HARDWOOD REPORT Issue 2

Transcription

1 2 HARDWOOD REPORT Issue 2 A HARDWOOD CLUB PUBLICATION FILL TO THE TOP! On April 30, Southern Miss introduced Donnie Tyndall as their new Head Men s Basketball Coach. In his introductory press conference, Coach Tyndall set forth a challenge for the Golden Eagles fans. He said: The arena seats 8,095 - My challenge to you is to have the gym completely sold out I don't want one empty chair. This has ignited basketball fans throughout the state. Excitement for the program is high. The athletic department and various community leaders have stepped up to ensure that they meet Coach Tyndall s challenge. On October 15, a meeting took place in the Men s Basketball locker room to form the Fill To The Top campaign. At this meeting, five teams were selected to go in and around Hattiesburg selling tickets to groups, organizations, and businesses to make sure the Reed Green Coliseum is sold out. The Southern Miss Athletic Ticket Office is now offering General Admission tickets for $5 in the bleacher section, chairbacks for $10, and floor seats for just $20. Coming off one of the most historic seasons, the To The Top campaign will help usher in a new era of Southern Miss basketball, said Southern Miss Director of Athletics Jeff Hammond. The Southern Miss family showed that they can help our great University with the success of the football campaign, and I know that they will do the same for our home opener against Western Kentucky. The game against WKU will give two members of the Golden Eagle s staff the opportunity to go against their alma mater. Assistant Coach Adam Howard was a four year letter winner for the Hilltoppers from At Western, Coach Howard was a part of three post-season teams including the 2008 NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen team. Howard helped Western Kentucky post 96 wins and was awarded the Danny Rumph Most Outstanding Teammate award on three occasions (2006, 2007, 2008). Coach Howard said, This is a unique and exciting opportunity for me to open up my career at Southern Miss against my alma mater. Western Kentucky will always have a special place in my heart with the tradition and the people who supported us there. Strength Coach Ben Sowders also has Western Kentucky ties. He laced it up for WKU football from He said that, It will be an awesome experience for me to have my first game as a part of the Golden Eagle program to be against a school I know so well. GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!!! Fans can purchase their tickets either online via southernmisstickets.com, by calling TICK (8425) or visiting the Pat Ferlise Ticket Center from 8AM to 5PM, Monday through Friday. Southern Miss athletics social media platforms will provide updates for Golden Eagle fans throughout this campaign. Fans can follow via or #FTTT and on the Southern Miss Athletics Facebook page. You can also us at ticket.office@usm.edu. VS. NOVEMBER 10 7:30PM REED GREEN COLISEUM Western Kentucky is the defending Sun Belt Champions and defeated Mississippi Valley State in the 1 st Round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to the eventual National Champion UK Wildcats. Head Coach Ray Harper returns 4 starters from a year ago, including: 6-6, 240-pound sophomore forward George Fant (10.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg), 6-4, 210- pound sophomore T.J. Price (9.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg), 6-11 senior Teeng Akol (6.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg), and 6-3 senior Jamal Crook (8.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg)

2 Coach Tyndall has traveled throughout Hattiesburg speaking to every student or civic organization that would listen. His goal has been to represent the program with as much passion and pride as any coach in the country. Coach Tyndall has taken part in more than 100 events since April. He is proud to be the Head Basketball Coach at Southern Miss. THIS GUY IS EVERYWHERE! Follow Coach Tyndall on

