GAME NOTES
MADISON, Wisc. – The Coppin State University men's basketball team opens the 2018-19 season at the University of Wisconsin on Tuesday, November 6 with tipoff from the Kohl Center slated for 8 pm Eastern Time.
What You Need to Know
Coppin Contributors
- Senior wing Lamar Morgan received Third Team All-MEAC honors last season and highlighted the 2018-19 Preseason All-MEAC Second Team as voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
- Morgan led the Eagles last season with 12.3 points per game along with 88 3-pointers while pulling down 5.3 rebounds per game. His points increased to 15.7 points per game in conference play as did his shooting percentage from deep (42.6%)
- Redshirt sophomore Dejuan Clayton returns to the CSU lineup after missing most of last season with injury. Clayton was an All-Rookie Team selection in 2016-17 after averaged 12.4 points and 3.1 assists and led the Eagles in scoring last year prior to his injury.
- Chad Andrews-Fulton and Cedric Council return to the front court for CSU. Andrews-Fulton was Coppin's x-factor in wins as he put up 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds in the Eagles' five victories last year. Council averaged nearly a block per game and the duo were second and third on the team, respectively, in rebounding.
- Taqwain Drummond is also back and has proved to be one of the top on-the-ball defenders in the MEAC. Drummond averaged nearly four points and three rebounds last year despite missing several games with an injury.
- The Eagles welcome in five true freshman this season in Ibn Williams, Giir Ring, Nigel Marshall, Justin Steers and Brendan Medley-Bacon.
Scouting the Badgers
- Wisconsin had a down year last season by its standards, going 15-18 with a 7-11 mark in the Big Ten but returns all five starters and its top eight scorers.
- The Badgers are led by senior forward Ethan Happ who was named to the Watch List for the Naismith Trophy as well as the NABC Player of the Year Award. Happ led Wisconsin in points (17.9), rebounds (8.0), assists (3.7), blocks and steals last season.
- Sophomore guard Brad Davison played in all 33 games last season despite an injury and still managed to put up 12.1 points, 2.5 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game. Davison is now back to full strength.
- Brevin Pritzl can also stroke it from deep, averaging just under 9.0 points per game while making 53 3-pointers, just behind Davison's team-high 60.
- Khalil Iverson brings athleticism to the front court and should improve on his 8.6 points and 5.1 rebounds from last year.
- Wisconsin boasts eight players who stand 6-foot-8 or taller which could provide issues for the Eagles.
News & Notes
Lights Out Lamar
In his first season at Coppin State in 2017-18 after transferring from Mineral Area College in Missouri,
Lamar Morgan was named Third Team All-MEAC and proved to be one of the top 3-point shooters in the Nation. With range up to 30 feet, Morgan made an impressive 37.0% of his shots from behind-the-arc, and this clip rose to 42.6% in conference play. An astonishing 77.3% of hit shot attempts last season came from behind-the-arc and he made at least five triples in eight different games, including a season-high eight against Hampton. Morgan also sunk seven three's in games against Connecticut and Morgan State.
Morgan led the Eagles last season with 12.3 points per game last season to go with 5.1 rebounds but in conference action, Morgan put up 15.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. His eight 3-pointers against Hampton were the 3rd-most in school-history and his 88 trifectas were the 4th most in CSU single-season history.
Morgan highlights the Preseason All-MEAC Second team coming into this year.
Clayton on the Comeback Trail
Dejuan Clayton had a sensation freshman year during the 2016-17 season, averaging 12.4 points along with a team-high 3.1 assists en route to being named to the MEAC All-Rookie Team. Clayton started last season off strong, recording 20 points at Cleveland State before going down with a season-ending injury at Central Connecticut State.
Despite playing in just six games last season, Clayton still garnered the respect from the rest of the conference as he was named Preseason All-MEAC coming into this season.
Andrews-Fulton is the X-Factor
Head Coach
Juan Dixon calls
Chad Andrews-Fulton the heart and soul of the team. Last season, the senior forward also proved to be an X-Factor in regards to the team's success. For the season, Andrews-Fulton averaged 6.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, but in victories, put up 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds while shooting nearly 63% from the floor.
Council's Block Party
In his first season at Coppin after transferring from Gordon State College in Georgia,
Cedric Council proved to be one of the top shot blockers in the MEAC, averaging nearly one per game with a team-high 30. No other Eagles player had more than 13 blocks in the year. Council swatted away a season-high five blocks at Ohio University and had multiple blocks in five other games.
Sweet Lou
Of the team's five seniors/graduate students, only guard
Lucian Brownlee has been at Coppin more than two years. In fact only redshirt sophomore
Dejuan Clayton has been with the Eagles for two full seasons and he missed most of last year with an injury. Brownlee has played in 92 games the last three seasons, coming off the bench in each game to provide a scoring spark. Brownlee averaged a career-high 4.9 points last season with a huge game against Bethune-Cookman where he went off for 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting and seven 3-pointers in only 23 minutes of playing time. The coaching staff calls Brownlee 'The Microwave' due to his ability to score the ball rapidly in a short amount of time. With 32 games on the 2018-19 schedule including a MEAC Tournament game, should Brownlee play in each game, he will rank tied for fifth in games played at Coppin State with
Taariq Cephas ('15) with 124 games.
Big Man on Campus
Standing seven-feet tall, freshman and Baltimore native
Brendan Medley-Bacon will add a different dynamic to the Coppin lineup this season. Medley-Bacon is the first seven-footer at Coppin since the 2004-05 season (
Henry Colter) and just the third in CSU history.
Jason Iacona stood 7-1 and played at Coppin from 1997 to 2001.
Family Ties
Graduate student
Kent Auslander is playing in his second season at Coppin after transferring in from the University of Maryland where he was a walk-on for two seasons, playing in nine games. Auslander is the younger brother of
John Auslander who is in his second season at the Eagles' Associate Head Coach. The older Auslander was also a letterwinner at Maryland and saw action in 27 games in three seasons.
From the Land Down Under
Freshman
Giir Ring was born in Egypt but spent nearly all of his life in Sydney, Australia. Ring played his prep school ball in Scottsdale, Arizona at Bella Vista College Preparatory School. Ring is also the cousin on Minnesota Timberwolves forward
Luol Deng.
Playing Together Again
Freshmen
Nigel Marshall and
Ibn Williams are teammates once again, having played four years of high school ball together, in two different States. For three seasons, the duo played under Coach Bob Hurley at the famed St. Anthony's High School in Jersey City, N.J. The school closed following the 2016-17 season, forcing Marshall and Williams to search for a new home, which they found at Bishop McNamara High School. Both guards earned All-Conference accolades in the WCAC, which is arguably the toughest high school basketball conferences in the country.
Dixon in his 2nd Year as Head Coach
Baltimore native and local legend
Juan Dixon is now in his second season as head coach of the Eagles men's basketball team. In his first season as a Division I head coach, Dixon led the Eagles to a 5-27 record with a 5-11 mark in the MEAC. Dixon was a two-time All-American at Maryland and led the Terrapins to its only National Championship in 2002. The leading scorer in school history, Dixon was a two-time All-American, three-time First Team All-ACC selection and the 2002 ACC Player of the Year. He was the 17
th overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards and went on to play nine seasons in the NBA.
