The ball will soon be in the air for 10 First Coast college basketball programs.
The Jacksonville University and the University of North Florida men’s and women’s teams begin their 2024-25 seasons the week of Nov. 4, with all of them taking on heavyweights early: the UNF men open at South Carolina on Nov. 4, the JU men play at Florida Nov. 7, the UNF women play at Florida State on Nov. 4 and the JU women play at Miami on Nov. 11.
Trinity’s men play at Jacksonville on Nov. 4 to begin the season for both. The Trinity Baptist women started on Nov. 2 against Florida National.
Edward Waters and Flagler College, NCAA Division II members, launch their schedules later in the week. The Tigers men face Florida Tech in Winter Park on Nov. 8 and the EWU women help JU open its season on Nov. 6 at Swisher Gym.
The Flagler College men open at home on Nov. 7 against Emory & Henry and the Saints women go on the road to face Anderson (S.C.) University.
Conference seasons start in December and January, all leading to the Madness of March.
Here’s the preseason rundown on the area’s four-year schools.
NCAA Division I
Men
Jacksonville University Dolphins
Coach: Jordan Mincy (fourth year, 50-43).
2023-24 record: 16-17 overall, 5-11 in the ASUN.
Opening game: Nov. 4 at home vs. Trinity Baptist, 7 p.m.
Other key non-conference games: Nov. 7, at Florida; Nov. 20, at Virginia Tech; Nov. 30, at Georgia; Dec. 21, at UCF.
ASUN opener: Jan. 2, home against Lipscomb, 7 p.m.
Top returners: Junior G Robert McCray V (6-4, 18.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.9 apg); junior F Stephon Payne III (6-9, 7.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg); senior G Marcus Niblack (6-2, 10.2 ppg, 2.6 apg); sophomore F Donovan Rivers (6-9, 3.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg); junior G Zach Bell (6-2, 6.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg).
Top newcomers (previous school): G Anakin Brown (Beachside, 6-3); graduate G Jakari Spence (Robert Morris, 6-0); junior G Simon Wheeler (Ashland University, 5-10); senior F Zimi Nwokeji (Dayton, 6-7).
Notable: If the Dolphins can find a way to stay healthy, they could easily return to the 2021-22 season when they went 21-10 and reached the ASUN Championship game. Injuries were devastating the last two years and if healthy, Mincy has another potential contender, led by McCray, who spurned some serious NIL money to stay at JU. McCray was voted preseason ASUN player of the year. Payne and Rivers can be forces down low and there’s no shortage of speed in the backcourt with Niblack, Bell and a recruiting class loaded with guards, led by Beachside graduate Brown, the son of JU Hall of Famer Dee Brown.
Mincy comments: “You lose your second- and third-leading scores [Bryce Workman and Niblack] and you’re going to struggle to be successful. Once we got those guys back we flipped a switch. This [college] game is always changing. It’s getting more and more lik the NBA. My roster might have five new guys or it might have 11 or 12. So just being able to adapt to the times and continue to adjust.”
University of North Florida Ospreys
Coach: Matthew Driscoll (15th year, 233-247).
2023-24 record: 16-16 overall, 9-7 in the ASUN.
Opening game: Nov 4, at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Other key non-conference games: Nov. 10, at Georgia Tech; Nov. 12, at Georgia; Dec. 1, at Nebraska; Dec. 21, at Florida.
ASUN opener: Jan. 2, home against Austin Peay, 2 p.m.
Top returners: Senior G Nate Lliteras (6-6, 10.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg); sophomore G Jaylen Smith (5-11, 6.5 ppg, 2.4 apg); sophomore G Jasai Miles (6-6, 5.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg); senior G Ametri Moss (6-0, 10.8 ppg, 4.0 apg); senior G Oscar Berry (6-5, 3.6 ppg).
Top newcomers (previous school): Graduate F Liam Murphy (Columbia, 6-7); senior F Nestor Dyachok (Southern Utah, 6-9); freshman F Josh Harris (Pembroke Pines Charter, 6-8); freshman F Arden Begal (Crothers Second School, Toronto, 7-0).
