Watch Safari Smith Dunk Over 6'6 Piedmont Student in "Madness at the Mize" Event -
Demorest, GA -- After a tumultuous 2012-13 season that saw Piedmont College cancel the remainder of its men's basketball season after seven games, the Lions of 2013-14 are ready for a brand new era under first-year Head Coach
Greg Neeley who could be just the right fit for a program looking to find its footing. Ever calm on the sidelines as a professor of the game, the young coach has already shown what he can do when given the keys to the program taking Warren Wilson College to a USCAA National Championship just last season before returning back to the spot where he got his college coaching start - as an assistant in Cave Arena.
"I'm very excited to return to the place I call 'home.' Coach Floyd and Coach Dzik did a great job of keeping the program together in the interim and we're excited about the direction we are heading," said Neeley of his return to the sidelines at Cave Arena.
Coach Neeley knows it won't be easy to erase the 2012-13 season, but that's not what the coach has in mind as he continues to move his Lions forward rather than backward as the squad looks forward to its season opener this weekend at the Shrine Tournament hosted by Marietta College where PC is set to take on Earlham College. Tipoff in the November 15th contest is set for 6:00 pm and optimism is high around the program starting with that opener that this team can succeed as Piedmont already has experienced some of that same success that the squad is hoping to build on having taken NCAA Division I foe Kennesaw State University to the wire in a 7-point loss earlier this month.
A big key that helped the Lions to that result against the D1 foe, a game in which Piedmont lead for the majority of the first half, was returner and former D3hoops.com South Region Rookie of the Year
Jessie Jenkins who returns for what will be his sophomore season with the program. Jenkins came up a rebound shy of a double-double performance against Kennesaw with 15 points and nine boards as he will once again be a catalyst for success should the Lions come together the way that Coach Neeley hopes they will.
No doubt that Neeley's squad will be focused on improving defensively as the Lions allowed more than 90 points per game in seven contests during the shortened 2012-13 season, a mark that would have placed them last in the league in that category. That shouldn't be much of an issue under Neeley however as his Owls of Warren Wilson ranked 1st in almost every defensive statistical category at the USCAA National Tournament including scoring defense (55.5 points per game), field goal percentage defense (opponents were 33% from the field), blocks (10 in four games), and rebound defense (33.8 per game).
Even when not at the top of the list, Warren Wilson were close ranking 2nd in 3-point field goal percentage defense (opponents were 30.3% from downtown) and steals with 34 in four games. It's that commitment to defense that led Neeley's squad to a 12-game winning streak to end the 2012-13 season and win the national title.
Neeley will not be short of weapons as he embarks on his debut season as the Lions return some size in 6-4 sophomore
Chris Meeks and 6-6 forward
Aaron Thrams as well as athleticism in key spots with point guards
Safari Smith and
Alton Honors II. Smith was 2nd on the team in assists in 2012-13 and will look to help engineer the Neeley offense in 2013-14 as he embarks on his second full season with the team. Honors II was 2nd on the team last season in scoring average with his 12.3 per and looks to be headed down the same path having led his team in scoring against Kennesaw with his 21 points, 10 of which came from the free throw line.
Though Neeley returns key experience in a sport where every second counts, the coach also is looking for young pieces to be ready to contribute early on in their collegiate careers. One such piece could be young guard
Peyton Luken, a native of Boca Raton, Florida whose ball handling and hot shooting may help take some pressure off the veteran shooters of the men's basketball squad. Big men
Chase England and
Brian Edwards could see some significant time down low as well on a team looking for defensive pressure inside as the shot clock ticks down, a staple of a Neeley-led team.
The Lions will get to see what they can do against a tall order in 2013-14 as Piedmont travels in mid-December to play in the Don Lane Classic hosted by Transylvania University in Kentucky. PC will see nothing but national level competition at the event as they open with the host Transylvania who was a participant in last year's NCAA Division III National Tournament only to face either Capital University or Maryville College the following day - both of which also participated in last year's NCAA National Tournament.
Maryville also highlights the Lions' USA South schedule as Piedmont will see the Scots twice in a three-week span in February with the second of those coming just before Piedmont's season finale against local rival Toccoa Falls College, an away game for PC. Maryville is picked to finish atop the USA South Athletic Conference in the preseason coaches' poll while Piedmont was picked to finish 11th. a prediction that does not seem to bother Head Coach
Greg Neeley.
"We're actually excited about being picked last," said Neeley. "It's a great opportunity to be counted out and have a chance to do something that people outside our locker room don't expect. Regardless of preseason predictions, our overriding goal is giving our seniors the ending to their college careers that they deserve."
Piedmont's season opening weekend at the Shrine Tournament hosted by Marietta College beginning with PC's 6:00 pm game against Earlham College on Friday, November 15th can be followed by fans via
live stats provided by Marietta. The Lions return from the Buckeye State to open the home portion of their 2013-14 slate with a highly anticipated matchup with local rival Toccoa Falls on Tuesday night, November 19th with a tipoff set for 8:00 pm. Live coverage of that battle in the Cave will be available on the
Mane Event Broadcasting Network with audio coverage also provided by WCON and WRFP.
