With revamped roster, AU men hope to challenge for PBC title
By Nolan Turner | Sports writer
Augusta men’s basketball team is facing some challenges when getting ready for this upcoming season.
Indeed, Jaguar basketball, after losing the top three scorers from last season’s squad, is starting the season earlier than usual. Coach Dip Metress’s team will play its first exhibition on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at Gwinnett College. Tipoff is 6 p.m.
Another scrimmage will be at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., on Oct. 25. That one will be closed to the public.
The Jags will start the regular season on Nov. 1 and 2 in Lakeland, Fla., in the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic. There they will face off against Washburn University and Lubbock University, respectively. On Nov. 5, the final exhibition will be at Emory University in Atlanta.
That will be followed with the traditional leadoff weekend with AU playing the University of Mount Olive and Barton College in Wilson, N.C., on Nov. 14-15.
The Jaguars finished last season with a 19-11 overall record and 13-5 in conference play. They finished tied for second place with USC Aiken. Columbus State won the regular-season title and USCA the post-season conference tournament. Once again, AU made the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional, but the Jaguars were bumped out in the quarterfinals by Lenoir-Rhyne 94-79 in Columbus.
The AU men’s team will look a little different this season with six returning players and eight newcomers.
“We have a lot of question marks already,” Metress said. “Three of the top four returning players haven’t got to practice due to injury.”
Forward Elías Pálsson has been dealing with an ankle sprain, and guard TJ Baker has a lacerated kidney that will keep him out of action until December.
However, the Jags have lots of new talent between transfers and freshman.
“This will give lots of opportunities for the new guys, and a chance to play early on,” Metress said.
Metress doesn’t seem to be worried about the Jags’ basketball season because he knows he is going to have his players prepared.
Senior Evan Joyner is expected to take on the leadership role due to his experience. Before he transferred to AU two yeas ago, Joyner played at NCAA Division I N.C. A&T.
Joyner played in 27 of 30 games last season. He averaged 6.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
Pálsson is the top returning scorer. He averaged 7.4 points per contest. Palsson likes to drive and shot the 3-pointer. His point average should go up quite a bit this season.
Baker averaged 4.0 points per game and was second on the team in assists to John St. Germain III, who is now playing for D1 Holy Cross.
Luis Nonfon returns to play in the middle as the enforcer. Oliver Lucas, the 6-6 post player, will also help out in the middle. Two big men have been recruited in Matias Zanotto from Argentina and Daniel Daramola from Nigeria. They will attempt to fill the place of all-conference center Max Amadasun, who is now playing pro ball in Spain.
All of this means great opportunity for the newcomers.
“Four of the freshman are expected to play double-figure minutes this season,” Metress said.
Charlie McBeath, who is from Sydney, Australis, is a freshman who will potentially play a big part in the upcoming season. The 6-foot-5 McBeath has a nice shooting touch, and Metress talked about how hard he works in practice and his desire to get better.
“Charlie stands out, out of all the freshman,” Metress said.
Pálsson is also going to be a big part of the Jag’s offense and defense. He averaged 19 minutes per game last season.
McBeath and Pálsson’s scoring will be key as leading scorer Demitri Gardner transferred to D1 Fordham. Gardner was the 12th leading scorer in D2 last year at 23.2 points per game.
With Baker down, Rodney Scott, a freshman from Baltimore, has been playing point guard in practice. Tobias Prall from Trenton, N.J., has also shown good quickness at guard among the newcomers. Prall is a junior who transferred from Southeast Arkansas College, where he averaged 17.6 points per game.
Christenbery Fieldhouse was recently renovated, so the Jags are expected to have an enhanced home-court advantage this season.
Metress challenges the players to give it everything they have and work as hard as they can every day and see where this season takes them. Indeed, the Jaguars worked two-a-days during the Fall Pause in preparation for Tuesday night’s exhibition at Gwinnett.
Contact Nolan Turner at noturner@augusta.edu.
Evan Turner (O) is AU’s second leading scorer among returnees. His experience playing at the Division I level before he came to Augusta makes him one of Jaguars’ leaders on the floor this season. (photo by Lydia Williams/the Bell Ringer) At the top of the page, Dip Metress is in his 22nd season at AU and in his 30th season overall. He just needs 11 wins this season to reach the 600-win milestone for his career. (photo by Paula Toole/AU Athletics)
TJ Baker will be a leader from his guard position. The sophomore from Tallahassee, Fla., is not practicing right now due to a kidney injury. (photo by Lydia Williams/the Bell Ringer)