Notable: The Ospreys lost leading scorer Chaz Lanier, who took the huge NIL money to go to Tennessee. The answer won’t be to find another Lanier but spread the scoring around with players such as Lliteras, Berry and Miles, in addition to transfer Murphy and freshman Harris. Driscoll has a nice dilemma with two veteran point guards, Moss, who was shooting nearly 50 percent and handing out 3.0 assists per game before he went out for the season after 16 games, and Smith, his replacement, who handled the ball and turned into a solid defender. UNF got bigger with the addition of Dyachok and Begal.
Driscoll comments: “We’ve got a lot of experience and that’s exciting for us because we understand in this league experience is critical. I think we have the best shooting team that we’ve ever had, top-to-bottom. We shot 1,061 threes last year … I expect that number to go up again, break another record. Who’s going to be the next Chaz? Don’t try to be Chaz. Be the best version of you. Be you, and everything else will take care of itself.”
Women
Jacksonville University Dolphins
Coach: Special Jennings.
2023-24 record: 11-20 overall, 6-10 in the ASUN.
Opening game: Nov. 6, home vs. Edward Waters, 6:30 p.m.
Other key non-conference games: Nov. 11, at Miami; Nov. 18, Florida A&M; Nov. 24, at Mississippi State; Dec. 19 at Florida State; Dec. 29, at Alabama.
ASUN opener: Jan. 2, at Central Arkansas.
Top returners: Senior G Edyn Battle (5-7, 20.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg); sophomore F Saniyah Craig (6-1, 10.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg); sophomore G Sana’a Garrett (5-7, 5.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg); graduate F Makayla Edwards (5-11, 6.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg); junior F Zaria Blake (6-0, 2.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg); sophomore C Jada Jones (6-4, 2.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg).
Top newcomers (previous school): Senior G Priscilla Williams (Oregon); freshman G Giana Provenzano (Montverde Adademy); sophomore G Bailey Burns (Cloud City CC); freshman G Mariah Knight (Butler High School, Louisville, Ky.).
Notable: Only conference champion Florida Gulf Coast was playing better than the Dolphins at the end of the 2023-24 season. Led by ASUN scoring champion Battle, JU won four in a row and five of seven before battling FGCU in a 76-69 loss in the ASUN quarterfinals. Battle and most of her supporting cast are back, including Jones, the Sandalwood graduate who improved as the season went on last year. JU returns six of the nine players who took the court in that last game against Gulf Coast, plus four of the five starters.
Jennings comments: “We weren’t worried about losing players in the [transfer] portal. Most of the young women who buy into our culture don’t leave me, whether it was the high school programs or the college programs I was coaching.”
University of North Florida Ospreys
Coach: Erika Lambert (second year, 9-21).
2023-24 record: 9-21 overall, 13-3 in the ASUN.
Opening game: Nov. 4, at Florida State.
Other key non-conference games: Nov. 19, at UCF; Dec. 3, at Minnesota; Dec. 7, at Florida A&M; Dec. 21, at Florida.
ASUN opener: Jan 2, at Lipscomb, 7 p.m.
Top returners: Senior G Kaila Rougier (5-6, 11.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg); junior F Sema Eklund (6-0, 4.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg); junior G Sarah Taub (5-9, 5.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg); junior G Helena Rafnsdottir (5-11, 2.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg).
Top newcomers (previous school): Senior G Grace Hunter (Northern Illinois 5-10); senior G Jamisyn Spencer (Jacksonville State, 5-6); junior F Nia Brown (Middleburg, Daytona State College, 6-1).
Notable: One of the issues the Ospreys had last season was getting pushed around inside, with Emma Broermann the only true low post player. That’s changed with the addition of players such as Brown, Sydney Pettis (6-2), Jasmynne Gibson (6-1) and Lauren Bell (6-3), plus further development of Eklund. UNF also is bigger at guard, with three at 5-10 or taller. The program received a blow when Alexa Washington, who had set the team record for three-pointers in one game as a freshman, went out for the season with an injury but that may open the door for Bishop Kenny graduate Maddie Millar, an outside shooter from the logo in who missed last season with a knee injury.
Lambert comments: “I think there are a lot of things that are new for our program but the vision remains the same. We really think we have the tools to be a top-three finisher in the ASUN every year. We developed a no-quite mentality. We clawed back from being behind big several times and I love that. But it’s time for us to be more in control on the court.”
NCAA Division II
Men
Edward Waters University Tigers
Coach: Cabrel Huff (first year).
