Basketball Time: Benson, Eagles open practice Saturday morning
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The practices and work start for real for the Carson-Newman College men’s basketball team this weekend. After an offseason that brought eight new players to Mossy Creek, the Eagles begin their first official week of regular practices Saturday, Oct. 15 at Holt Field House.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The practices and work start for real for the Carson-Newman College men's basketball team this weekend. After an offseason that brought eight new players to Mossy Creek, the Eagles begin their first official week of regular practices Saturday, Oct. 15 at Holt Field House.
For second-year head coach Chuck Benson, it's been a long road to this point since being officially handed the Eagle program last summer. Finally, though, the former Carson-Newman graduate feels like he has his guys.
"We have a much different squad than we had last year," Benson said. "We've got eight veterans and we've got eight new guys. In some ways, this is where we should have been a year ago. Now we get to start the process. It's going to be a long process."
C-N, and the rest of college basketball, will benefit from a change in the NCAA Division II rules that allowed full team practices for two hours per week through the fall. In previous years the two hours of practice time had to be split up, with no more than four players participating at a time.
Benson and his staff split the time up in four 30-minute segments preparing his men early so they could go live Saturday.
"You can't get a lot done in 30 minutes," Benson said. "But at least it's an introductory period."
C-N brings back its leading scorer from last year, sophomore Ishmael Sanders (Cleveland, Tenn.). Sanders averaged over 13 points per game last season and set a new South Atlantic Conference record with 51 points against Mars Hill on Feb. 16.
"Ish had a great freshman year," Benson said. "He's got great experience. Because he was new last year he caught some people off guard. This year he'll be a major focal point of our opponents."
Senior Kevin Hare (Lexington, S.C.) returns for his final season with the Eagles. Hare was healthy last season and made the most of it, knocking down 4.4 rebounds per game and averaging nearly 10 points.
"He (Hare) is mentally and physically our most mature and confident guy in the program," Benson said. "He's seen it all the ups and downs since he's been here."
Louisburg Community College has supplied C-N with two new weapons on the hardwood. Junior guard Marcellous Perez (Jacksonville, N.C.) will see a lot of action early for the Eagles.
"If we played tonight he (Perez) would start for us at the point," Benson said. "He's very quick with the ball and he's not turnover prone and can shoot the basketball."
To compliment Sanders as a shooter, Benson has brought in Perez's teammate, sophomore forward Antoine Davis (Rustburg, Va.). Davis, at 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds is a physical shooter that isn't afraid to mix it up in the paint.
"He (Davis) shoots it as good as Ish does," Benson said. "Because of his size, he can drive, score in between. He can block and he can post-up and score."
Carson-Newman has less than a month to get ready for its first regular season game. The Eagles open their exhibition schedule on Nov. 3 against the University of Tennessee at Thompson Boling Arena at 7:30 p.m.
The games that count for C-N begin on Nov. 11 when the Eagles travel to Tex Turner Arena on the Lincoln Memorial campus to take on King College in the SAC/Conference Carolina Challenge. C-N's home opener is Nov. 18 when they host Cincinnati Christian College in the Dick Campbell Memorial Classic.
