The Chanticleers and Cougars will tip off at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 13 in Kimbel Arena.
Nov. 12, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Chants Open 2009-10 Season With Home Game Against CofC
The Coastal Carolina University men’s basketball team (0-0) opens the 2009-10 season Friday, Nov. 13 against the College of Charleston (0-0) at Kimbel Arena in Conway, S.C. Game time is at 7:30 p.m., and is part of a men’s-women’s doubleheader on opening night. The game will be broadcast on THE TEAM 93.9 FM with Matt Hogue on the call. The game also will be video streamed on the Big South Network at www.BigSouthSports.com. The Chanticleers return four starters and five letterwinners from last year’s squad.
A Coastal Carolina Win Would...
- Give the Chanticleers its second season-opening win in the last three years.
- Give Head Coach Cliff Ellis his 637th career win and his 25th with the Chanticleers.
- Give the Chants their first win over the College of Charleston since a 58-57 win Jan. 28, 1993.
- Give the Chants their 32nd win against an opponent from the Southern Conference.
Storylines
- Coastal Carolina is 20-16 all-time in season openers and 15-4 all-time in season openers at home. The Chanticleers fell to Coker 80-59 in the 2008-09 season opener.
- The coaching matchup between Coastal Carolina’s Cliff Ellis and the College of Charleston’s Bobby Cremins features 1,155 wins, 11 conference titles and 35 postseason berths. Ellis won his 550th game as a Division I coach Dec. 14 against Virginia-Wise while Cremins earned his 500th coaching victory against Coastal Carolina last season. - Ellis was 10-11 against Cremins when Ellis was at Clemson and Cremins at Georgia Tech.
- Coastal Carolina plays its first in-state team of the season. The Chanticleers will have seven games against teams from the Palmetto State this season.
- Ellis and Coastal Carolina Head Women’s Basketball Coach Alan LeForce both will start the season on Friday night. Ellis and LeForce have a combined 1,051 collegiate wins.
- Coastal Carolina’s Kierre Greenwood and the College of Charleston’s Willis Hall are both freshman who could start in the first game of their collegiate careers. Greenwood looks to get the start at the point after averaging 19 points at New Creations Prep in Indiana last year. Hall scored 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting in the Cougars’ exhibition win over USC Aiken.
- A pair of transfers also might get the start in Friday’s game. Coastal Carolina’s Chad Gray played his first two seasons at South Carolina, while the College of Charleston’s Casaan Breeden played three seasons at Florida State. Both Gray and Breeden are South Carolina natives; Gray from Kingstree and Breeden from Clio.
Scouting College of Charleston
The Cougars defeated USC Aiken 94-92 in overtime Nov. 7 in the team’s only exhibition contest of the season. Tony White, Jr., lead the College of Charleston with 24 points, including going a perfect 11-of-11 from the free-throw line. Casaan Breeden had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Willis Hall added 17 points on 8-of-10 from the field. Andrew Goudelock is the Cougars’ returning leading scorer, averaging 16.7 points in 2008-09. White, Jr., also was in double figures at 12.0 points per game.
Series vs. College of Charleston
The College of Charleston holds a 32-10 series advantage against the Chanticleers. The last meeting occured last Dec. 17, 2008, in Charleston with the Chanticleers falling to the Cougars 73-58. Logan Johnson (Knoxville, Tenn./South Doyle) led the Chanticleers with 12 points, while Joseph Harris (Lejeune, N.C./Lejeune) grabbed 14 rebounds. Coastal Carolina is 9-12 against the Cougars in Conway.
Harris Named to the Preseason All-Big South Team
Redshirt senior Joseph Harris (Lejeune, N.C./Lejeune) was named to the Preseason All-Big South Team, it was announced Oct. 13 at the League’s annual Media Day. Harris also has been named to the All-Big South Teams by Lindy’s, Blue Ribbon and the Sporting News.
Harris, an All-Big South First Team selection last year, averaged 15.2 points and 11.4 rebounds per game in 2008-09. He had a streak of 11 straight double-doubles for the Chanticleers and had 19 total his redshirt-junior season. Harris had career highs of 33 points and 22 rebounds in the 100-97 win over VMI Feb. 14. He also became the seventh player in Big South history to pull down 600 rebounds, have 100 steals and dish out 100 assists in a career. Harris is on track to become the second player in Big South Conference history with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in his career.
