Monday, November 10, 2008

11 Days of A-Sun Men's Basketball returns to the River City for a second stop, this time to preview the UNF Ospreys. The Ospreys enter the final year of the reclassifying period looking to surprise the experts.

Both the A-Sun coaches and the media picked the Ospreys in the bottom of the conference, but pieces are in place for UNF to move up the standings, highlighted by six newcomers.

Among the returns is junior guard Stan Januska. Last year, he suffered a broken foot in October and missed the team’s f rst 10 games, but upon his return, he scored in double figures in 11 of 18 games, including four of the final five games of the season.

 

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2008-09 UNF Ospreys

Coach Matt Kilcullen on the Bears

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2007-08 Statistics

 

SEASON PREVIEW - (Courtesy UNF Media Relations)

Numbers don’t tell the whole story for the University of North Florida basketball team. And the past three seasons in UNF’s march toward full NCAA Division I classification have been full of some numbers the Ospreys would like to forget, and some they will hold onto and learn from as they move forward.

But the past is just that, and it won’t count against UNF when it steps on the court for the first time on Nov. 16 at Savannah State and it won’t help any of the 10 teams that were picked to finish ahead of the Ospreys in this year’s Atlantic Sun Conference preseason polls.

“There were glimpses of hope last year,” Kilcullen said. “We could have won six conference games. There were eight games where we had a chance to win in the last minute of play and didn’t win. Two years ago we had two overtime losses, but weren’t as close in a lot of our losses. Last year four of our games went to overtime and we had a lot more opportunities to win games. So that was encouraging.”

With the Ospreys getting and closer and closer to putting more marks in the win column, there is one obvious theme heading into the 2008-09 season.

“We need to learn how to finish,” Kilcullen said. “If we put ourselves in position to win games, we need to finish.”

No team can finish anything without a starting line and for UNF that is its contest at Savannah State that will get the season rolling before the Ospreys play a trio of games in Provo, Utah at the BYU Travelers Invitational. The trip to Utah, will be the furthest west the team has traveled under Kilcullen and will feature a first-round game with a BYU squad that made the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament last season.

The game against the Cougars will be the first of five matchups against teams that made the tournament in 2008. Four of those will come on the road with the Ospreys making stops at ACC foes Clemson (Dec. 16) and Miami (Dec. 31) and a home-and-home series against 2007-08 Atlantic Sun champion Belmont providing the other two matchups with tournament teams.

The Ospreys will see plenty of the road early in the season, playing their first five games away from UNF Arena and eight of their non-conference games away from home.

“The BYU tournament will give us an early indication of where we are,” Kilcullen said. “It’s good to get away with the team. With our first five games on the road, we are going to get tested early.”

Conference play opens for the Ospreys in December this year and no it’s no easy task with UNF welcoming Lipscomb (Dec. 4) and two-time defending A-Sun champion Belmont (Dec. 6) to town.

Palm Beach Atlantic (Dec. 20) and IPFW (Dec. 28) provide UNF its only two non-conference home games, while trips to Charleston Southern (Nov. 28) and Furman (Dec. 18) round out the non-conference schedule.

“We have tried to balance our schedule and next year the schedule will be in our favor with more home contests,” Kilcullen said. “We are playing teams from high profile conferences on the road this year and also playing teams in mid-major conferences similar to ours.”

A strong non-conference schedule will help prepare the Ospreys for a conference slate that includes 20 games this season.

The beginning of 2009 takes UNF to a pair of games at USC Upstate (Jan. 3) and East Tennessee State (Jan. 5) before the team returns home for three-straight A-Sun contests. The first SunTrust River City Rumble matchup with cross-town rival Jacksonville caps that homestand and a stretch that will see UNF take on the top four picks in the A-Sun preseason polls – Belmont, East Tennessee State, Jacksonville and Lipscomb -- in their first seven league contests.

UNF makes a return trip to JU – where it forced the Dolphins to overtime last season – on Feb. 12.

The Ospreys will make their only scheduled TV appearance of the season on CSS at Florida Gulf Coast on Jan. 23. A return trip by FGCU (Feb. 19) followed by a matchup with Stetson (Feb. 21) round out the home slate for UNF before the team heads to Nashville to close the season with contests at Belmont (Feb. 26) and Lipscomb (Feb. 28).

GUARD

With the addition of six newcomers this season, five of which are freshmen, Kilcullen’s squad will have plenty of depth at all spots on the floor. But he will be counting on a senior to lead that group and take charge each time the team brings the ball down the court. Jacksonville native Cortez Riley will get the first crack this season at replacing departed four-year starter Chris Timberlake, who is now playing professionally in the Philippines.

