The Climb
11/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 9, 2009
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - In 2008-09, the focus was on improving in every single area. After a 5-24 season, there was little else to do but work from the ground up. The result, for the USC Upstate women's basketball team, was one of the most improved teams in America, school-records in free throw percentage and blocked shots and a 13-16 record.
Now in her fifth year as head coach at USC Upstate, Tammy George will narrow her team's focus, setting its sights on the school's first winning season since 2005-06 and moving from the bottom half of the Atlantic Sun Conference and into a perennial contender.
"We had a very gratifying year in 2008-09," George said. "We proved we could win in all sorts of ways, from blowouts to close games. We proved we could fight back. However, we still have plenty to prove. We want to be a winning program. We want to be tougher, win the battle on the boards more, turn the ball over less, miss fewer free throws."
"Last season, our emphasis was getting better every day," George said. "This year, we need to become perfectionists to keep getting better."
With five of the team's top six scorers returning, including three that averaged more than 10 points per game, the Spartans will have a good chance to keep improving. Throw in six newcomers, including four that were ranked in the top 1,000 in the nation as prep seniors and the Spartans have the preliminary markings of a group that could continue the climb to the top of the Atlantic Sun Conference that started in 2006-07 with the University's move to Division I athletics.
"We are excited to get going, that's for sure," George said. "We have the most experienced team in my time here and we are still really young, with only two seniors on the team. We want to keep growing and getting better and hopefully, that will translate into more wins."
The Backcourt
With four players back who averaged at least 18 minutes per games, the Spartans will have an experienced backcourt, including starters at both the No. 2 and No. 3 slots in the lineup.
"We have a lot of room for competition in the backcourt," George said. "We are trying to keep Courtney Hawkins in the two-guard position and Kendra Wallace in the third slot, but we also know that Hawkins can be a point guard. We have that one starting position open, much like it has been for the last year and a half, and you could see a lot of players earn starts in the backcourt again this year."
The established starters are senior Courtney Hawkins and sophomore Kendra Wallace. Both senior Koko Richardson and sophomore Lesley Daniel also have starting experience for the Spartans, plus a pair of transfers, junior Sharniece Wadelington and Shadae Thompson have collegiate playing experience. Freshmen Morgan Goss and Tee'Ara Copney will also look to factor into the mix.
The point guard slot is wide open, as George wants to move the main 2008-09 starter, Hawkins, back to her natural No. 2 position to give her more opportunities to score. In her stead, the Spartans can turn to several players, including Richardson, Daniel, Goss and Copney.
Richardson, a senior captain, is a true leader on and off the court that can play anywhere from the No. 1 to No. 4 slots. A 5-9 guard, Richardson played in all 29 games in 2008-09, primarily coming off the bench, to average 7.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 18.6 minutes per game.
Daniel, a 5-5 guard, is a true point guard that can also play at the No. 2 position. A left-handed guard, Daniel played well in spurts as a freshman before an MCL tear ended her year in late February. The Tennessee native still averaged 5.8 points, 1.8 assists and 19.0 minutes per game.
Also ready to step into the point guard rotation are freshmen Goss and Copney. Goss, a 5-6 Atlanta, Ga., native helped Mays High School to a record of 26-3 as a senior, averaging 9.9 points and 3.2 assists per game. Copney earned the All-Western North Carolina Player of the Year honors after averaging 16.2 points, 4.6 assists and 4.6 steals per game. Both players were ranked amongst the top 1,000 recruitable seniors in 2008-09.
"We can play a lot of different kinds of point guards," George said. "Tee'Ara and Morgan are both athletic, quick players who can help us run a very fast offense, which is something we like to do. Koko runs a very methodical point guard and, in the past, we have turned to her to slow the game down and get us back in control. Lesley offers a different look because she is left-handed. If she plays within herself, Lesley can do a lot well, from running the offense to hitting the outside shot."
At the two-guard position, the Spartans will have Hawkins, the 5-4 Greer, S.C., native who has established herself as one of the best players in the A-Sun. She started 26 games as a junior, averaging 11.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. As a sophomore, Hawkins led the A-Sun with a 16.4 point-per-game average.
"Moving Courtney back into a shooting guard slot is going to open up her game a little bit," George said. "She was a solid point guard, but she is such a gifted athlete that can do so many things, we think she is best suited to be in the second slot."
Hawkins, who enters the year 12 points shy of 1,000 in her career, will have a welcome selection of players who will also see time in the two-position in sophomore Kendra Wallace, Daniel, Goss and juniors Sharniece Wadelington and sophomore Shadae Thompson.
Thompson, a 5-7 transfer from Anderson (S.C.), could also see time at the two-guard position. Thompson, a junior, was an all-state selection at Greenville High School, averaging 23 points as a senior.
In the three-guard/swing position, the Spartans will look to 2008-09 A-Sun All-Freshman Team member Kendra Wallace. The 5-9 guard from West Virginia hit 72 3-pointers as a freshman, averaging 12.0 points per game, which was 11th in the conference. The Hurricane native has worked both on her mobility and her defense to go along with one of the best shots in the A-Sun.
"Kendra has an amazing work ethic," George said. "The reason she has had success in the past was because of her work ethic and it makes her one of the toughest players in the conference."
While Wallace averaged 34.8 minutes as a freshman, she could see spells from Wadelington, Thompson, Goss and Richardson.
