FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2007
Contact:  Dwayne Hanberry, SCAC Associate Commissioner

MEN'S BASKETBALL RACE TOO CLOSE TO CALL IN 2007-08

SUWANEE, Ga. - The race for the 2007-08 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball title is predicted to be a three horse race, with two candidates slightly favored over the third.

In exclusive voting by the sports information directors of the conference, Centre College, DePauw University and Millsaps College each received first-place votes, but it was Centre and DePauw that finished with the highest overall total as each garnered 110 points in the process to tie atop the preseason poll. Millsaps, despite one more first-place vote than Centre, finished third in the poll with 105 points.

Centre College returns three starters from last season's team that won its first-ever SCAC Tournament title and first conference championship since 1993 - including 2006-07 SCAC Player-of-the-Year and Tournament MVP Matt Nestheide. The senior guard averaged 15.1 points (eighth in the SCAC) and 3.3 assists (fourth in the SCAC) per game and had the highest field goal percentage (53.6%) of any guard in the league last season in leading the Colonels to their first NCAA appearance since 1992. Centre advanced to the second round before bowing out against the second-ranked team in the country, the College of Wooster.

In addition to Nestheide, Centre returns senior guard Thomas Britt (9.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg) and junior guard T.C. Thomason (6.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg) as well as sophomore forward Mark Noll - last season's conference Newcomer-of-the-Year - who averaged 6.9 points and three rebounds per game a year ago.

Although no SCAC team is ranked in any preseason poll, Centre did receive the third-most votes for any school outside of the D3hoops.com preseason Top 25.

DePauw University, who was also among the list of schools receiving votes in the D3hoops.com preseason Top 25, returns a pair of All-SCAC Second Team performers - junior guard Mike Moore and senior post Stephen Schott. Moore (10.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.4 apg) has led the SCAC in assists each of his two seasons and has the highest career assists per game average (5.49) of any player in league history. Schott averaged 11.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game (third in the SCAC) last season and shot 52.4% from the field (sixth in the SCAC). His 616 career rebounds place him eighth all-time in league history. The Indiana Tigers were knocked out of the NCAA Tourney last season by Whitworth on a three-pointer at the buzzer in overtime.

Millsaps College returns senior forwards Edrick Montgomery and Rodney Rogan. Montgomery, a First Team All-SCAC and Second Team D3hoops.com All-South selection, averaged 17.4 points (second in the SCAC) and 9.8 rebounds (tied for first in the SCAC) during the regular season and was even better in conference games. The senior’s numbers increased to 17.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game in SCAC play. He was second in the league in field goal percentage (54.7%) and recorded 10 double-doubles during the season. Rogan averaged 13.6 points (11th in the SCAC) and 4.8 rebounds per game - which earned him Second Team All-SCAC honors.

Trinity University, who was tabbed to finish fourth in the preseason poll, hopes to bounce back from what was for them, a disappointing 2006-07 campaign. The Tigers missed out on the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years, but still managed to reach the SCAC Tournament final for the fourth time in five tries. Trinity returns a pair of Third Team All-SCAC guards in juniors Charles Houston (10.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and B.J. Moon (8.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg). Houston's 2.0 steals per game ranked third in the SCAC.

Hendrix College is slotted at fifth and looks to build on last season's performance that saw the Warriors qualify for the SCAC Tournament for the first time. First Team All-SCAC forward junior Andrew King finished third in the league in scoring (16.6 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (7.8 rpg), and was also ninth in assists (2.4 apg) and fifth in the field goal percentage (52.9%). He had 20 or more points in nine different games for Hendrix this season with seven double-doubles. Sophomore guard Cal Rose, who averaged 10.2 points per game last season, also returns.

Southwestern University, the SID’s sixth pick, had its first losing season in league play since the 2001-02 season. The Pirates will try to right the ship behind the play of senior forward Matt Caplan, who averaged 11.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last season. Oglethorpe University is selected to finish seventh in the preseason poll. Senior post Ahmad Kareem Shaheed led the SCAC in rebounding (9.8 rpg) and field goal percentage (58.1%) last season and was seventh in scoring (15.3 ppg). 

The league's leading scorer, junior guard Cory Smith, returns to lead Rhodes College, the SID's eighth pick. Smith averaged 18.8 points per game and was also fourth in the conference in free throw percentage (80.5%) and 11th in assists (2.22 per game). Senior guard Joe Thompson averaged 11.5 points per game in 2006-2007 while senior forward Long averaged 5.0 points and led the Lynx in rebounding with an average of 5.1 a game. Picked at ninth, Sewanee-University of the South returns junior forward Ben Pursell, who averaged 9.7 points and 6.4 rebounds (sixth in the SCAC) per game. Pursell, who has led the team in rebounding both seasons on the Mountain, was one of the biggest surprises of the Pilot Rocky Top League this past summer - shooting 73% and averaging 13.2 points per game in a league full of Division I players.

Colorado College, selected at 10th, begins its first season in the SCAC. The Tigers, who went 4-22 in 2006-07, return their two leading scorers, junior guards Nate Brodman (14.5 ppg) and Lance Jacobs (12.6 ppg). Jacobs shot 47.4% from the floor. Senior forward Kyle Keefe is the team's leading returning rebounder (5.1 rpg). Austin College, the SID’s 11th pick, looks to improve on last season's winless debut in conference. Sophomore forward Chris Sturtevant is the team's leading returning scorer and rebounder (7.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg).

Birmingham-Southern College, in the first year of its four-year provisional transition from Division I to Division III, will not count in the league standings.

The 2007-08 season tips off Friday, November 16.