Men's Basketball: Have we Improved & A Critical Look at Next Season

With last night's latest loss to VCU, I find myself asking "Are we better than the Mike Perry years?"

I know, the coaching seems better with Coach Barnes but let's look at the records:

Mike Perry
52-66 Overall
8-28 CAA
Signature OOC Win: at Auburn

Rod Barnes
30-55 Overall
16-31 CAA
Signature OOC Win: ?

2009-10 OOC Wins this season and RPI Rank as of 1/29/10:

Jacksonville - 134
Georgia Southern - 297
Howard - 309
Utah Valley - 337

Record wise, yes we are better.  Are we better equipped for CAA competition?  I say no.  We have only 2 impact players on this year's team in Joe Dukes and Trae Goldston.  That's not even close to enough.  The transfer experiment has worked miserably and we are averaging a little more than 61 ppg.  That would rank us 299th out of 334 Division 1 teams.  That's a huge problem.  We have played an awful OOC schedule (ranked 246th) and have 4 wins to show for it.

We will be hitching our wagons to 3 freshman next year.  We are staring at yet another losing season (our 7th straight) and I'm not sure how those who support the program cannot become apethitic.  With football grabbing the headlines, attention and financial support, Coach Barnes will not be in any danger this offseason.  Next year does not bring much hope as I'm not confident in the returning players.  If you can name me an impact player in the list below, I'll be very impressed.

Seniors:
Marques Johnson
Dante Curry

Juniors:
Jihad Ali
James Fields
Jamar Taylor

Sophmores:
James Vincent
Mi'Kyel Nero

Football Practice Site Update

The Eye in the Sky Don't Lie

As signing day draws near and the smell of spring practice less than two months away, construction continues on Georgia State's new football practice facility being built on MLK Drive, just a block and a half away from the GSU Sports Arena.


Within the last few weeks, sod was put down for the 60-yard grass field. The final pieces are being installed for the synthetic turf field which will be installed in the coming weeks, with plans of everything being set for the first day of spring practice, March 17th.

This is the second of four phases at the site as the Panthers prepare to begin play in 2010. Lights and the coaching tower were also installed recently.

The third phase is to build the field house, followed by the final phase, which will be to expand the field house to include a weight room and coaches offices.

Link: http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=204875194

Good Article & Video on the Expanded Weight Room

Brent McClendon putting work in

Georgia State student-athletes are now conducting their workouts in a brand new strength and conditioning facility in the GSU Sports Arena.


Located on the third floor of the Sports Arena adjacent to the arena floor, the new facility covers 5,500 square feet and is used by student-athletes in all sports.

Link: http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=204874862

Football grabs Rivals.com #10 FB Cole Moon

Georgia State got probably its most significant commitment since quarterback Drew [Little] agreed to sign on when Cole Moon pledged Sunday night to sign with the Panthers. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound fullback from St. Pius is rated a three-star prospect by Rivals.com.  In the end it came down to State and Georgia Southern for Moon, who wanted to play close to home. “I’m really excited about playing there,” Moon said Monday afternoon. “They have a great coaching staff and I know a lot of kids on the team. I had a couple of other offers but this is just a great situation.” Moon garnered recruiting interest from Purdue, Western Kentucky and Southern Miss and had offers from the service academies and Georgia Southern.

Rivals.com Link: http://rivals.yahoo.com/sectionsports/football/recruiting/player-Cole-Moon-73299

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI0IxHF4xL4

AJC Link: http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/2010/01/26/ten-at-10-georgia-state-nabs-one-of-its-best-recruits/?cxntfid=blogs_recruiting

We've now teamed with PantherTalk.com

Check out the two greatest forces of Georgia State Athletic Coverage melding into one.

Jump on board today!

Link: www.PantherTalk.com

Men's Basketball and Football have new Radio Home

"Our partnership with JW Broadcasting is an important step forward as we launch Georgia State football and grow our entire athletics program," said Director of Athletics Cheryl L. Levick. "This partnership will help us broaden our reach in the Atlanta market, and even more importantly, it gives us a starting point from which we can build a state-wide radio network."

Link: http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=204874272