Riley has progressed every year with the Ospreys since joining the team as a walk-on four years ago and is now poised to take on a full-time starter role as a senior. Riley started a pair of contests last season, averaging 6.8 points and 2.0 assists per contest, and saw plenty of action, particularly in late game pressure situations.

“Cortez has done a tremendous job not only on the court but also taking on a leadership role off the court,” Kilcullen said. “He has gotten better every year and the reason for that is because of his work ethic.”

That work ethic has certainly has not been lost on freshman Jordan Fair, who promises to see time at the point behind Riley this season. Fair is a prototypical point guard who knows how to run a team and will adjust quickly to the college game thanks to the high caliber of competition he played against at Oldsmar Christian High School in Oldsmar, Fla.

“With the addition of Jordan Fair we have strength and depth at the point guard position,” Kilcullen said. “Both he and Cortez have the ability to score in different ways.”

Germaine Sparkes ran the point at various times for the Ospreys last year, but will be looked upon to contribute more at shooting guard or on the wing this season.

Ian Gibson is another senior who will look to battle his way onto the court and contribute for the Ospreys after sitting most of last year with an injury. Gibson provides the Ospreys an instant spark, particularly on the defensive end, but will be looked upon for a little more offensive production this season.

Eni Cuka – a transfer from Florida Atlantic – and freshman Cameron Lovelace will both compete for time at shooting guard as the season progresses. Lovelave – a long-range bomber who can score in bunches from the outside – could have the early advantage in the competition because of the fact that Cuka will have to sit out until December because of NCAA transfer rules.

“We have competition at the shooting guard spot and when you have competition, that’s the best motivator,” Kilcullen said.

FORWARD

Stan Januska and Sparkes provide UNF with two of its most versatile players on the court and will each vie for time on the wing or could both make their way into the action at the same time.

Januska finished the season with a hot hand, scoring in double figures in four of his last five games and returns to this year’s team as the Ospreys’ leading scorer.

Sparkes has proven his versatility throughout his first two years in a UNF uniform and will look to help the Ospreys out on both sides of the floor this season. Thanks to his 6-6 size, the junior can provide plenty of matchup problems in the backcourt for opposing defenses with his ability to handle the ball, as well as contribute at shooting guard and small forward.

“When we have Germaine on the court, we are more flexible,” Kilcullen said.

Freshman Tyler Auerbacher will also throw his name into the mix at the small forward spot and will look to follow up on a career at Auburndale (Fla.) High School that saw him average 15 points per contest, hit 45 percent of his 3-point attempts and 136 long-range shots overall.

UNF’s frontcourt should show plenty of versatility in 2008-09 with the return of sophomores DeVon Jones and Justin Cecil at the power forward spot.

Jones worked his way into the starting lineup as a freshman last season and returns this season tied with Januska as the team’s leading rebounder, pulling down almost as many offensive rebounds (58) as defensive rebounds (62) last season.

Cecil is another sophomore who has versatility, with the ability to score inside or step out beyond the arc and knock down a 3-pointer.

“Cecil has the capability to be a tremendous player,” Kilcullen said. “We need him to stay healthy because he has the ability go inside and outside.”

Cecil missed 10 games last season because of injury, and if he does miss time this season, it could open the door for freshman Matt Sauey, who earned second team all-state laurels as a senior at Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala, Fla., to get more playing time.

CENTER

UNF will have two players in the post this season to replace the departed James Grimball, who left UNF as the team’s all-time leader in double-doubles.

Sophomore Kyle Groothuis will vie for time underneath and is expected to get a much bigger workload after seeing eight minutes of action per game last season.

Pressing him all the way will be freshman Zack Riggins, a versatile post player from Leavenworth, Kan., who played all five positions on the court in high school. Riggins averaged almost a double-double (11 points, eight rebounds) every night out in high school, but Kilcullen isn’t looking for any one person to replace the effort that Grimball gave the team on the scoring end and on the boards.

“It’s going to be more of a collective team effort for us this year as far as points and rebounds are concerned,” Kilcullen said.

11 Days of A-Sun Basketball Schedule
Oct. 29 - Belmont
Oct. 30 - Campbell
Oct. 31 - ETSU
Nov.  3 - FGCU
Nov.  4 - Jacksonville
Nov.  5 - Kennesaw State
Nov.  6 - Lipscomb
Nov.  7 - Mercer
Nov. 10 - UNF
Nov. 11 - USC Upstate
Nov. 12 - Stetson