Southern Arkansas

ASU MEN’S BASKETBALL
Anthony Reynolds
Assistant Sports Information Director
2008-09 ASU Men’s Basketball Schedule
Date
Opponent
Nov. 10
Southern Arkansas (Exh.)
Nov. 17
Lyon College
Nov. 25
at Tennessee-Martin
Nov. 3
Nov. 14
Nov. 19
Nov. 29
Dec. 1
Henderson State (Exh.)
at Mississippi
Murray State
at Ball State
at Indiana State
Time/Result
93-46 (W)
7:05 p.m.
7 p.m.
7:05 p.m.
7:05 p.m.
7 p.m.
1 p.m.
6 p.m.
Dec. 4
Central Baptist College
7:05 p.m.
Dec. 15
Mississippi Valley State
7:05 p.m.
Dec. 6
at Missouri State
7:05 p.m.
Dec. 18
Florida International*
7:05 p.m.
Dec. 23
Southeast Missouri State
7:05 p.m.
Jan. 3
New Orleans*
7:05 p.m.
Dec. 20
Dec. 29
at UALR*
at Oklahoma State
Jan 8
at Denver*
Jan 15
Louisiana-Monroe*
Jan 10
at North Texas*
7 p.m.
7 p.m.
8 p.m.
7 p.m.
7:05 p.m.
Jan 17
South Alabama*
7:05 p.m.
Jan. 24
Florida Atlantic*
7:05 p.m.
Feb. 5
at Troy*
Jan. 22
Jan. 29
at Middle Tennessee*
Western Kentucky
Feb. 7
at Florida International*
Feb. 14
at Louisiana-Lafayette*
Feb. 21
Denver*
Feb. 12
Feb. 19
UALR*
at New Orleans*
Feb. 26
North Texas*
Mar. 04
SBC Tournament Round 1@
SBC Tournament#
Feb. 28
Mar. 7-10
at Louisiana-Monroe*
7 p.m.
7:05 p.m.
7:05 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
7:05 p.m.
7:05 p.m.
7 p.m.
7:05 p.m.
7:05 p.m.
7 p.m.
TBA
TBA
@ - At On-Campus Sites
# - At Hot Springs, Arkansas
* Sun Belt Conference Game
All Times Central Time
Arkansas State Quick Facts
Location: Jonesboro, Arkansas
Enrollment: 11,490
Nickname: Red Wolves
Colors: Scarlet and Black
Arena: ASU Convocation Center (10,727)
Conference: Sun Belt
Head Coach: John Brady
Overall Record: 281-216 (17 Seasons)
Record at ASU: First year
2008-09 ASU Men’s Basketball
areynolds@astate.edu
870-972-3547
870-530-4454(cell)
870-972-3367 fax
Exhibition Game vs. Southern Arkansas
Novermber 10
Jonesboro, Arkansas
TIPPING IT OFF: The Arkansas State
men’s basketball team will complete the
exhibition portion of its season when they
face Southern Arkansas Monday (Nov. 10)
at the ASU Convocation Center. The Red
Wolves beat Henderson State in its exhibition opener on Nov. 3, 93-46.
THE SEASON: The Red Wolves open
the 82nd season of ASU men’s basketball
Nov. 14 when Arkansas State travels to Ole
Miss for a 7 p.m. matchup. ASU opens its
14-game home schedule on Nov. 17 when it
hosts Lyon College in a 7:05 p.m. contest at
the ASU Convocation Center.
SERIES VERSUS SOUTHERN
ARKANSAS: This will mark the first
meeting between ASU and Southern
Arkansas on the hardwood.
ASU OPENS AT OLE MISS: ASU’s
opener at Ole Miss on Nov. 14 marks the
fifth time in ten years that ASU has opened
its regular season on the road. The last time
ASU faced Ole Miss as its season opener was
in the 2003-04 season. ASU won that meeting 74-69.
