Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Tuesday, November 6
Murfreesboro, TN
6:30 PM
Middle Tennessee
vs
Lees-McRae
Changes breed excitement as Men's Hoops tipoff nears
11/5/2018 3:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Blue Raiders open season Tuesday in Murphy Center
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Fall is in the air, and that doesn't just mean exciting football. It's also time to tip things off on the hardwood.
Middle Tennessee will look different this season, both with the players on the court and the coaches roaming the sidelines.
Nick McDevitt was hired as the Blue Raiders' 20th head coach in program history in late March after the departure of the school's all-time wins leader, Kermit Davis.
McDevitt, who spent the last five years at UNC Asheville, takes over a team fresh off the best three-year stretch in its history. The Blue Raiders went 81-23 overall and 46-8 in Conference USA in that span, reaching the NCAA Tournament Second Round twice and winning four conference championships (two regular season and two tournament).
The McDevitt era will start on Tuesday against the Lees-McRae Bobcats. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Murphy Center, and it can't get here quick enough for the Raiders.
"For some of the guys, they've really been playing against each other since about June," McDevitt said. "They're just looking forward to playing against someone with a different-colored jersey."
New coaches aren't strangers to success
McDevitt and his coaching staff's average age is 35 years, 289 days, ranking as the eighth youngest in the country.
The staff may not have an abundance of years of experience, but they're already used to winning.
In McDevitt's five years at UNC Asheville, the Bulldogs held a 98-66 overall record and made the 2016 NCAA Tournament, 2017 CollegeInsider.com Tournament and 2018 National Invitation Tournament. They also won three conference titles (one tournament and two regular season).
Assistant coach Sean Dixon was on McDevitt's staff all five years at UNC Asheville, while Wes Long joined in 2017. Andre Morgan, the third assistant on the MT staff, came from 2018 NCAA Tournament participant UNC Greensboro, and Director of Operations Kerry Hammonds is in his second year at his alma mater.
Another tough schedule
The young coaching staff will get thrown to the wolves in its first schedule at Middle Tennessee.
A tough non-conference slate includes games against in-state foes Belmont, Lipscomb and Vanderbilt; old conference rival Murray State; a road trip to Rhode Island; and a Bridgestone Arena showdown with Davis' Ole Miss Rebels.
"We've clearly got a tough non-conference schedule this year, which is typical for our program," McDevitt said. "Early on, I just want to see that we're executing things that we're working on in practice. There are times where things can get quiet on the floor, and quiet teams tend to get unorganized on both sides of the ball. Our goal is to make sure we're all on the same page and helping each other out."
The Blue Raiders will also make a trip to one of the toughest mid-season tournaments in the country, the Battle 4 Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas, from Nov. 21-23.
They'll start the tournament with preseason No. 5-ranked Virginia, then square off with either Butler or Dayton.
"We're looking forward to that trip," McDevitt said. "It's a high-level event that I'm glad our players get to experience."
New-look Raiders
Like the coaching staff, Middle Tennessee's roster is also stocked with new players this season.
The Blue Raiders only return 13 total starts from last year, the seventh fewest in the nation. Their 15.2 percent of minutes played and 10.2 percent of points returning are also fifth and sixth fewest, respectively.
Meshing all of the new faces – seven players weren't at Middle Tennessee last season – is a process that will take time.
"There are only three scholarship players on our roster who've ever played a game here," McDevitt said. "Developing the chemistry and the small things that help teams win games just takes time … and we don't have that yet. But, I like how we want to get there and want to get better."
The seven newcomers are made up of three freshman and four transfers.
Since arriving on campus, they've taken to the leadership of returners James Hawthorne, Antonio Green and Karl Gamble.
Gamble is a senior who has the most returning career starts (10) and minutes played (769) in a Blue Raider uniform. Hawthorne, a senior who transferred from Southwest Mississippi Community College last season, averaged eight minutes per game last year, while Green redshirted after transferring from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Hawthorne and Green have been the loudest voices daily in the practice gym.
"It can be a challenge for some of the returning players, because some of the things we do are new to them, as well," McDevitt said. "Those two are for sure our vocal leaders. They come to the gym every day on their own to work on their game, and they're the most vocal every day in practice. They'll both have very different roles this year than last year … they'll have to have big roles on game night."
Players redshirting
Some of the new Raiders won't suit up this season due to NCAA transfer rules.
Arkansas transfer C.J. Jones, Eastern Kentucky transfer DeAndre Dishman and Seminole State College transfer Darnell Butler Jr. will all sit out. McDevitt is hoping they follow a similar path as former MT transfers LaRon Dendy and JaCorey Williams, who both won conference player of the year honors after transferring and redshirting a season.
"They have to be a year better, not just a year older," McDevitt said. "I've heard stories of how JaCorey really worked on his game, and that's what our players will have to do. This time next year, they need to be 12 months better."
The season is here
Middle Tennessee's 2018-19 campaign will start Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. against Lees-McRae, an NCAA Division II school from Banner Elk, North Carolina.
The season of change is finally here. The Blue Raiders are hoping the winning stays the same, though.