Wadelington, a 5-8 junior from Greenville, S.C., will also see time after spending two years at UNC Greensboro. An All-State selection as a prep senior at J.L. Mann, Wadelington is a tenacious defender who was also a scorer in high school, averaging 16.7 points per game as a senior.
Frontcourt
In the frontcourt, the Spartans will rely on two returners in junior Chelsea McMillan and Kim Pitman to lead the way while infusing two true freshmen, Lauren McRoberts and Christine Nyobe into the mix in the post.
"We have a very young set of posts," George said, "which can both be a good thing and a bad thing. We don't have any seniors, so this a group that can learn and grow together in the next two years. The bad part is that they are young and will, in a lot of cases, have to learn on the go."
At the No. 4 position, the Spartans will look for a rotation of of freshmen McRoberts and Nyobe and McMillan.
McRoberts, ranked No. 786 amongst high school seniors by the All-Star Girls' Basketball Report, is a 6-1 forward with a lot of athletic ability. She can hit the mid-range jumper and could factor in for many minutes in the post.
Nyobe, a 6-1 forward from Cameroon, is another player that could see time at the No. 4 position after earning two All-Blue Ridge Conference mentions at The Miller School in Charlottesville, Va. Still relatively raw, Nyobe was ranked 1,023 by the All-Star Girls' Basketball Report.
At the No. 5 position, the Spartans will have one of the best returners in the conference in McMillan, who finished 10th in the A-Sun in scoring (12.2) and third in rebounding (7.8) per game as a sophomore. A tough player with a sweet touch, McMillan hit 44 percent of her shots from the field and 83 percent from the charity stripe as a sophomore and will be counted on to increase her playing time (21.8 minutes per game) as a junior.
"Chelsea proved that she is one of the top players in the conference last season," George said. "She was one of three players to finish in the top 10 in both categories and she did it while playing just 22 minutes per game. This year, I think, we might need her to play a few more minutes per game and if she does that, the sky is the limit for her."
Backing up McMillan will be a rotation that will include Pitman, Nyobe and McRoberts. Pitman, at 6-2, is one of the tallest players in school history. A junior from Plumtree, N.C., Pitman, thanks to several injuries in the past two years, has averaged just 8.5 minutes and 1.4 points in 41 career games. Pitman will be needed for her aggressiveness in the post defensively, as she averages more than a blocked shot per 40 minutes.
"Kim can do a couple really important things for us this year when she is on the court," George said. "She can either give Chelsea a spell on the bench or she can play in the low post while Chelsea moves out to the No. 4 position, giving C-Mac more opportunites facing the basket. Lauren and Christine could also both do that and the more we can do that, the better we will be offensively."
Schedule
The Spartans will play games at Atlantic Coast Conference schools Virginia and Clemson to highlight their 29-game 2009-10 schedule.
"We built a schedule that we think will both challenge us and give us a chance to be successful," George said. "We have a lot of different types of opponents, from ones like Virginia who reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year, to local rivals like Presbyterian and UNC Asheville."
The Spartans will also play 14 games at home during the season to nearly balance out their season schedule after playing 11 and 13 games at the Hodge Center in the school's first two years of Division I play. Among the non-conference opponents who will visit the Hodge Center are North Greenville (Nov. 13), Indiana State (Nov. 21), UNC Asheville (Nov. 28) and Presbyterian (Dec. 30).
Along with the balanced home schedule, the Spartans will once again seek to foster regional rivalries throughout its schedule, including the home games with UNC Asheville and Presbyterian. Also on the schedule are S.C. State (Nov. 24) and Winston-Salem State (Dec. 1) along with a trip to Clemson (Dec. 15) to make five of the team's nine non-conference games against Division I teams from the Carolinas. The Spartans' one non-Division I game, the season opener against North Greenville, is against a team that was a traditional rival from the Spartans' Division II days.
"We feel that is important to play teams that will create interest in the community," George said. "Bringing in UNC Asheville and Presbyterian, which are natural rivalry games, to the Hodge Center after playing at their places in the last couple years, is going to be exciting. Playing Clemson is a highlight to our schedule much like playing at South Carolina was last year and traveling to S.C. State and Winston-Salem State are good chances to play games against natural regional opponents."
Also included in the non-conference portion of the schedule is a two-game swing in Virginia, as Upstate faces Longwood (11/16) before facing ACC school Virginia (11/18).
The team will begin it's grueling 20-game A-Sun schedule on Dec. 17 when it travels to Stetson for a 7 p.m. game. Along with the double round-robin A-Sun schedule that features 10 home games and 10 road games, the Spartans will also host their final non-conference game on Dec. 30 against Presbyterian.
In the 2010 portion of the schedule, the Spartans will play 18 straight A-Sun games to close the season, starting by hosting Campbell (Jan. 2) and ETSU (Jan. 4) before travelling to Belmont (Jan. 7) and Lipscomb (Jan. 9). Mercer (Jan. 14) and Kennesaw State (Jan. 16) visit the Hodge Center the next weekend before the first half of the conference schedule comes to an end with a trip to North Florida (Jan. 21) and Jacksonville (Jan. 23). UNF (Jan. 30) and Jacksonville (Feb. 1) return the trip the next weekend before Upstate heads to Kennesaw State (Feb. 6) and Mercer (Feb. 8). Lipscomb (Feb. 11) and Belmont (Feb. 13) head into the Hodge Center before the Spartans visit Campbell (Feb. 20) and ETSU (Feb. 22). Finally, the season ends as FGCU (Feb. 25) and Stetson (Feb. 27) head to the Hodge Center.
