Men’s Basketball Preview: Southeastern Louisiana
SLU Athletics
Southeastern Louisiana Preview (PDF)
After a productive summer, Southeastern Louisiana will look this season to build upon the momentum established in Southland Conference play a season ago. A key component of that spring run was a fifth campaign for Brandon Fortenberry after he suffered a season-ending injury in December 2011.
The leading scorer in 2012-13, Fortenberry finished his career having played in the most games in school history. He is Southeastern’s fifth all-time leading scorer (1,348 points) while finishing second in assists (421), fourth in 3-pointers made (168), fifth in free throws made (292) and sixth in steals (110).
The four-man senior class of Antonnio Benton, Jeremy Campbell, Dre Evans and Jeffery Ricard helped the Lions rebound from a rough start last season to finish with 10 wins in conference and pick up a first-round victory in the Southland Tournament. Now they’ll have to help Southeastern establish a new identity on the court and they’ve already gotten off to a strong start in preparation for the 2013-14 grind.
“We’ve got a number of veterans coming back, but we also have a good number of newcomers that will make contributions,” Yarbrough said. “For us to be back in the top four spots again, we’re going to need those contributions immediately. I think we had a nice summer. That’s important academically as well as athletically. I think it was a factor that neither Jeff nor Dre was able to be here last summer to work on their conditioning or get with the guys and play. This year even our newcomers were here.”
Jim Yarbrough and company added several junior college transfers to the mix. JaMichael Hawkins, who played at Alcorn State as a freshman, transfers in from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College where he averaged 17.1 points and led the Bulldogs to a 17-8 record and semifinal berth in the MACJC State Tournament.
Devonte Upson spent the past two seasons at Trinidad State Junior College. As a sophomore in 2012-13, he started in 25 games, averaging 11.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and was second in NJCAA Region IX with 1.6 blocked shots. He posted five double-doubles and scored in double figures in 19 contests. Upson scored a season-high 16 points in two games last season, the last coming against Laramie County Community College where he also grabbed a season-high 17 rebounds.
Julian Chiera, a native of Argentina, played the previous two seasons at Laramie County Community College. The swingman averaged 14.2 points and 4.1 rebounds for the Golden Eagles in 2012-13 while shooting 84 percent from the free throw line and 40 percent from behind the 3-point line. He finished 14th nationally among junior college players with 3-pointers made and posted season-highs in points (25) and 3-pointers (seven) in helping LCCC to a 21-11 record and a quarterfinal appearance in the Region IX Tournament.
Andrew Guillory played the previous two seasons at Hill Junior College where he averaged 13.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists as a sophomore in 2012-13. He started in all 30 games for the Rebels last season and shot 53 percent from the floor and 43 percent from behind the 3-point line. Guillory scored in double figures in 25 games for the Rebels, scoring 20 or more in five contests. He scored a season-high 25 points, with four 3-pointers, in a win at McLennan Community College.
Add in high school signee Josh Filmore and the Lions have a solid group of newcomers to replace production lost off last year’s team. Filmore, a native of Orlando, Fla., averaged 14.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists as a junior at Wekiva High School where he led a Mustang squad that featured 11 newcomers to a 16-11 record. As a junior, Filmore set single-season records for points scored (410) and 3-pointers (61). As the leading returning scorer, Evans looks to command the offense as the starting point guard after averaging 9.3 points and 2.4 assists per game last season. Ricard, just behind Evans in scoring, chipped in 9.0 points and 1.5 assists.
Ochie came out of his shell in the tournament, filling in at center for the injured Ro Johnson. The 6-foot-6 junior scored 15 points in the win against McNeese State and 12 against Stephen F. Austin. That trio along with Benton and Campbell must provide the leadership for another front-loaded schedule.
Southeastern takes on Missouri, LSU, Arkansas and Mississippi State out of the SEC. There are also matchups with Rice, North Texas and Tennessee-Martin. The Lions will host conference games with Northwestern State, Stephen F. Austin, McNeese, Nicholls, Sam Houston and Lamar as well as Southland newcomers New Orleans, Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word.