FORT MYERS, Fla. - A new season on the hardwood tips off Monday night for Florida Gulf Coast University's men's basketball team as the Eagles take on UNC Greensboro inside First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., with live video available via ESPN+.
Six Eagles return from last season's 14-18 campaign that saw FGCU finish in a tie for sixth in the Atlantic Sun Conference with an 8-8 record. Of those six players, only four saw action on the court during the year. That said, one of those four is sixth-year forward
Keeshawn Kellman. The Allentown, Pennsylvania native finished second in the country last season with a .681 shooting percentage. Expectations are high for Kellman this year as one of four players in the ASUN to be named a unanimous Preseason All-Conference honoree in addition to earning ASUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year recognition.
Three-point marksman
Dallion Johnson also returns for FGCU. The senior from Boston, Massachusetts hit on a team-leading 79 3-pointers last season, connecting at a .391 percentage from long range. He was an ASUN Newcomer of the Week honoree last season after FGCU's win over then-No. 7 Florida Atlantic.
Rahmir Barno was an ASUN All-Freshman honoree last season and will see more time on the court this year. Barno led FGCU with 76 assists last season and also made his mark defensively with 33 steals.
The fourth returner that saw action for FGCU is
Blaise Vespe. The Cherry Hill, New Jersey native averaged 10.1 minutes a game last season and hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the end of overtime in an FGCU home victory over Florida Memorial when the Eagles were down to eight healthy players.
Xavier Pina and
Brandon Dwyer round out the list of returners for FGCU.
Plenty of new faces join third year FGCU head coach
Pat Chambers' squad for this season.
Jevin Muniz joins FGCU for his junior season after two years at Delaware State, where he was named Second Team All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Redshirt junior
Michael Duax adds depth after earning Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team recognition with Northern Iowa two seasons ago.
Rory Stewart scored 11 points against St. Louis in his freshman season for Rhode Island as he joins for his junior campaign. Graduate transfer
Zavian McLean becomes the second former Ivy League player on the roster (Kellman) after starting all 27 games last year for Columbia.
Six freshmen also join the mix for FGCU as
Jack Reddick (Eddyville, Kentucky),
Darren Williams (Philadelphia, Pa.),
BB Washington (Houston, Texas),
Evan Barlow (Morton, Illinois),
Cameron Codio (Winter Haven), and
Tristen Guillouette (Willingboro, N.J.) help make up the roster.
FGCU was picked to finish sixth in the ASUN by the league's coaches and fourth by the league's media. Conference play for FGCU will start Jan. 2 at West Georgia.
UNCG went 21-11 last season and 12-6 in Southern Conference action. Donovan Atwell is the leading returning scorer for the Spartans after averaging 11.2 points per game last season. The Spartans won over 20 games for the second time in three seasons under head coach Mike Jones. The Spartans were picked to finish sixth in the SoCon this season by the league's head coaches.
Following Monday's game, the Eagles will be at TCU this Friday at 8 p.m. in Fort Worth. FGCU opens Alico Arena for the season Nov. 13 against St. Bonaventure at 7 p.m. Tickets for that game are available by visiting FGCUTickets.com or by calling 1-866-FGCU-TIX.
