GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum College men's basketball team will open its season this Friday night when they host day one of the 2016 South Atlantic Conference / Conference Carolinas Challenge at Pioneer Arena.
Tusculum will open the 2016-2017 campaign in Friday's second game as the Pioneers take on Lees-McRae College at 8 p.m. That contest will follow the first game of the evening between last year's NCAA II national runner-up Lincoln Memorial University and King University, which tips off at 6 p.m.
Day two of the Challenge will be held on Saturday. LMU will face Lees-McRae at 3 p.m., followed by Tusculum and King at 5 p.m.
TC head coach Michael Jones, who is entering his sixth season in Greeneville, returns eight lettermen and two starters from last year's 14-15 squad that finished eighth in the South Atlantic Conference standings and advanced to the SAC Tournament quarterfinals.
The Pioneers finished the season strong, winning four of its last five regular season games, including overtime victories over Carson-Newman University and 12th-ranked Queens University of Charlotte.
"We've got a really good mix of quality returners with a lot of experience to go with a very high-level class of incoming student-athletes, said Jones."
Leading the charge for the Pioneers this season will be 6-10 senior center Chase Mounce, who averaged 13.3 points and a team-best 6.5 rebounds per game. The Elkin, North Carolina product garnered All-SAC honors two seasons ago and has scored 1,017 career points in the Black and Orange. His 98 career blocked shots are fourth in Tusculum history and owns the fourth-best career rebounding average by a Pioneer hauling in 6.33 boards per contest.
Also returning to the starting line-up for Coach Jones is senior point guard Kendall Patterson. The 5-11 Burlington, North Carolina native averaged 9.3 points per game and dished out 3.76 assists per contest (4th in SAC). The Barton College transfer dished out an assist in every game last season and led the team with his 41 steals.
Senior guard Zach Davis returns for his final Tusculum campaign. The Christiansburg, Virginia native played in all 29 games last season, including nine starts where he averaged nine points and six rebounds per contest. He posted a career-high 31 points in a big home win over Newberry last year where he fired 12-of-15 from the field and produced the eighth-best single-game field goal percentage (80%) in TC history. He also contributed 21 steals and his 14 blocked shots were second on the squad.
Senior long range specialist Cory Fagan is looking to build upon his solid junior season where he poured in 48 three-pointers and shot 40 percent from beyond the arc. Fagan also averaged 3.3 rebounds per game and finished last year with 46 assists, 10 blocked shots and 10 steals. The Oak Ridge, Tennessee product enters his final collegiate campaign with 134 three-pointers in a Pioneer uniform.
Vincent Brown, a senior guard from Knoxville, Tennessee, averaged 2.8 points and shot 38 percent from three-point land in his 22 games off the bench for Coach Jones' club. The Walters State College transfer proved a valuable contributor to Tusculum's quick transition attack as he poured in a season-high 13 points, including three 3-pointers against Newberry College.
Junior guard Gunnar Beamer, a native of Galax, Virginia, battled through injuries last season, but provided quality minutes in his 24 outings (9 starts) while averaging 14.8 minutes per contest. Beamer averaged 3.7 points and 1.6 rebounds per game, while dishing out 36 assists in his third TC campaign.
Sophomore forward Zach Hartle looks to build upon his rookie season where he posted 3.0 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. The 6-7 King, North Carolina native canned 13 treys last season and has his sights on increasing that production from beyond the arc. He recorded season highs with 10 points and four rebounds against Anderson University. He made quite a splash with 21 points and five 3-pointers in an exhibition contest against NCAA Division I East Tennessee State University a year ago.
Also returning for the Pioneers is 6-1 sophomore guard Malik Tyree, who played in 11 outings off the bench where he contributed 17 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Tyree made seven of his 11 field goal attempts (63.6%), including both of his three-point tries for the Lynchburg, Virginia product.
Sophomore center Connor Mitchell is back after redshirting the 2015-16 season due to injury. The 6-8 Kingsport, Tennessee native played in 18 games as a true freshman two years ago (2014-15) where he totaled 10 points, 31 rebounds, eight blocked shots and seven steals.