3 HARDWOOD CLUB KICKOFF EVENT AT COACH TYNDALL S HOUSE

4 2 HARDWOOD REPORT Issue 2 DWAYNE DAVIS THROUGH THE YEARS Davis signed with Coach Tyndall at Morehead St. out of Strawberry Mansion HS in Philadelphia Davis transferred to Midland Junior College (TX) Davis is looking to lead the Golden Eagles At lbs. Davis hopes to be a difference maker for Coach Tyndall on the wing. Off the court, Davis has spent over 60 hours mentoring students at Thames Elementary in Hattiesburg Senior Profile: #4 Dwayne Davis Who were you being recruited by out of high want to be a leader. I still have weaknesses school? defensively. I have to work on that every day. This Clemson, Temple, St. Bonaventure, Drexel, is my only shot. Morehead St, LaSalle How good do you think this team can be? Why did you choose Morehead St? I think we can accomplish as much as last year s I saw all the big things that Coach Tyndall was doing team. We just have to want it and believe in each there. They were a program that was winning other. Everybody s got to buy in. Bring it every day. championships. Plus, I wanted to go to a smaller Just buy in. school where I could stand out a bit. What do you want your legacy to be? What happened when you got to Morehead St? An awesome player. A hard-worker on the court. I didn t play right away because of grades. I was a He did everything possible to try to help this team prop 48. Then, I got in a little bit of trouble. I was win. young and immature. I made some bad decisions What do you want to tell the Golden Eagle fans? that I regret. Coach Tyndall didn t tolerate that kind We need your support. I see the kind of turnout we of behavior, so I had to transfer to a Junior College. get for football and baseball. The fans here are Tell me about your Junior College Experiences? incredible. I d like to see them really embrace us. I went to Midland Junior College in Texas. We had a When we played Memphis last year at home, it was really nice team. We were ranked #1 in the country. packed. We need that every night. Southern Miss then started recruiting me. What do you want to do with your life when What made you choose Southern Miss? basketball is over? I took a visit here and knew this felt like home. The I d like to start my own non-profit organization in my campus is beautiful. I knew academically I could be community near Philadelphia. A memorial center successful. It was exciting. that has an after school program for kids. Then, I d What was it like when Coach Tyndall walked in like to also to get into real estate as well. I feel like I the door as the new Head Men s Basketball have a lot to offer to the community and just want Coach at Southern Miss? to give back. I was shocked. I didn t know what to think at first. I couldn t believe it. How has your relationship been with Coach THE DAVIS FILE Tyndall the second time around? It s been great. After the first team meeting we sat Hometown: Philadelphia, PA down and talked. I told him I m not the same young, immature freshmen he had 4 years ago. This is a High School: Stawberry Mansion new me. I think he really respected that. He gave me a fresh start and a new chance. The experience Height: 6-5 has been great. We have a good relationship. I feel like I can come to him and talk about whatever is Weight: 205 lbs. going on in my life. How do you think you are as a player? I have progressed a lot since he s got here. I feel like Position: G/F I can create not only for myself but for my teammates. When we re in a slump I want to be Born: November 27, 1989 that guy that can pick my teammates up, ya know? I

5 The Hardwood Report took a minute to sit down with Bill Doherty. Bill is just one of many individuals who have worked tirelessly to help during the Fill It To The Top Campaign. Bill has attended many practices and has been one of the team s biggest supporters. Bill, tell us about yourself. I was born and raised here in Hattiesburg. I went to Sacred Heart HS and graduated in Then, I went to Southern Miss and graduated in It was actually the first year that it was known as the University of Southern Miss (previously known as the Mississippi Southern College). I got my degree in Business Administration. Then, Joined the service after college. I came home to Hattiesburg to own and operate my own furniture store. Recently, I retired and am just supporting the Golden Eagles. Tell me about your memories of being a part of Southern Miss Basketball. I played one year for the Southern Miss Basketball Team in I was actually on the Freshmen team. I played for Fred Lewis. Our Games used to be played in a Quonset Hut that was brought over from Camp Shelby during World War II. They called it the Sports Arena and it was over where the Trent Lott Building is today. What are your thoughts on Coach Tyndall? He has been very gracious to me. He s allowed me to come and see practice. I love his demeanor. I love his on the court style. He s not a softie by any means. He demands respect from his players. He wants them to pay attention to detail on the court. It s the way it should be. We re very fortunate to have him. Donnie has gone and done the right things here in Hattiesburg. He s gone and talked with the right people. He s embraced the community and the community will embrace him. You have really jumped in with both feet into the Fill To The Top campaign. What has driven you? I ve lived in Hattiesburg my entire life. I have always loved the University even as a young child. My dad was a postman here. He got me involved. I grew up in a time when Ole Miss & Mississippi State had the advantages in the state in terms of resources. They had the support of the legislature. Everything Southern Miss has achieved has strictly been on its own merits. Nobody has gone out of their way to hand us anything. I want to see Coach Tyndall be successful. When the Reed Green Coliseum is full it is loud. I want him to be able to experience that.

