CAA Men's Basketball Countdown
With the start of practice for CAA men's basketball teams less than four weeks away, we're counting down by taking a look all 11 teams.
Today we check out the George Mason Patriots and the Georgia State Panthers.
GEORGE MASON
"Patriots"
HEAD COACH:
Paul Hewitt
2011-12 RECORD: 24-9/14-4 in CAA
STARTERS RETURNING (2): PPG RPG
Vertrail Vaughns, G 8.8
1.8
Bryon Allen, G 7.5
3.1
OTHER TOP RETURNEES:
Sherrod Wright, G 9.6
3.3
Jonathan Arledge, F 4.3
3.1
Vaughn Gray, G/F 3.4
1.2
Erik Copes, F/C 3.3
3.7
Corey Edwards,
G 2.5 1.3
Johnny
Williams, F 2.4 1.3 (injured last season)
TOP NEWCOMERS
Anali Okoloji,
6-8, 232, So., F - transfer from Seton Hall
Patrick
Holloway, 6-1, 155, Fr., G
Marko Gujanicic, 6-8, 226, Fr., F
QUICK HITS
Mason has won
20 or more games in four of the past five seasons and has finished among the
top three in the CAA for the past five years. Wright scored double figures in
seven of the Patriots' last eight games. He also led the conference in free
throw percentage (85.9%). Vaughns made a team-best 42 three-pointers and shot
35.6% from beyond the arc last season. Allen ranked fifth in the CAA in assists
(3.7 apg) in his first year as the starting point guard.
GEORGIA STATE
"Panthers"
HEAD COACH:
Ron Hunter
2011-12 RECORD:
22-12/11-7 in CAA
STARTERS RETURNING (1) PPG RPG
Devonta White, G 12.9
2.2
OTHER TOP RETURNEES
Rashaad Richardson, G 5.4
1.4
James Vincent,
C 3.2 2.0
TOP NEWCOMERS
Manny Atkins,
6-7, 205, Jr., F - transfer from Virginia Tech
Cameron
Solomon, 6-3, 170, So., G - transfer from Brevard CC
RJ Hunter,
6-5, 175, Fr., G
Markus Crider,
6-6, 205, Fr., F
QUICK HITS
In its first
season under coach Ron Hunter, Georgia State won its most CAA games ever (11)
and recorded the second-most overall wins (22) in school history. The Panthers
reached postseason play for the first time since 2002. White, who is the lone
returning starter, scored double figures in 10 of his last 11 games and
averaged 15.0 ppg over that stretch. He was also sixth in the CAA in steals and
11th in assists (2.9 apg). Several newcomers are expected to make an
immediate impact, led by Virginia Tech transfer Atkins, who averaged 4.9 ppg
for the Hokies as a sophomore.