Troy University Athletics
Basketball Trojans Set to Hit Hardwood Saturday Morning
10/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Basketball (M)
TROY -- The 2006-07 Troy Men's Basketball season officially gets underway at 7 a.m. Saturday when six returning lettermen and seven newcomers hit the court at Trojan Arena.
Under NCAA rules, teams are allowed to open practice at 7 p.m. on the Friday closest to Oct. 15. However, with the volleyball team hosting Arkansas State at the same time, Coach Don Maestri opted to wait until the following morning.
"As is the case in most programs, everyone is excited to start practice," Maestri said. "For us, the challenge will be to mix the experienced guys with a talented group of newcomers. We need to step up, either with an individual or collectively as a group, to replace what we lost to graduation."
The first order of business for Maestri and the Trojans is to work toward replacing first-team all-conference selection Bobby Dixon. who led Troy in scoring (17.9 points), three-pointers (90), assists (192), steals (88) and minutes per game (34.6).
The hope is to replace that kind of production with a trio of newcomers. Senior Richard Chaney (6-5, 205) came to Troy last year after a stellar career at Utah, where he helped the Utes to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
The other two likely starters at guard come from the junior college ranks. Jerome Odem is a true point guard from Frank Phillips College in Texas. As a sophomore, he averaged 14 points and seven assists per game. O'Darien Bassett started his collegiate career as a point guard at Okaloosa-Walton College, but blossomed when he moved to shooting guard for his second season. He increased his scoring averaged from single digits to almost 26 points per contest.
Two wild cards in the backcourt are senior Boo Ramsey (6-1, 194) and junior Justin Jonus (6-6, 221). Both will become eligible for the the Trojans at the close of the first semester on Dec. 12. Ramsey finished second on the team in treys last year with 78, proving to the Sun Belt that on any given night, he may be the best three-point shooter in the country.
Jonus, meanwhile, came to Troy this summer from Alabama. One of the top scorers in state high school history, the junior features the inside-out style of play that Maestri loves and opponents find hard to defend.
The backcourt is also the deepest part of the Troy attack. Sophomores Josh Williams and Antwaun Burroughs and true freshman Brandon Hazzard will settle into reserve roles this season, but have the talent to give the Trojans a spark when the opportunity comes.
Ironically, the often-overlooked frontcourt has the most experience in 2006-07. Returning starters Cedric Jackson and Sammy Sharp, both seniors, could challenge for postseason honors in the Sun Belt Conference.
Jackson and Sharp finished second and third on the team in scoring last season, both topping double figures at 13.3 and 10.7 points, respectively. The duo was also a force on the boards, combining for more than 11 rebounds per contest.
Despite having the bigger frame, Jackson was equally comfortable out on the perimeter. He hit 38.3 percent from beyond the arc, making 46 of 120 attempts. On the other hand, Sharp almost single-handedly created the 2005-06 highlight video with spectacular rebounds and alley-oop dunks. More importanly, though, he was the anchor at the defensive end, blocking a team-high 45 shot attempts.
Senior Jarvis Acker has yet to produce a flashy season in a statistical sense, but did produce exactly what was expected of him last year.
In addition to the three returners inside, Maestri signed two new big bodies to the roster for this season. The addition of junior Ralph Jennings and freshman Bernard Toombs will bolster the inside attack, something clearly lacking in the always-physical Sun Belt Conference.
The Trojans open the season on Nov. 10 at Auburn before returning to Troy two days later for the home opener against Loyola (New Orleans). Tickets information can be obtained by calling the ticket office at (334) 670-3681 or 877-TSU-WINS.