"I hope folks will see each night a team that plays hard and plays the right way," McDevitt said. "We're looking forward to it … it's finally here."
Josh Vardaman is the staff writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Vardaman and also follow @MTAthletics for more on the Blue Raiders.
Middle Tennessee will look different this season, both with the players on the court and the coaches roaming the sidelines.
Nick McDevitt was hired as the Blue Raiders' 20th head coach in program history in late March after the departure of the school's all-time wins leader, Kermit Davis.
McDevitt, who spent the last five years at UNC Asheville, takes over a team fresh off the best three-year stretch in its history. The Blue Raiders went 81-23 overall and 46-8 in Conference USA in that span, reaching the NCAA Tournament Second Round twice and winning four conference championships (two regular season and two tournament).
The McDevitt era will start on Tuesday against the Lees-McRae Bobcats. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Murphy Center, and it can't get here quick enough for the Raiders.
"For some of the guys, they've really been playing against each other since about June," McDevitt said. "They're just looking forward to playing against someone with a different-colored jersey."
New coaches aren't strangers to success
McDevitt and his coaching staff's average age is 35 years, 289 days, ranking as the eighth youngest in the country.
The staff may not have an abundance of years of experience, but they're already used to winning.
In McDevitt's five years at UNC Asheville, the Bulldogs held a 98-66 overall record and made the 2016 NCAA Tournament, 2017 CollegeInsider.com Tournament and 2018 National Invitation Tournament. They also won three conference titles (one tournament and two regular season).
Assistant coach Sean Dixon was on McDevitt's staff all five years at UNC Asheville, while Wes Long joined in 2017. Andre Morgan, the third assistant on the MT staff, came from 2018 NCAA Tournament participant UNC Greensboro, and Director of Operations Kerry Hammonds is in his second year at his alma mater.
Another tough schedule
The young coaching staff will get thrown to the wolves in its first schedule at Middle Tennessee.
A tough non-conference slate includes games against in-state foes Belmont, Lipscomb and Vanderbilt; old conference rival Murray State; a road trip to Rhode Island; and a Bridgestone Arena showdown with Davis' Ole Miss Rebels.
"We've clearly got a tough non-conference schedule this year, which is typical for our program," McDevitt said. "Early on, I just want to see that we're executing things that we're working on in practice. There are times where things can get quiet on the floor, and quiet teams tend to get unorganized on both sides of the ball. Our goal is to make sure we're all on the same page and helping each other out."
The Blue Raiders will also make a trip to one of the toughest mid-season tournaments in the country, the Battle 4 Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas, from Nov. 21-23.
They'll start the tournament with preseason No. 5-ranked Virginia, then square off with either Butler or Dayton.
"We're looking forward to that trip," McDevitt said. "It's a high-level event that I'm glad our players get to experience."
New-look Raiders
Like the coaching staff, Middle Tennessee's roster is also stocked with new players this season.
The Blue Raiders only return 13 total starts from last year, the seventh fewest in the nation. Their 15.2 percent of minutes played and 10.2 percent of points returning are also fifth and sixth fewest, respectively.
Meshing all of the new faces – seven players weren't at Middle Tennessee last season – is a process that will take time.
"There are only three scholarship players on our roster who've ever played a game here," McDevitt said. "Developing the chemistry and the small things that help teams win games just takes time … and we don't have that yet. But, I like how we want to get there and want to get better."
The seven newcomers are made up of three freshman and four transfers.
Since arriving on campus, they've taken to the leadership of returners James Hawthorne, Antonio Green and Karl Gamble.
Gamble is a senior who has the most returning career starts (10) and minutes played (769) in a Blue Raider uniform. Hawthorne, a senior who transferred from Southwest Mississippi Community College last season, averaged eight minutes per game last year, while Green redshirted after transferring from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Hawthorne and Green have been the loudest voices daily in the practice gym.
"It can be a challenge for some of the returning players, because some of the things we do are new to them, as well," McDevitt said. "Those two are for sure our vocal leaders. They come to the gym every day on their own to work on their game, and they're the most vocal every day in practice. They'll both have very different roles this year than last year … they'll have to have big roles on game night."
Players redshirting
Some of the new Raiders won't suit up this season due to NCAA transfer rules.
Arkansas transfer C.J. Jones, Eastern Kentucky transfer DeAndre Dishman and Seminole State College transfer Darnell Butler Jr. will all sit out. McDevitt is hoping they follow a similar path as former MT transfers LaRon Dendy and JaCorey Williams, who both won conference player of the year honors after transferring and redshirting a season.
"They have to be a year better, not just a year older," McDevitt said. "I've heard stories of how JaCorey really worked on his game, and that's what our players will have to do. This time next year, they need to be 12 months better."
The season is here
Middle Tennessee's 2018-19 campaign will start Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. against Lees-McRae, an NCAA Division II school from Banner Elk, North Carolina.
The season of change is finally here. The Blue Raiders are hoping the winning stays the same, though.
"I hope folks will see each night a team that plays hard and plays the right way," McDevitt said. "We're looking forward to it … it's finally here."
Josh Vardaman is the staff writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Vardaman and also follow @MTAthletics for more on the Blue Raiders.
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