HENDERSON STATE EXHIBITION:
Arkansas State never trailed against
Henderson State as senior forward Shawn
Morgan led the Red Wolves balanced attack
with 19 points and was a perfect 6-6 from
the field and 7-10 from the free throw line
with three steals as ASU won its men’s basketball exhibition opener, 93-46 last
Monday at the ASU Convocation Center.
All 10 ASU players that saw action scored
three or more points in the contest. Senior
Yima Chia-Kur added 16 points and a block,
while senior Ifeanyi Koggu added 15 points
with five rebounds and junior Donald Boone
added 11 points with a block to round out
the Red Wolves double-digit scorers. ASU
shot 49 percent from the floor and was 6-17
(35 percent) from the three-point line.
Junior transfer JeJuan Brown led the Red
Wolves with nine rebounds, while scoring
four points. Morgan and sophomore Jeremy
Thomas each pulled down eight rebounds,
while senior P.J. Keaton had five.
ASU came out slowly before building a 19
1
ASU Convocation Center
point lead at the half, 39-20. The Red
Wolves shot 47 percent from the floor in the
first half, connecting on 14 of their 30 total
shots. ASU continued their momentum in
the second half, scoring 54 points and connecting on 51 percent of their shots.
Much improved from last season was ASU’s
assist-turnover ratio, which was 18-8
against the Reddies. The Red Wolves forced
Henderson State into 20 turnovers, which
ASU converted into 26 points, while holding the Reddies to 35 percent shooting and
17 percent from behind the arc.
Martin Mitchell was the only player to net
double-digits for the Reddies, scoring 10
points on 5-12 shooting.
The Red Wolves committed just six fouls,
four of which came in the second half, while
the Reddies had two players foul out and
committed 25 total fouls.
Nine of Morgan’s 19 points came late in the
second half when senior Larry Handy started a 14-0 run for the Red Wolves. The run
was the best of the game for the Red Wolves
who had four different players score during
the minute and a half stretch.
ASU won the battle in the lane, scoring 36
points in the paint and outrebounding
Henderson State 48-31.
PRESEASON COACHES POLL: ASU
has been tabbed to finish fourth in the West
Division of the Sun Belt Conference by the
SBC Preseason Coaches’ Poll announced by
the league office at the SBC Basketball TipOff.
“I’ve never put a lot of stock in preseason
polls; most of the polling is based on what
you did the year before. It is a position better than where the team finished a year ago,
but the reality of it is it isn’t really where
you start its how you finish,” said ASU head
coach John Brady. “I anticipate our team
playing its best basketball in February and
the first of March.”
UALR was picked to finish in a tie with
North Texas for the top spot in the West
AstateRedWolves.com
Final Regular Season
2007-08 Sun Belt
Standings
West Division Conf.
W-L Pct.
UALR
11-7 .611
ULL
11-7 .611
N. Texas
10-8 .556
New Orleans 8-10 .444
Denver
7-11 .389
ASU
5-13 .278
ULM
4-14 .222
East Division
WKU
USA
MTSU
FAU
FIU
Troy
Overall
W-L Pct.
20-11 .645
15-15 .500
20-11 .645
19-13 .594
11-19 .367
10-20 .333
10-21 .323
Conf.
Overall
W-L Pct. W-L Pct.