Redshirt freshman Diego Poore, a 6-2 guard from Crossville, Tennessee, is also back for the Pioneers. He averaged 14 points and three assists per game in his final season at Cumberland County High School, where he was an All-District standout two years ago.
Eleven talented newcomers will be featured on this year's roster including junior college transfers Ronnie Baylark, Kylen Butler and Hunter Parrish.
Baylark, a 6-2 guard from Crestview, Florida, averaged 17 points per game while earning All-Conference and All-State honors at the Marion Military Institute in Illinois. Baylark played his prep career at Crestview High School in Florida where he garnered Player of the Year accolades in 2014 and averaged 17 points, four rebounds and three assists per game while leading his squad to a District title.
Butler, a 6-5 guard from Danville, Illinois, comes to Greeneville after playing the last two seasons at Wallace State College in Alabama. He started in 32 games last season while leading Wallace State to a 26-6 record while capturing the conference title. He average 7.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in his final season at Wallace.
Parrish, a 6-7 forward from Oviedo, Florida, played last season at Snead Community College where he posted 9.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game at the Alabama junior college. He also attended The Master's Academy in Florida, earned District Player of the Year honors and averaged 16.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
Eight freshmen are also on the 2016-17 roster for the Pioneers including Caleb Hodnett, Brandon Dansoh, Keaton Dotson, Ethan Harmon, Dustin Day, Victor Corrales, Trey Blevins and Tarique Wynn.
Hodnett, a 6-8 forward from Adolphus, Kentucky, averaged 29.1 points per game in his final season at The Aaron Academy in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He also hauled in 11 rebounds per contest and dished out five assists per game, while shooting 66.4 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from three-point territory.
Dansoh, a 6-7 forward from Antioch, Tennessee, played at Cane Ridge High School where he garnered All-Metro and District All-Tournament team honors in 2016. He led Cane Ridge to three district crowns, including last year where he posted 9.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.3 blocked shots per game.
Dotson, a 6-4 guard from Gallatin, Tennessee, played his prep career at Station Camp as he garnered All-Region, All-County and All-Conference accolades twice, while leading his team to three district titles, two region championships and advanced to the TSSAA State semifinal. During his career at Station Camp, Dotson scored 1,041 points and shot 52 percent from beyond the three-point arc.
Harmon, a local product from Greeneville, averaged 8.3 points and shot 43 percent from three-point land in his senior year at North Greene High School. He was named the Huskies' team most valuable player in 2016 and was the team's Best Defender a year before that. The 6-1 guard also shot 78 percent from the free throw line in 2016.
Day, a 6-3 guard from nearby Jonesborough, scored 1,529 points during his stellar career at David Crockett High School. He led the Pioneers to one of the best four-year runs in school history which included two conference championships, two region titles and the 2016 Sub-State crown as his team advanced to the TSSAA State Tournament for the first time in Crockett history. He was a three-time All-Conference and two-time District All-Tournament selection.
Blevins comes to Tusculum following one of the finest three-point shooting careers in the State of Kentucky at Wayne County High School. The 6-foot guard from Monticello, Kentucky, recorded a State record 430 made three-pointers during his stellar career. He was named the 12th Region Player of the Year last season while averaging 24 points, four rebounds and two steals per game. He scored 2,750 career points, which are the second-most in school history, while his 745 career assists and 300 career steals are ranked in the top-five in the WCHS record book.
Corrales, a 6-3 freshman guard from Eden, North Carolina, was an All-Area standout at Morehead High School. He averaged 14.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He was also an All-Conference and All-County track selection at Morehead for three seasons.
Wynn, a 6-4 forward from Asheville, North Carolina, earned All-Conference, All-County and All-District recognition at Erwin High School. He led Erwin to four MAC Conference titles while serving as team captain.
Following this weekend's games with King and Lees-McRae, the Pioneers will be on the road next Wednesday night when they travel to Belmont Abbey College for the first of two meetings with the Crusaders this season. Tusculum will open league play next Saturday (Nov. 19) when they host Wingate University at Pioneer Arena.