2023-24 record: 12-18 overall, 9-12 in the SIAC.
Opening game: Nov. 8 vs. Florida Tech, in Winter Park.
SIAC opener: Nov. 30 at Central State.
Top returners: Senior G Kristian Ford (6-5, 8.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg); senior G R.J. Noord (8.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg); senior C Adonnis Tolbert (6-8, 6.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg); junior G Trevino Glover (8.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg).
Notable: Huff, one of the most decorated high school coaches in the Atlanta area, takes over at EWU after coaching Vorhees to the NAIA national tournament. The Tigers had depth at guard, but Tolbert could be one of the best big men in the conference.
Flagler College Saints
Coach: Blake Selland (third year, 33-28).
2023-24 record: 20-11 overall, 11-7 in the Peach Belt Conference.
Opening game: Nov. 7, at home vs. Emory & Henry.
Peach Belt opener: Dec. 7, at home vs. Georgia Southwestern.
Top returners: Senior G Destin Clark (6-3, 16.1 ppg, 6.5 rpg); senior G Jax Bouknight (6-1, 11.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg); sophomore G Mason Manning (6-2, 4.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg).
Notable: Selland is rebuilding a team that returns only two starters from the 2024 Peach Belt tournament finalists. … Help might come from two players with First Coast ties, freshman Brandon Seldomridge of Hilliard (6-3) and UNF transfer guard Max Hrdlicka (6-5), who averaged 4.0 points per game with the Ospreys.
Women
Edward Waters University Tigers
Coach: Eric Jackson Jr. (first year).
2023-24 record: 9-18 overall, 7-12 in the SIAC.
Opening game: Nov. 6, at Jacksonville.
SIAC opener: Nov. 30, at Central State.
Top returners: Senior C Imani Harris (6-3, 9.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg); senior C Kyana Johnson (6-0, 4.8 pg, 5.9 rpg); senior G Tatum Hayes (5-8, 6.5 ppg, 1.3 rpg).
Notable: Jackson has a strong foundation on the low block to build on with Harris and Johnson. Aside from Hayes, it’s a rebuilding project in his first season.
Flagler College Saints
Coach: Mo Smith (sixth year, 42-84).
2023-24 record: 11-18 overall, 6-12 in Peach Belt Conference.
Opening game: Nov. 8, at Anderson (S.C.).
Peach Belt opener: Dec. 7 at home vs. Georgia Southwestern.
Top returners: Senior G Destiny McClendon (5-10, 16.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg); senior G Sharale McCormack (5-10, 14.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg); senior G Se’lah Reddick (5-8, 5.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg); senior G Dane Bertolina (5-10, 9.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg).
Notable: Positions don’t mean much as the Saints can throw any number of speedy swing players on the floor, led by the bookend guards of McClendon and McCormack. … Reddick, a Raines graduate, averaged 3.7 assists in her last 12 games in 2023-24.
NCCAA South Region
Trinity Baptist College Eagles
Men
Coach: Zach Shank, first year.
2023-24 record: 10-11 overall 6-6 in NCCAA South Region.
Opening game: Nov. 4, at Jacksonville, 7 p.m.
Opening South Region game: Jan. 14, at home vs. Pensacola Christian.
Top returners: Junior G Diego Fernandz (5-8, 17.1 ppg); senior G Xavier Rose (6-0, 12.3 ppg); senior F Jacquez Anderson (6-5, 8.6 ppg); senior G Jace Spinelli (6-1, 7.9 ppg.)
Notable: Shank played at Trinity four years under Patrick Milligan, winning two Bible College National Championships. He is also the athletic director at Eagle’s View Academy.
Women
Coach: Alisha Lewis, first year.
2023-24 record: 9-15 overall, 6-6 in NCCAA South Region.
Opening game: Nov. 2, at home vs. Florida National.
Opening South Region game: Jan. 14, at home vs. Pensacola Christian.
Top returners: Senior G Emma Parrish (5-5, 13.6 ppg); sophomore G Ranajala Brown (5-2, 9.0 ppg); junior F Caroline Smith (5-9, 7.0 ppg).
Notable: Lewis is a Jackson graduate, then played college basketball at Southern University and Spring Hill College. Her husband, Jarred Lewis, is her assistant.
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