CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- University of Charleston men's basketball Coach Greg White enters this season with a little more than 25 years of collegiate coaching experience.
And with plenty of experience gone from last season's roster, along with a trio of damaging preseason injuries to key returnees, White will need to rely on all of that experience in guiding what looks to be a talented, but youthful, team through the 2008-09 season.
The graduation of senior starters Marquis Brooks, Rob Strickland and Austin Weatherington, coupled with the transfer of freshmen guard Jamaal Williams results in the loss of 53 points per game from a squad that averaged 85 points per contest last season.
"We're in a situation where we have to replace those 54 points and we're going to try to score 80 to 90 points a game again," said White, who is in his 11th season at UC over two stints. "We're going to have a whole new group of individuals taking those shots, so that's a little scary.
"At the same time, I like what I see from our guys. We've had a few scrimmages and the young guys have fared pretty well. We're working at it and we're going to be a work in progress for much of the season and possibly the entire season."
Making things more difficult for White this preseason are injuries to the Golden Eagles' top three returning players.
Junior John White, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound guard/forward, has been sidelined the last seven weeks with a hairline fracture in his pubic bone. White, who averaged 12.6 points and eight rebounds per contest last season, is expected back, but a timeline on his return is unknown.
Junior guard Warren Wallace (7.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg) is recovering from hernia surgery in October. Wallace, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound guard, has returned to practice, but isn't expected to be a full strength when the regular season begins.
The other injured junior returnee is 6-foot-6, 270-pound center Ibrahim Marone (4.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg). Marone has been out for seven weeks with a tear to his Achilles tendon. Like John White, Marone is expected back, but also with an unknown timeline for his return.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- University of Charleston men's basketball Coach Greg White enters this season with a little more than 25 years of collegiate coaching experience.
And with plenty of experience gone from last season's roster, along with a trio of damaging preseason injuries to key returnees, White will need to rely on all of that experience in guiding what looks to be a talented, but youthful, team through the 2008-09 season.
The graduation of senior starters Marquis Brooks, Rob Strickland and Austin Weatherington, coupled with the transfer of freshmen guard Jamaal Williams results in the loss of 53 points per game from a squad that averaged 85 points per contest last season.
"We're in a situation where we have to replace those 54 points and we're going to try to score 80 to 90 points a game again," said White, who is in his 11th season at UC over two stints. "We're going to have a whole new group of individuals taking those shots, so that's a little scary.
"At the same time, I like what I see from our guys. We've had a few scrimmages and the young guys have fared pretty well. We're working at it and we're going to be a work in progress for much of the season and possibly the entire season."
Making things more difficult for White this preseason are injuries to the Golden Eagles' top three returning players.
Junior John White, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound guard/forward, has been sidelined the last seven weeks with a hairline fracture in his pubic bone. White, who averaged 12.6 points and eight rebounds per contest last season, is expected back, but a timeline on his return is unknown.
Junior guard Warren Wallace (7.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg) is recovering from hernia surgery in October. Wallace, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound guard, has returned to practice, but isn't expected to be a full strength when the regular season begins.
The other injured junior returnee is 6-foot-6, 270-pound center Ibrahim Marone (4.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg). Marone has been out for seven weeks with a tear to his Achilles tendon. Like John White, Marone is expected back, but also with an unknown timeline for his return.
Charleston will open its season on November 15-16 in the Wendy's Classic, hosted in Charlotte, N.C., by Johnson C. Smith University.
The Golden Eagles were predicted to finish fifth in the West Virginia Conference in the conference's preseason coaches poll.
"We've been dealing with what are really unusual injuries as we prepare for the season," said White, in his 23rd season as a college head coach. "Usually injuries come in bunches and they certainly have for us so far. All we can do is deal with them and move forward.
"Needless to say, John White, Ibrahim Marone and Warren Wallace are huge parts of our team because they bring the leadership role and the experience factor to our team."
White likes the five freshmen and one sophomore transfer additions to the Golden Eagles' roster. UC welcomes freshmen Brandon Ross, Luc Atangana, Ronald Kinney, Erik Armstrong and Deyonte Culpepper to the program, along with sophomore guard/forward James Eversley, a transfer from Division I Virginia Commonwealth University.
Ross is a 6-foot-4, 205 pound guard/forward from Chicago, Kinney and Culpepper were teammates at Rhoades High in Cleveland, Atangana is from Cameroon, Africa, and played two seasons in the Washington, D.C. area, while Armstrong comes from Fairfield, Ohio.
"We have five very talented freshmen, but at the same time, they are freshmen," the UC coach said. "Unfortunately freshmen will make mistakes throughout the season, but the good news is once freshmen get some games under their belt about midseason, you've got them for another three and half years. That's the positive thing about freshmen.
"The negative thing about freshmen is that they're inexperienced. I don't care how good you are as a high school player, when you step on the court at the college level, there's an adjustment process. We're trying to deal with that now.
"I really like this team a lot. This team has some really, really good players and some really good athleticism. At the same time it's hands down, the youngest team I've ever coached.
"I think we'll develop as the year goes on. We're excited about the team and I think we'll have a chance to compete with everybody in the league. We'll show up every night, compete and see what happens."