16-2 .889 29-7 .806
16-2 .889 26-7 .788
11-7 .611 17-15 .531
8-10 .444 15-18 .455
6-12 .333 9-20 .310
4-14 .222 12-19 .387
Preseason All-Sun Belt
First Team
Carlos Monroe, FAU
Russell Hicks, FIU
Desmond Yates, MT
Josh White, NT
Brandon Davis, USA
Second Team
Tony Hooper, ULM
Kevin Kanaskie, MT
Collin Dennis, NT
Domonic Tilford, USA
Jeremy Evans, WKU
Third Team
Steven Moore, UALR
Paul Graham III, FAU
Chris Gradnigo, ULL
Kyndall Dykes, UNO
A.J. Slaughter, WKU
Preseason Player of the Year
Desmond Yates, MT
Preseason Coaches Poll
West Division
1. UALR (6)
2. North Texas (4)
3. Louisiana-Lafayette (3)
4. Arkansas State
5. Louisiana-Monroe
6. Denver
7. New Orleans
East Division
1. Middle Tennessee (11)
2. South Alabama (2)
3. Western Kentucky
4. Florida Atlantic
5. Florida International
6. Troy
Points
76
75
75
43
39
35
20
Points
76
60
52
38
33
14
2008-09 ASU Men’s Basketball
Division, each receiving 76 points. The
Trojans received six first-place votes while
the Mean Green got four first-place nods.
Louisiana-Lafayette was picked third, followed by the Red Wolves, LouisianaMonroe was tabbed sixth with Denver and
New Orleans coming in sixth and seventh,
respectively.
Middle Tennessee was picked atop the East
Division with 11 first-place votes, followed
by South Alabama, which netted the other
two first place votes. Reigning league champion Western Kentucky was picked third
with Florida Atlantic (fourth), Florida
International (fifth) and Troy (sixth) rounding out the poll.
Desmond Yates from Middle Tennessee was
voted the SBC Preseason Player of the Year
and was joined by Carlos Monroe from
FAU, Russell Hicks from FIU, Josh White
from North Texas and Brandon Davis from
South Alabama on the Preseason All-SBC
first team.
ASU’S BROWN NAMED BLUE RIBBON SBC NEWCOMER OF YEAR:
Arkansas State junior forward and Los
Angeles Southwest College transfer JeJuan
Brown has been tabbed the Preseason Sun
Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year by
Blue Ribbon publications.
Along with forward Eric McKinney, Brown
was announced as new ASU Head Coach
John Brady’s first signee at Arkansas State
on April 25. Brown transferred from
Vanderbilt to LASC for his sophomore season, where he averaged 17 points and seven
rebounds. He helped lead the Cougars to a
23-9 record and the South Coast
Conference regular-season title and was
named a first team all-conference selection
in 2007-08.
“We are excited about the possibilities
JeJuan brings to our team,” said Brady.
“We feel he will be an outstanding player for
us.”
The Biloxi, Miss. native originally signed
with Vanderbilt out of high school, playing
in all 34 games as a true freshman on a team
that advanced to the Sweet 16. Brown averaged 3.1 points and 2.5 rebounds in 13.3
minutes per game during his lone season
with the Commodores, while scoring his
SEC-high nine points on 4-of-6 shooting
with four rebounds and two assists at South
Carolina. He posted season highs of 10
points (twice) and eight rebounds and finished the 2006-07 campaign with a .511
(48-of-94) shooting percentage.
Brown finished his prep career as an allstate and all-district selection at Biloxi High
School and was a Rivals.com national top
150 (No. 121) ranked player in the class of
2006. He was ranked as the 26th-best
small forward in the nation by Rivals.com
as well. He was named the Sun Herald Gulf
Coast Player of the Year after averaging 18
points, 10 rebounds, four blocked shots and
three assists as a senior. He helped lead
Biloxi to four District 8 titles from 2003-06
and graduated with honors as a Mississippi
Scholar.
2
FINN SIDELINED 6-8 WEEKS: ASU
head men’s basketball coach John Brady
has disclosed that the Red Wolves will be
without the services of freshman Trey Finn
for the beginning of the season and possibly
longer due to a foot injury he sustained during a conditioning workout this past week.
“It is unfortunate that Trey has had this
injury occur. He was making real progress
in his preparation for the beginning of practice and I was excited about the possibilities
he would bring to the team,” said ASU head
coach John Brady. “We have talked with the
doctors, trainers, and of course his parents
and will make a determination on his freshman year once he is completely healed.
