Thursday, September 24, 2009

MACON, Ga. - Preseason basketball publications have hit the newsstands and several Atlantic Sun hoop stars and coaches have earned special recognition.

In the 2009-10 Athlon Sports College Basketball Preview Edition, the A-Sun's last two Coaches of the Year, Belmont's Rick Byrd and Jacksonville's Cliff Warren, landed on the publication's Top 10 `Under the Radar Coaches'.

The publication also listed five among the "Top 40 Non-Major" players. Campbell's Jonathan Rodriguez and Mercer's James Florence rank seventh and eighth. The A-Sun and the Big South (Radford's Artsiom Parakhouski and Coastal Carolina's Joseph Harris) are the only two conference with multiple players in the top 10. Further down the list, ETSU's Mike Smith played 25th, Mercer's Daniel Emerson landed 27th and Jacksonville's Ben Smith took 35th.

From ESPN.com's Best of the Rest ShootAround, ESPN analyst By Fran Fraschilla listed his 10 Players To Keep An Eye On:

James Florence, Mercer: This 6-1 senior from Atlanta has something in common with current NBA players Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. As freshmen three years ago, they all led their conferences in scoring. Florence is still around and is easily on his way to 2,000 points this season. And while he has done most of his damage in the lightly regarded Atlantic Sun, he has saved some of his best performances as a Bear for wins over USC, Alabama and Auburn.