6 Southern Miss Golden Eagle Basketball 4 Dwayne Davis G 6-5 Sr. Philadelphia, Pa. 5 Neil Watson G 5-11 Jr. Kansas City, Kan. 10 Cedric Jenkins G 6-2 Jr. LaPlace, La. 11 Daveon Boardingham F 6-7 Jr. Newark, N.J. 12 Rashard McGill G 6-5 Sr. Havana, Fla. 13 Chip Armelin G 6-3 r-so. Sulphur, La. 15 Deon Edwon G 6-2 Fr. British Virgin Islands 21 Norville Carey F 6-7 Fr. British Virgin Islands 22 Aaron Brown F 6-5 r-so. Hackensack, N.J. 23 Jerrold Brooks G 6-0 Jr. Rochester, N.Y. 24 Jonathan Mills F 6-6 Sr. Chicago, Ill. 25 Jamie Chapman G 6-3 Fr. Mobile, Ala. 32 Christian Robbins F 6-11 r-fr. Foxworth, Miss. 34 Johnny Zuppardo F 6-7 So. Metarie, La. 44 Michael Craig G/F 6-5 Jr. Phoenix, Ariz. Donnie Tyndall Head Coach Wade O'Connor Associate Head Coach Jareem Dowling Assistant Coach Adam Howard Assistant Coach Justin Phelps Director of Basketball Operations

7 SOUTHERN MISS MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Location Time November 1 (Thur.) St. Catharine s College (Exh.) Reed Green Coliseum 7:30 p.m. 6 (Tue.) Univ. of Charleston (W.V.) (Exh.) Reed Green Coliseum 8:15 p.m. 10 (Sat.) Western Kentucky Reed Green Coliseum 7:30 p.m. 15 (Thur.) 1 at Georgia (FSN) Athens, Ga. 7 p.m. 19 (Mon.) 1 at Sam Houston State Huntsville, Texas 7 p.m. 20 (Tue.) 1 vs. UC-Irvine Huntsville, Texas 5 p.m. 21 (Wed.) 1 vs. Liberty Huntsville, Texas 5 p.m. 27 (Tue.) Denver Reed Green Coliseum 7 p.m. December 1 (Sat.) at New Mexico State Las Cruces, N.M. 8 p.m. 4 (Tue.) at Arizona (Pac-12) Tucson, Ariz. 8:30 p.m. 8 (Sat.) at Louisiana Tech Ruston, La. 7 p.m. 15 (Sat.) Grambling State Reed Green Coliseum 6:30 p.m. 18 (Tue.) at Georgia State Atlanta, Ga. 7 p.m. 22 (Sat.) 2 vs. Wichita State Wichita, Kan. 7 p.m. 28 (Fri.) at Morehead State Morehead, Ky. 6:30 p.m. 31 (Mon.) William Carey Reed Green Coliseum 2:30 p.m. January 3 (Thur.) Dillard Reed Green Coliseum 7 p.m. 9 (Wed.) *at Rice Houston, Texas 7 p.m. 12 (Sat.) *Houston Reed Green Coliseum 2 p.m. 16 (Wed.) *at SMU Dallas, Texas 7 p.m. 19 (Sat.) *UAB (CSS) Reed Green Coliseum 5 p.m. 23 (Wed.) *Marshall (CSS) Reed Green Coliseum 6 p.m. 26 (Sat.) *at Tulsa Tulsa, Okla. 3:05 p.m. February 2 (Sat.) *at UAB (CSS) Birmingham, Ala. 7 p.m. 6 (Wed.) *at UCF Orlando, Fla. 6 p.m. 9 (Sat.) *Memphis (CBSSN) Reed Green Coliseum 3 p.m. 13 (Wed.) *Tulane Reed Green Coliseum 7 p.m. 16 (Sat.) *at East Carolina Greenville, N.C. 4 p.m. 20 (Wed.) *UTEP Reed Green Coliseum 7 p.m. 23 (Sat.) *at Memphis (FSN) Memphis, Tenn. 12 p.m. March 2 (Sat.) *East Carolina Reed Green Coliseum 7 p.m. 5 (Tue.) *at Marshall (CBSSN) Huntington, W.V. 6 p.m. 9 (Sat.) *UCF Reed Green Coliseum 7 p.m Conference USA Tournament Tulsa, Okla. TBA All Times Central and Subject to Change * Conference USA Game; 1 - Progressive Legends Classic; 2 - at INTRUST Bank Arena