Whichever decision is made, Trey will have
an excellent career at Arkansas State.”
Finn will be out 6-8 weeks and the Red
Wolves are looking at the possibility of redshirting the freshman standout that joined
the Red Wolves from Parkview High School
in Little Rock.
At Parkview, Finn earned AHSAA Class 6A
All-State honors in 2007-08. He also led
Parkview to the state semifinals and was
named to the All-Tournament team as a
senior.
THE RED WOLVES AT HOME: Over
the 21 years that ASU has competed in the
ASU Convocation Center, the Red Wolves
have compiled a 204-78 record (.723).
Arkansas State has gone undefeated twice
during a single season at the Convocation
Center; they were a perfect 14-0 in 1988-89
and went 13-0 in 1990-91.
CHANGES AT THE CONVO: During
the offseason, the Clopton Clinic Strength
and Conditioning room was unveiled at a
ceremony in the Convocation Center. The
strength and conditioning room used by the
Red Wolves features new weights, lighting,
floor and wall coverings and entrance
doors. Also completed during the offseason
was the resurfacing and repainting of the
Convocation Center playing court. The
court now features the new Red Wolves
logo and a large “stAte” logo at center court.
HEAD COACH JOHN BRADY: With a
Final Four appearance and 281 career victories already to his credit, John Brady was
announced as Arkansas State’s 15th head
men’s basketball coach by Director of
Athletics Dr. Dean Lee at a press conference
on March 18 held in ASU’s Convocation
Center.
Brady spent the last 10-plus seasons serving
as LSU’s head coach, leading the Tigers to
six postseason berths, two SEC championships and three SEC Western Division
titles. Twice named the SEC Coach of the
Year, Brady is a proven winner who brings
a well-documented record of success and a
long list of accomplishments with him to
Arkansas State.
Brady’s 16-year tenure as a head coach at
both LSU and Samford in Birmingham,
Alabama, has been decorated with achievements. He has coached a combined 25 All-
THIS IS ASU BASKETBALL
Athletic Media Relations
Arkansas State University
PO Box 1000
State University, AR 72467
Telephone - 870-972-2541
Fax - 870-972-3367
Press Row - 870-972-2541
Website - AStateRedWolves.com
MBB Contact - Anthony Reynolds,
Asst. SID
870-972-3547 / areynolds@astate.edu
Jerry Scott, Asst. A.D./ Sports Info. Dir.
870-972-3405 jscott@astate.edu
Van Provence, Asst. SID
870-972-2547 / vprovence@astate.edu
Kelly Goodman, Graduate Asst.
kelly.goodman@smail.astate.edu
MEDIA INFORMATION
Credentials
Working press credentials can be requested by contacting Anthony Reynolds at
870-972-3547,
or
by
email
at
areynolds@astate.edu. Full-season and
single-game credentials will be mailed
whenever possible. If not, they will be left
at the Media Will Call table located on the
lower level to the left of the green
entrance.
Media Room
Enter the media room from the lower
level, beneath the blue portal. Please do
not attempt to access the media room
from the entrance beneath the yellow
portal.
Post-Game Interviews
The Arkansas State locker room is closed
to all members of the media. Head coach
John Brady and requested assistant
coaches and players will be available for
interviews following a brief cooling off
period. At ASU’s home games, all postgame coach and player interviews will be
conducted in the media room.
Practice Coverage
Red Wolves men’s basketball practices
are open to the media. Players and coaches are available for interviews following
practice. When possible, please contact
the Sports Information office prior to
practice to arrange interviews.
Basketball Releases
All Red Wolves basketball releases can be
obtained as a PDF document on the athletics website at AStateRedWolves.com.
To be added to the email broadcast for
basketball releases, contact Anthony
Reynolds in the Sports Information
office.
