Courtesy of FGCUAthletics.com
LAKEPOINT, Ga. – The two-time defending ASUN Champions are predicted to make that three-straight titles as the FGCU men’s basketball team has been installed as the 2017-18 ASUN Conference favorite, as voted on by the league’s eight head coaches and announced Wednesday.
In addition to the team honor, Brandon Goodwin was the runaway favorite as the best player in the conference as he was tabbed as the unanimous Preseason Player of the Year. Goodwin was joined on the 10-person Preseason All-Conference Team along with fellow unanimous pick Zach Johnson – the second-straight year he has been selected.
The Eagles received seven of eight 1st-place votes and garnered 63 points in the coaches’ poll to finish eight points ahead of 2nd-place Lipscomb (55 points) and 17 points clear of 3rd-place North Florida (46), which collected the other 1st-place vote. USC Upstate (33) was predicted for a 4th-place finish, with Kennesaw State (28), Stetson (22), Jacksonville (21) and NJIT (20) rounding out places 5-8.
Furthermore, FGCU was also the preseason league favorite in the media poll, which was voted on by conference media members and school Athletic Communication Directors. The Green and Blue received 398 points and 48 of 50 1st-place votes, finishing 50 points ahead of 2nd-place Lipscomb (338) and 142 points clear of 3rd-place North Florida (256), which had the other two 1st-place votes. The complete breakdown of both polls and the preseason team is at the end of this release.
“It’s nice to be recognized again as the ASUN favorite, and they’re also great honors for Brandon and Zach who have each worked extremely hard,” said FGCU head coach Joe Dooley, whose teams have now been picked as the league favorite in four of his five seasons at the helm. “Our guys realize that we’re the team everyone will be trying to take down, and that’s something we’ll need to be prepared for again. We’ve put together a challenging non-conference schedule which will hopefully prepare us well for the ASUN, and then everything will be decided in March.”
FGCU is coming off a record-setting 26-8 season in 2016-17, claiming a second-straight ASUN Tournament title and third in the past five years. The Eagles claimed their first outright ASUN regular-season title and second overall, set a program Division-I regular-season record with 23 wins and tied the all-time victory mark. Additionally, they recorded the first single-digit loss season in the D-I era (since 2007-08).
The Green and Blue return three of their top four scorers from last year’s squad, which set D-I program single-season records in points per game (79.4), rebound margin (+5.4) and field goal percentage (.499; 5th-best in the nation). FGCU led the country in points in the paint (41.3 per game) and finished 3rd in the nation with 159 dunks – 11 more than the original Dunk City Sweet Sixteen team in 2012-13.
Dooley, the reigning ASUN Coach of the Year, has assembled an extremely talented returning group and newcomers full of highly-ranked high school prospects and top-level transfers.
Expected to anchor the group is Goodwin (Norcross, Ga./UCF/Norcross HS), who returns for his redshirt senior year after the most prolific offensive season in program history in 2016-17. He set the program’s single-season scoring record with 629 points – the only FGCU player to ever eclipse the 600-point mark. The 6-2 point guard led FGCU in scoring (18.5) and assists (4.1), and finished 3rd in rebounding (4.5).
The 18.5 point-per-game average shattered the program’s previous D-I single-season record of 17.1 by Marc-Eddy Norelia in 2015-16, while Goodwin’s 136 made free throws also eclipsed Norelia’s D-I single-season program record of 129 the previous year.
Goodwin was the unanimous ASUN Newcomer of the Year, was named ASUN Newcomer of the Week a record six times (previous record: 4) and on Feb. 20 he became the first player in league history to be named both ASUN Player of the Week and ASUN Newcomer of the Week. Additionally, he was just the fourth player in program history to be named to the NABC District 3 First Team.
The Norcross, Ga., native was tabbed as the ASUN Tournament MVP after averaging 20 points over three FGCU wins, and continued his brilliant play into the NCAA Tournament with game bests of 28 points and seven assists in the 14th-seeded Eagles’ narrow 86-80 loss to 3rd-seeded Florida State in the First Round.
