FORT MYERS, Fla. - The ASUN Conference airs its 2022-23 Men's Basketball Preseason Show at 7 PM ET, Thursday night on ESPN+. ASUN Assistant Director of Broadcast Services & Digital Strategies Jordan Griffitt serves as host for this walkthrough of all 14 league squads. The new season marks the 44th year of competition within the conference as the most schools in ASUN history begin their quest to claim the Bob Vanatta Trophy on Monday, Nov. 7.
FGCU will be represented by head coach Pat Chambers and senior guard Cyrus Largie. In the ASUN Preseason Polls that came out yesterday, the Eagles were picked fourth in both the Coaches and Media poll while junior Chase Johnston earned a spot on the Preseason All-ASUN team.
Preseason Show Participants
(Head Coach & Student-Athlete)
Austin Peay Nate James & Elijah Hutchins-Everett
Bellarmine Scott Davenport & Juston Betz
Central Arkansas Anthony Boone & Camren Hunter
Eastern Kentucky A.W. Hamilton & Michael Moreno
FGCU Pat Chambers & Cyrus Largie
Jacksonville Jordan Mincy & Kevion Nolan
Jacksonville State Ray Harper & Demaree King
Kennesaw State Amir Abdur-Rahim & Chris Youngblood
Liberty Ritchie McKay & Darius McGhee
Lipscomb Lennie Acuff & Ahsan Asadullah
North Alabama Tony Pujol & Will Soucie
North Florida Matthew Driscoll & Jarius Hicklen
Queens Grant Leonard & Kenny Dye
Stetson Donnie Jones & Stephan Swenson
The 2023 ASUN Championship is set to begin on Feb. 27 as a 10-team tournament hosted by the higher seeds. The championship final broadcasts live on ESPN when the league crowns its newest champion on March 5.
Hurricane Ian Recovery
For information on how you can help out in the Hurricane Ian recovery efforts, please visit fgcu.edu/HurricaneIan.
For complete coverage of FGCU men's basketball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_MBB and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU men's basketball and other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
COACH CHAMBERS
Pat Chambers was officially introduced as the fifth FGCU men's basketball head coach in March 2022 bringing a wealth of experience in college basketball highlighted by head coaching stints at Penn State and Boston University. Chambers spent nine years leading the Penn State (2011-20) program and two years as head coach at Boston University (2009-11). He has 190 career victories in that span including four 20-plus win seasons. Part of his career as a head coach was highlighted by leading the Nittany Lions to a No. 9 national ranking in 2019-20 which tied the program's best-ever ranking set in 1996. Prior to becoming a head coach, he spent five seasons as part of the Villanova staff helping the Wildcats to a Final Four (2009), two Elite Eight, and three Sweet Sixteen appearances during his tenure.
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 45 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn at at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 26 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
