Georgia Southern Eagles
2019-2020 Overall Rank: #144
Conference Rank: #4 Sun Belt
Georgia Southern finished last season with a respectable 21 wins and a second place finish in the Sun Belt. With much of the roster returning, Coach Mark Byington’s team has high hopes heading into the 2019-2020 campaign. However, the two losses are big ones. Tookie Brown led the team with 17.3 points and 4.7 assists. His leadership and scoring will be sorely missed. The inside presence of Montae Glenn will be missed too. Glenn was the team’s top rebounder and proved to be a solid interior scorer and defender as well.
2018-19 Record: 21-12, 12-6
2018-19 Postseason: None
Coach: Mark Byington
Coach Record: 111-84 at Georgia Southern, 118-88 overall
Key Departed Players:
Tookie Brown, Guard, 17.3 ppg
Montae Glenn, Forward, 9.6 ppg
Key Returning Players:
Quan Jackson, Junior, Guard, 14.8 ppg
Ike Smith, Senior, Guard, 14.7 ppg
Isaiah Crawley, Senior, Forward, 11.6 ppg
Simeon Carter, Senior, Forward, 8.3 ppg
David-Lee Jones, Senior, Guard, 7.8 ppg
Calvin Wishart, Sophomore, Guard, 5.2 ppg
Elijah McCadden, Sophomore, Guard, 5.2 ppg
Key New Players:
Jalen Cincore, Freshman, Guard
Trevion Lamar, Junior, Guard, JC Transfer
Mackenzie McFatten, Freshman, Forward
David Viti, RS Freshman, Forward
Projection:
The Eagles do have plenty of proven scorers on the roster. Quan Jackson averaged 14.8 points per game and connected on a team high 47 three-pointers. Ike Smith missed most of last season, but he is back for another go at his senior campaign. Back in 2017-2018, Smith averaged 12.0 points per game. Smith is also a good rebounding guard and that will help out Isaiah Crawley as he attempts to replace the production of Glenn on the glass. Crawley, a 6-7 senior, is a good scoring threat, but he will be asked to do more on the glass this year. Simeon Carter will likely step into Glenn’s starting spot after averaging 8.3 points and 4.4 rebounds last season. The play of David-Lee Jones, Calvin Wishart and Elijah McCadden will be extremely important. Those three will have to take over the playmaking duties of Brown. If that happens and the lack of frontcourt depth does not catch up with them, this is a Georgia Southern squad that can be among the best in the Sun Belt.
Projected Postseason Tournament: None
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 82.6 (15th in nation, 1st in conference)
Scoring Defense: 75.4 (273, 8)
Field-Goal Percentage: 49.9 (4, 1)
Field-Goal Defense: 44.2 (206, 7)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.2 (310, 12)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 32.3 (284, 11)
Free-Throw Percentage: 69.2 (229, 8)
Rebound Margin: 1.3 (137, 5)
Assists Per Game: 12.2 (261, 10)
Turnovers Per Game: 13.7 (248, 8)
