Growing pains will hit Panthers hard

By Richard Martin
Special To Daly Dose Of Hoops

Georgia State Panthers 2019-2020 Basketball Preview

Growing Pains Will Hit Panthers Hard

2018-19 Recap

24-10 (13-5 Sun Belt) Sun Belt Regular Season and Tournament Champions

Lost 84-55 to Houston in NCAA Second Round

Big Wins

74-68 over ETSU

75-65 over St. Bonaventure

91-67 over Georgia

83-80 over Alabama

Three wins over UT-Arlington (63-58 in Arlington, 77-71 in Atlanta, 73-64 in Sun Belt Championship)

The Coach

Despite the strange and unfortunate circumstances that lead to his departure for Tulane, Ron Hunter will probably go down as the greatest coach in Georgia State Men’s Basketball history. In his time in Atlanta, Hunter finished with a record of 171-95, winning three Sun Belt Championships and leading the Panthers to a magical run to the Sweet 16 in 2015.

The Panthers are not without a trusted leader. Rob Lanier was the Associate Head Coach at Tennessee for the past few seasons, including last year when the Vols went 31-6 and made their own run to the Sweet 16. 

Lanier also does have head coaching experience as he was the head man from 2001-2005 at Siena, leading the Saints to a 2002 MAAC Championship and a first round win over Alcorn State in the NCAA Tournament. 

One should hope Lanier’s tenure at Georgia State ends better than the last Panther coach that came after a hall of famer. After Lefty Driesell retired from GSU in 2003, finishing with a 103-49 record and a win over Wisconsin in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, successor Michael Perry went just 62-75 in four seasons and made the NIT once.

The Roster

The cupboard was left bare with Ron Hunter leaving. The top four scorers for Georgia State all left, including D’Marcus Simonds, a member of the Sun Belt All-Tournament Team and a 1,000 point scorer. Simonds lead the team with 18.2 points per game last season.

Devin Mitchell, Mark Benlevi, and Jeff Thomas have all left Atlanta after each member of the trio averaged roughly 12 points per game last season. 

Kane Williams is the leading scorer for the Panthers. as the Douglasville, Georgia native averaged 11.1 points last season. Williams was efficient from the floor, shooting 51% and an astonishing 40% from three. Williams was also fourth in the Sun Belt in steals, averaging almost two steals a game.

The big name on campus this season is freshman Joe Jones III. The Buffalo, New York native played last season at Orangeville Prep in Canada, averaging 11.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Jones also blocked 11 shots in one game. Jones will look to impress the nation like his older brother, Ohio State star and former first overall draft pick Greg Oden. 

The Key Games

You have to give credit to Georgia State for going out and scheduling tough opponents at both the mid major and P5 level. 

After what should be an easy game against NAIA Brewton-Parker, the Panthers aren’t home again until the end of the November, playing road games at College of Charleston, Duke and Georgetown, and in the 2K Empire Classic in Riverside, California against Prairie View A&M.

GSU will return home to the Sports Arena for a couple of intriguing games against Charlotte and Dartmouth, before traveling down the road to take on Mercer. 

The Panthers will open up conference play against the two teams they beat in the 2019 Sun Belt Tournament, UT Arlington and Texas State at home, before heading to the Lone Star State themselves to face AAC stalwart SMU.

After Christmas, the Panthers return to the ATL for one last non conference game against NAIA Middle Georgia State before diving deep into Sun Belt play with three straight road games played in a five day span.

The other matchups on everyone’s mind are the annual GSU rivalry against Georgia Southern, played January 25 in Statesboro and February 29 in Atlanta, and against preseason favorite South Alabama, January 16 in Mobile and at home just two weeks later on January 30.

Outlook

The Sun Belt landscape has changed drastically, with teams like South Alabama, Georgia Southern and Coastal Carolina all showing improvement, and UTA, Texas State and Louisiana all should continue to be mainstays in the conference. GSU is very young, but if they can get some of the close games to go their way and make a run in the Sun Belt Tournament, look out for the Panthers in March.