Art Parakhouski of Radford was named the Big South Preseason Player of the Year, while Jamarco Warren of Charleston Southern, Grayson Flitner of Gardner-Webb, Joey Lynch-Flohr of Radford and Nick Barbour of High Point joined Harris on the Preseason All-Big South Team.
Chants Picked Eighth in Big South Preseason Poll
Coastal Carolina’s men’s basketball team was picked to finish eighth in the Big South Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll, announced Oct. 13 at the League’s annual Media Day.
Radford was picked to win the Big South Conference, garnering 23 of 24 first-place votes and 239 points overall. UNC Asheville was picked to finish second with 191 points. Winthrop earned a first-place vote and 179 points overall for third place, while Gardner-Webb was picked to finish fourth with 130 points. VMI (125 points) and High Point (124 points) were fifth and sixth, respectively, while Liberty was seventh with 119 points. That was one point ahead of the Chanticleers, who received three third-place and three fourth-place votes. Charleston Southern (53 points) and Presbyterian (42 points) rounded out the poll.
Welcome to Chant Basketball for Five Players
Coastal Carolina welcomes five newcomers for the 2009-10 season. Two freshman point guards enter the mix in Kierre Greenwood (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods (New Creations (Ind.)) and Danny Nieman (Concord, N.C./Concord (Hargrave Military)). Greenwood averaged 19 points and 9.3 assists per game his prep year at New Creations High School in Indiana, while Nieman averaged 10 points and seven assists his prep season at Hargrave Military Academy.
Freshman Tre Lee (Hampton, Va./Bethel) was part of the Peninsula District Championship team his senior season at Bethel High School in Hampton, Va. Forward Chris Evans (Chesapeake, Va./Petersburg) was an All-State Second Team selection by the Associated Press his senior season at Petersburg High School in Chesapeake, Va.
Anthony Raffa (Strathmere, N.J./Wildwood Catholic (Albany)) will sit this season out after transferring from the University at Albany. He averaged 9.7 points and 3.3 rebounds for the Great Danes last season.
Chants Add Three New Assistants to Staff
Coastal Carolina adds three new assistants to the coaching staff for the 2009-10 season. Associate Head Coach Don Hogan heads to Conway after spending the last 16 seasons as head coach at West Florida. Hogan was Cliff Ellis’ first recruit at South Alabama and the duo also were on the same staff at Clemson from 1984-89. Gus Hauser comes to Coastal after spending the last two seasons at Louisiana-Monroe. Hauser also worked on Reggie Theus’ staff at New Mexico State and with Rick Pitino at Louisville. Richie Riley joins the Chanticleer staff after spending three seasons at Pikeville College in Kentucky. He was the recruiting coordinator for Pikeville for three seasons, where he was named a top-five recruiter by the website RecruitingRumors.com. Director of Basketball Operations Jimbo Tolbert returns for his third season on Coach Ellis’ staff, while David Long comes on as the graduate head manager.
Chants to Play in NIT Season Tip-Off
The Chanticleers will play in the Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off in November. Coastal Carolina is guaranteed four games over two weeks, and it starts with a matchup against ACC-power Duke Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU. The Chants face either Elon or Charlotte the next day at either 6 or 8:30 p.m.
The next week, Coastal Carolina will either play in the semifinals and finals at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y., or in the consolation rounds at a campus site.
This is the second straight season that Coastal Carolina has played in an exempt tournament. Last season, Coastal played in the Global Sports Classic in Las Vegas, Nev.
Two Publications Pick Chants Third in Big South
Both the Sporting News and the Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook have chosen Coastal Carolina to finish third in its preseason publication. Sporting News chose the Chants to finish behind Radford and Winthrop and had redshirt senior Joseph Harris (Lejeune, N.C./Lejeune) on its All-Big South team. Blue Ribbon picked the Chants to finish behind Radford and UNC Asheville and also had Harris on its preseason All-Big South Team. The publication also had freshman Kierre Greenwood (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods (New Creations (Ind.)) as its Big South Newcomer of the Year.
Ellis High On Active Division I Career Wins List
Head Coach Cliff Ellis is 15th in Division I wins by an active coach heading into the 2009-10 season. Here is a list of the top 20 active coaches in Division I wins.