2008-09 ASU Men’s Basketball
TAAC and SEC selections, 48 academic allconference choices, posted 11 winning seasons and collected five division championships. Brady piled up the third most wins
in LSU history with 192 and left Samford
after the 1996-97 season as the Bulldog’s
all-time leader in coaching victories (89) as
well.
He quickly turned around an LSU’s men’s
basketball program that had suffered four
consecutive losing seasons prior to his
arrival, leading the Tigers to a 28-6 record,
an SEC championship and an NCAA Sweet
16 appearance in just his third season
(1999-00) at the helm. Under Brady’s
direction, the Tigers recorded six consecutive winning seasons from 2001-02 to
2006-07 while making three trips to the
NCAA Tournament and two more to the
NIT. The 2005-06 campaign saw LSU post
a 27-9 record and advance to the Final Four
for the first time in 20 years.
Not only did Brady coach the Tigers to 23
wins versus ranked opponents, he also led
them to victories over two teams ranked No.
1 in the Associated Press Poll (Arizona in
2002-03 and Duke in 2005-06).
Additionally, he orchestrated a 19-game
home winning streak over SEC opponents,
the third longest stretch in LSU history.
While at LSU, Brady coached two NBA
Lottery picks and six current NBA players.
The Tigers signed nine Parade AllAmericans and four McDonald AllAmericans under Brady, who also coached
three SEC Players of the Year, four players
named SEC Freshman of the Year, one SEC
Scholar-Athlete of the Year and 17 All-SEC
selections.
Prior to taking over the reigns at LSU,
Brady served as Samford’s head coach from
1991-92 through 1996-97. It didn’t take
long for him to turn around a Samford program coming off six straight losing seasons,
either, guiding the Bulldogs to a 17-10
record in his second season. He led
Samford to three straight winning seasons
(1995-97) for the first time since 1982-84,
all leading up to a 19-9 record and division
title in 1997. Samford won the TAAC West
Division each of Brady’s final two seasons at
the school for the first time in school history.
His four winning campaigns at Samford
were the first for any coach at the school,
and he led the Bulldogs to an 89-77 record
after they went 27-83 the four seasons prior
to his initial year. He coached eight AllTAAC and 14 Academic All-TAAC players
over six seasons.
The McComb, Miss., native earned his
bachelor’s degree in 1976 from Belhaven
College, where he was three-year starter
and scored over 1,000 points during his college playing career. Brady was a two-time
All-Southern States Conference selection
and was later inducted into his alma mater’s
Hall of Fame.
He got his coaching start as a graduate
assistant with the Mississippi State men’s
basketball program while earning his master’s degree from 1976-77. Brady took his
3
first head coaching position in Louisiana at
Crowley High School in 1977 and led the
basketball squad to a 129-49 (.725) record
in five seasons. He was named the 1981
Louisiana Sports Writers Association Class
3-A Coach of the Year.
Brady returned to the college coaching
ranks in 1982 as an assistant coach at
Mississippi State. He spent the next eight
years with the Bulldogs, the first four seasons under coach Bob Hoyt and the next
four as a chief recruiter for coach Richard
Williams.
Following his tenure in
Starkville, Brady returned to Louisiana for
the second time, this time to serve as an
assistant coach at the University of New
Orleans. Brady helped lead UNO to the
NCAA Tournament during his only season
with the Privateers.
ASU’S DOLLAR NAMED TOP-10
MID-MAJOR ASSISTANTS IN
NATION: Fox Sports recently polled head
coaches, assistants and others who deal
with assistants on a daily basis to get their
take on who should be included among the
nation’s elite assistant basketball coaches
and Arkansas State associate head coach
Chad Dollar was included among the top-10
mid-major coaches receiving votes.
The article, written by FOXSports.com senior college basketball writer Jeff Goodman,
stated Fox Sports wanted to “target the guys
that instill a level of fear into their colleagues when they stroll into the gym”.
