - the Ospreys will welcome a cast of talented newcomers to the mix this season while trying to navigate through the most challenging schedule in school history.

Coach Matt Kilcullen on the Ospreys

Team Page

Roster

Schedule

Statistics

SEASON PREVIEW - (Courtesy UNF Media Relations)

A year ago, the Ospreys finished 6-22 overall and 3-17 in the Atlantic Sun Conference, ahead of cross-town rival Jacksonville University in the final conference standings. The team's won-loss record didn't provide all of the answers - or the measure of success that the Ospreys had hoped - but the squad improved as the season progressed and grew into the Division I competition as it went.

Close calls became a pattern for the Ospreys, who trailed by seven points or less in the final 10 minutes 13 times - only to fall short - and lost nine conference games by eight points or less. The Ospreys lost six games by five points or less during the year. The hope by UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen is that those experiences will pay dividends in UNF's second Division I season.

Junior point guard Chris Timberlake and senior forward Rashad Williams form a solid nucleus around which the squad will be built in 2006-07. Both will contend for all-conference honors this year while attempting to duplicate their production from a year ago. Timberlake led the squad in 3-pointers made and attempted (56-of-142) and finished second in 3-point field goal percentage (.394) in 2005-06, while Williams led the squad in field goal percentage (.552) and finished second in scoring (15.6 points per game).

Gone, however, is team's leading scorer and playmaker - graduated senior and All-Atlantic Sun forward Alain Laroche, who led the squad in scoring (18.2 ppg) and led the A-Sun in rebounding (9.2 per game).

In an effort to replace Laroche's scoring ability and to bulk up inside, the Ospreys hit the junior college ranks during the offseason and brought in a pair of big bodies to strengthen the team's interior defense and rebounding efforts. Junior college forwards Gallo Cham (6-7, Central Florida CC) and Arnold Henry (6-7, Albert State CC) will add a more physical presence for UNF down low. They are among seven newcomers to the squad this year - joining freshman signee Germaine Sparkes and a pair of freshman walk-ons, forward Chip Polite and guard Richard Guadagnolo.

Read the full season preview

10 Days of A-Sun Basketball Schedule
Oct. 16 - Belmont
Oct. 17 - Campbell
Oct. 18 - ETSU
Oct. 19 - Gardner-Webb
Oct. 20 - Jacksonville
Oct. 23 - Kennesaw State
Oct. 24 - Lipscomb
Oct. 25 - Mercer
Oct. 26 - UNF
Oct. 27 - Stetson