1. Mike Krzyzewski (Duke) 833
2. Jim Calhoun (Connecticut) 805
3. Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) 800
4. Bob Huggins (W. Virginia) 639
5. Tom Penders (Houston) 629
6. Gary Williams (Maryland) 625
7. Homer Drew (Valparaiso) 602
8. Roy Williams (N. Carolina) 595
9. Bo Ryan (Wisconsin) 576
10. Mike Montgomery (Cal) 570
11. Ben Braun (Rice) 562
12. Rick Byrd (Belmont) 561
13. Larry Hunter (W. Carolina) 559
Pat Douglass (UC Irvine) 559
15. Cliff Ellis (Coastal Carolina) 558
16. Rick Pitino (Louisville) 552
17. Bobby Cremins (CofC) 519
18. Stew Morrill (Utah State) 485
19. Dave Bike (Sacred Heart) 480
20. Rick Barnes (Texas) 472
To The Point
Freshmen Kierre Greenwood (Cincinnati, Ohio/Winton Woods (New Creations (Ind.)) and Danny Nieman (Concord, N.C./Concord (Hargrave Military)) will look to fill the point guard slot left after Mario Sisinni graduated. Greenwood is penciled in as the starter, but Nieman will also see plenty of action. The third option is to move Mario Edwards (Massillon, Ohio/Washington (Chipola J.C.)) back to the point. He played there the final six games after Sisinni hurt his ankle, averaging 14.2 points per game in that slot.
Gray To Play After Transfer Season
Redshirt-junior Chad Gray (Kingstree, S.C./Florida Prep (South Carolina)) will play in his first game since the 2007-08 season Friday against the College of Charleston after transferring from South Carolina and having to sit out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. Gray averaged 2.2 points and 1.4 rebounds a game with the Gamecocks in 2007-08 after scoring 2.4 points a game as a freshman.
Harris Could Break Numerous Records This Season
Redshirt-senior Joseph Harris (Lejeune, N.C./Lejeune) is on track to break numerous school and conference records this season. He needs just three blocked shots to become the school’s all-time blocked shots leader. He also needs 53 points to become its 16th 1,000-point scorer and 73 rebounds to become the school’s all-time rebounding leader. The redshirt-senior needs 53 points and 184 rebounds to become the Big South’s second-ever career 1,000-point and 1,000-rebound performer, joining High Point’s Arizona Reid on that list. He also needs 198 rebounds to become the conference’s all-time leading rebounder.
Johnson Returns for Year Five
Redshirt-senior Logan Johnson (Knoxville, Tenn./South Doyle) returns for his fifth season in a Chanticleer uniform. Johnson averaged 6.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists last season, scoring a season-high 14 points against Radford Feb. 9. Johnson has an even 500 points in his career heading into the season opener Friday night.
McLaurin Returns from Injury
Redshirt-freshman Sam McLaurin (Havana, Fla./East Gadsden) will look to play in his first game Friday against the College of Charleston after missing the final 25 games of last year due to injury. McLaurin had five rebounds and two blocked shots in last season’s opener against Coker and had 1.3 rebounds a game in his six contests.
Kimbel Has Its Advantages
Coastal Carolina’s Kimbel Arena may seat just over 1,000 fans, but it has been large for the Chanticleers the last six seasons. Coastal Carolina is 34-6 (85.0 percent) since the start of the 2002-03 season in non-conference games at Kimbel. Coastal Carolina had a stellar 14-1 overall record at home in 2005-06, the most home victories since the program went Division I for the 1985-86 season. CCU is also 69-27 (71.9 percent) overall at the Conway campus venue in the last six years.
Coach Ellis Can Be Seen and Heard
Head Coach Cliff Ellis will have a radio and television show for the third straight season. The Cliff Ellis Show can be seen on WPDE-TV Channel 15 at 12 p.m., on Sunday’s during the basketball season. The Chanticleer Call-In for basketball will start Tuesday, Dec. 1 from 6:30-7:30 p.m., at Logan’s Roadhouse in the Coastal Grand Mall. Matt Hogue will be the host for the hour-long show, which will take place Dec. 1 and 8; Jan. 5, 12, 19 and 26; Feb. 2, 9, 16 and 23 and March 9 if the Chants make the NCAA Tournament. The call-in number for questions to Coach Ellis is 877-264-5371.
Chanticleers in the Pros
Former Coastal Carolina men’s basketball players Pele Paelay and Moses Sonko are playing professionally in Europe this season. Paelay currently is averaging 12.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game for Etoile Charleville-Mezieres in France. Sonko is averaging 13.9 points and 4.6 rebounds a contest for Aix-Maurienne Savoie Basket in France.
Up Next
Coastal Carolina will start the Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off Monday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m., against #9/8 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
Stats
News
Schedule
Roster
