Wofford Basketball opens the 2018-19 Season
It’s finally time for another year of Wofford basketball. After finishing with a 21-13 record last season, including a 12-5 record inside Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, the men’s team looks to pick up where they left off and chase their first SoCon Championship since 2015. Adding 5 freshmen —Ryan Larson, Alex Michael, Drew Cottrell, Messiah Jones and Isaiah Bigelow—as well as having transfer Chevez Goodwin on the court adds incredible depth to a remarkably lengthy Wofford team that boasts an average height of 6’5”.
“I like our length, I like the size of this Wofford team,” says Head Coach Mike Young. “If you gave any of us as coaches a choice, we’d like to be big and long because the defensive end and the glass—offensively and defensively—are so critical to anyone’s success.”
“It’s great knowing that the people behind you can back you up and you’re not going to drop any as a team,” says Junior Guard Nathan Hoover. “I was excited about [Chevez] last year [and] just being able to practice, you can see how good he can be. He improved over the summer and over the year, and now I think he’s going to be a really good part of our team being successful.”
Coach Young also mentioned Wofford Men’s Basketball’s first SoCon Championship team, the 2009-10 team, that could “play 11 guys without a lot of drop-off.” This team, Young says, could play “13 guys,” but he was quick to point out that that is very unlikely.
Young: “You’ve got to have competition in practice. It’s an essential component of any group. There has to be someone you’re competing with daily for playing time.”
Among the Men’s team’s returning players are senior guard, Jerry West Award Watch List Member and Preseason All-SoCon selection, Fletcher Magee and senior forward and Preseason All-SoCon selection, Cameron Jackson. Young also expects guards Nathan Hoover and Storm Murphy, to take large leaps as leaders of this year’s team.
“I’ve never wanted to stymie leadership from other areas,” says Young, “and I’ve always thought that leaders emerge over the course of the season. Storm Murphy is going to be one of those guys. Nathan Hoover is going to be one of those guys. Cameron Jackson is a natural because he’s such a selfless and sweet person.”
Hoover said, “It’s an honor. … To have [Coach Young’s] trust and his word saying that I’m a great leader of the team is special. It feels good.”
The men tip off their season tonight as they host the North Carolina Tar Heels in a rematch of last year’s historic upset in Wofford history, but the road to prosperity does not come without tough challenges after their season opener against Georgia Southern. This year, the Terriers are set to travel all over the country to face the likes of Kansas, Stanford, Oklahoma and even South Carolina in a rematch of last year’s season opener.
“We’re coming in with the mindset that we’re going to win every single game that we play no matter who it is,” says Hoover.
Young: “I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think we were going to be very good with great opportunities in January, February and March. … To get our brand into other regions is great not only for our basketball team [and] our players, but the college and the Spartanburg community.”
On the other side, coming off of a 10-20 campaign, Wofford women’s basketball has a completely new look this season compared to last year. The team is headlined by the arrival of 7 freshman players, —Niyah Lutz, MaryMartha Turner, Elena Pulanco, Alea Harris, Lawren Cook, Alexis Tomlin and Jackie Carman—as well as the return of redshirt junior and Preseason All-SoCon selection, Chloe Wanink, who is rebounding from a season-ending injury last year. The team only features one senior: center, Marissa Bayer.
“The depth is something that is really important because we didn’t necessarily have that last year,” says Bayer, “and for them to be able to come in and get to contribute to the team, it’s going to have a really strong impact on the games that we have.”
Head Coach Jimmy Garrity says that the team has “got 7 good ones.”
Garrity: “One of the things that they’ve brought to this team is competitiveness. … They’re all pretty skilled, they can all dribble, pass and shoot really well, and they just fit what we want to do.”
Concerning Chloe’s return, Garrity also mentioned that “it’s burning inside of her to get back and she has done a phenomenal job of rehabbing. The players love to see her back out there, the coaches love to see her back out there, and she appears to be heading in the direction where she hasn’t dropped anything off, either.”
With such a young group of players, led by another Preseason All-SoCon selection in sophomore point guard Da’ja Green and junior guard Cairo Booker, the future appears very bright for the Terriers. However, Garrity is not looking too far ahead at all, saying that “[the team will] have that core, they’ll learn how to play with each other, and really I think that the future looks really good. … [but] we’re just excited for this year and I think we’ve got a chance to surprise some people.”
The women also tip off their season Tuesday Nov. 6 on the road as they face Georgia Southern. They are on the road for their first four games of the season, also facing Clemson, North Carolina-Charlotte and Presbyterian. Their home opener will be Sunday, November 18 at 2 p.m. when the Terriers face College of Charleston.
Caption: Wofford Coach Jimmy Garrity during a game against ETSU in the SoCon tournament last season.