The article included a few brief notes on
each coach and listed some of their “key
recruits”. Included among the key recruits
listed for Dollar were Jarvis Hayes and
Elton Nesbitt. Hayes was the Southern
Conference Freshman of the Year at
Western Carolina and Nesbitt the league’s
player of the year and an honorable mention All-America selection at Georgia
Southern.
AstateRedWolves.com
No.
2
3
5
10
11
13
20
22
23
24
31
32
33
34
Name
Trey Finn
Daniel Bryant
Jeremy Thomas
Brandon Ayers
Shawn Morgan
Martavius Adams*
Larry Handy
Ifeanyi Koggu
Donald Boone
Yima Chia-Kur
JeJuan Brown
Eric McKinney
Mike Lance
P.J. Keaton
Ht.
6-2
5-10
6-5
6-4
6-6
6-8
6-8
6-1
6-5
6-6
6-7
6-8
6-3
6-4
Wt.
205
170
195
175
215
255
262
185
205
225
232
235
185
180
Yr.
Fr.
Fr.
So.
So.
Sr.
So.
Sr.
Sr.
Jr.
Sr.
Jr.
Jr.
Jr.
Sr.
Pos.
G
G
F
F
F
F/C
F/C
G
G
F
F
F
G
G
Ex.
HS
HS
1L
1L
2L
TR
1L
1L
TR
1L
TR
TR
1L
1L
Hometown/Last School
Little Rock, Ark./Parkview
West Palm Beach, Fla./Patterson School
Jonesboro, Ark./Jonesboro
Holly Springs, Miss./Paris (TX) JC
Memphis, Tenn./NW Mississippi CC
Irwinton, Ga./Oklahoma State
Houston, Texas/Kilgore (TX) JC
Tyler, Texas/Tyler JC
Memphis, Tenn./SW Tennessee CC
South Mansfield, Ohio/Garden City (KS) CC
Biloxi, Miss./Los Angeles SW College
Waldo, Ark./Cowley (KS) College
Poplar Bluff, Mo./Three Rivers (MO) CC
Champaign, Ill./Lincoln (IL) College
Head Coach: John Brady
Associate Head Coach: Chad Dollar
Assistant Coaches: Jeff Clapacs, Elwyn McRoy
2008-09 Red Wolves Men’s Basketball
4
THIS IS ASU BASKETBALL
No.
1
2
3
4
5
10
15
20
21
23
24
25
32
34
55
Name
Charles Moore
Rico Lambert
David Noble
Jermydrell Burton
Chase Helm
Zach Prothro
Tony James
Cory Clark
Justin Stuart
Sanchez Dade
Channin Harden
Courtney Rhodes
Reggie Rasmus
David Verwers
Casey Cheshier
Pos.
F
G
G
F
G
G
G
G
F
G
G
F
C
C
F
Cl.
SR
FR
SO
JR
FR
FR
JR
R-FR
SO
JR
SO
FR
FR
SO
FR
Ht.
6-6
6-1
6-3
6-9
6-0
6-3
5-11
6-4
6-4
6-3
6-3
6-5
6-7
6-11
6-5
Wt.
215
175
190
190
175
190
165
195
205
180
190
195
220
240
210
Hometown / Previous School
St. Louis, MO / Tennessee Tech University
Waldo, AR / Magnolia HS
Mansfield, TX / Mansfield HS
New Orleans, LA / Western Texas College
Mt. Holly, AR / Columbia Christian HS
Rose Bud, AR / Rose Bud HS
Bossier City, LA / Bossier Parish (La.) CC
Alba, TX / Alba-Golden HS
Hope, AR / Hope HS
El Dorado, AR / North Arkansas College
Marianna, AR / Lee HS
Hope, AR / Hope HS
Missouri City, TX / Marshall HS
Weatherford, TX / Homeschool
Frisco, TX / Frisco HS
Head Coach: Eric Bozeman
Assistant Coach: Anthony Walker
2008-09 Red Wolves Men’s Basketball
5
THIS IS ASU BASKETBALL