Goodwin hit three game-winning shots on the year: a floater in the paint at Louisiana Tech with 12 seconds remaining, all three free throws with .6 of a second left at Stetson and a baseline 3-pointer with 34 seconds showing at North Florida. The Norcross High School product scored a season-high 29 points on two occasions, and tallied 28 two other times – including an FGCU ASUN Championship record in the semifinals versus Kennesaw State.
Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) was twice named ASUN Player of the Week last year on his way to ranking 2nd on the team in points (11.9) and assists (3.1). He led FGCU with 1.4 steals per game, and his 54 made 3-pointers were one shy of the team lead of 55.
Over the course of the year, the current redshirt junior totaled 20 double-figure scoring games and had four contests of 20 or more points – leading the team in scoring six times. He tallied a season-high 24 points twice – the first coming in the home opener against UT Arlington and the second occurring in the regular-season finale versus Stetson.
A player with a flare for the dramatic, Johnson blocked Kennesaw State’s final 3-point attempt in mid-January which could have tied the game in the closing seconds. That was his third career game-ending block to preserve an FGCU win (all versus ASUN opponents; the second secured FGCU’s ASUN Tournament triumph in 2016).
Since falling one win short of reaching the NCAA Tournament in its first season of D-I postseason eligibility in 2011-12, FGCU has played in the postseason each of the past five seasons (2013: NCAA; 2014: NIT; 2015: CIT; 2016: NCAA; 2017: NCAA). With the success has come increased support from Southwest Florida as fans have flocked to Alico Arena in record-setting numbers.
Last year, FGCU averaged nearly 4,000 fans per game – 92 percent capacity of Alico’s 4,333 seats. In terms of percentage capacity, that ranked 31st in the nation – ahead of Miami, UConn, Notre Dame, UCLA and many other marquee programs.
The non-conference home schedule is highlighted by marquee matchups against other national mid-major forces, including Illinois State (season opener: Nov. 11) and Middle Tennessee (Dec. 2). Illinois State went 28-7 last year finished with an RPI of 39 after sharing the Missouri Valley Regular Season Championship alongside Wichita State with a 17-1 record. Middle Tennessee, meanwhile, posted a 31-5 record and won a game in the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year as the 12th-seeded Blue Raiders (RPI: 34) knocked off 5th-seeded Minnesota one year after taking down 2nd-seeded Michigan State as a 15 seed.
Single-game tickets for the highly-anticipated 2017-18 season are now on sale, along with an extremely limited amount of season tickets. To secure tickets, log on to FGCUTickets.com, visit the Alico Arena Ticket Office from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday–Friday or call 239-590-7145.
The Eagles will unofficially commence their season at Dunk City After Dark, FGCU’s MidnightMadness event presented by The Reef, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 26, at Alico Arena. The event is free to the public.
Preseason Player of the Year: Brandon Goodwin, FGCU
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Wajid Aminu, North Florida
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Pos. Name, School (Yr.)
*G Brandon Goodwin, FGCU (Sr.)
*G Zach Johnson, FGCU (Jr.)
*C Rob Marberry, Lipscomb (Jr.)
*G Garrison Mathews, Lipscomb (Jr.)
*G Mike Cunningham, USC Upstate (Jr.)
*G Divine Myles, Stetson (Sr.)
G Nick Masterson, Kennesaw State (Sr.)
F Abdul Lewis, NJIT (Jr.)
G/F Anthony Tarke, NJIT (So.)
F Wajid Aminu, North Florida (So.)
* Denotes unanimous selection to preseason team
PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Rank (1st-Place Votes) Points
1. FGCU (7) 63
2. Lipscomb 55
3. North Florida (1) 46
4. USC Upstate 33
5. Kennesaw State 28
6. Stetson 22
7. Jacksonville 21
8. NJIT 20
PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
Rank (1st-Place Votes) Points
1. FGCU (48) 398
2. Lipscomb 338
3. North Florida (2) 256
4. Jacksonville 206
5. Kennesaw State 190
6. USC Upstate 176
7. Stetson 116
8. NJIT 112
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