Dominance continued: SL teams take district titles
October 29, 2013
BREAKING: Coach, girlfriend, 3 others given criminal summons after Destrehan forfeitures
October 30, 2013
Two years ago at preseason media day, Nicholls State men’s basketball coach J.P. Piper said that his team’s future was bright. He pointed to young players like Shane Rillieux, Jeremy Smith and Sam McBeath as proof of the team’s upcoming successes.
Two years later, the future is now in Thibodaux and the Colonels still believe they have what it takes to make a push to the NCAA Tournament.
With its young players now more mature, Piper and the Colonels are ready to begin another year.
With returnees both in the frontcourt and backcourt, Nicholls will boast several players capable of scoring on Southland Conference defenses in the new season.
“We’re excited,” Piper said. “We’re always excited at the beginning of a season, but I think this year is the same. I think this is as talented as we’ve been since I’ve been here. We have a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things to help us win.”
But the big question remains – how will Nicholls replace Fred Hunter?
Hunter was the Colonels’ lone key departure from last year’s squad that finished with a 9-21 record and an 8-10 mark in Southland play.
The Denton, Texas native was arguably the Colonels’ best player, both on the perimeter and in the paint last season, averaging 19.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
Hunter was one of the most efficient offensive players in the entire Southland Conference, shooting 56 percent from the floor.
Piper admits that replacing Hunter is a big challenge for his team. But he added that no one player will fit the bill – it has to be a team-wide effort.
“I think that might be a good thing for us,” Piper said. “I think if you look at a team that has four, five or six guys who can get you 10 points a night, then you’re looking at a team that’s probably a heck of a team. I think we have the ability to do that. We’ll have our nights when they aren’t hitting. Those are the nights we’ll get beat. But we’ll have nights where they’re all hitting, too. We’ll be able to contend with really good teams on those days.”
But the coach does believe that the Colonels have the adequate bodies to fill Hunter’s lofty shoes.
In the backcourt, Nicholls returns Rillieux, Smith, senior guards Dantrell Thomas and Pedro Maciel and sophomore guard T.J. Carpenter – players that combined to average more than 20 points per game last season.
Piper said he expects each of those players to take a leap forward in the upcoming season to help the Colonels succeed.
Thomas was the top returnee among the bunch, averaging 13.8 points per game last season.
“He’s the first guy we’ve ever had who is so athlete that we can tell him, ‘Hey, just go get a bucket,’” Piper said. “We can tell him if the shot clock is running down to just go get to the rim and see what happens. He’s that talented. We’ve had great scorers, but we’ve never had anything like that.”
The paint is where Nicholls may be thin.
The Colonels hope to again rely upon the finesse scoring of McBeath in 2013-14.
The redshirt sophomore is back after playing just six games a year ago after sustaining a season-ending foot injury.
McBeath was averaging 7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game at the time of his injury.
He averaged 8 points per game as a true freshman in 2011-12.
“Sam is an experienced player for us – we really hope that we’re able to get him back healthy and playing to his capabilities,” Piper said. “He gives us the ability to score the basketball both inside and outside for us from those post positions. That’s something that I think we’re going to need as we look to find some balance.”
But after McBeath, the Colonels don’t have a lot of experience down low. Piper said the team will be heavily guard oriented. He added that the team will need players to play bigger than their size for the Colonels to be successful.
He added that the team will have a revolving door in the post.
“We’re not set on specific players there yet,” Piper said. “We’ll keep a bit of a revolving door where we’ll ride the hot hand.”
Like the Nicholls women, the men’s team will be heavily tested in the upcoming season.
After an exhibition contest against Mobile, the Colonels will travel to play Auburn, Memphis, IUPUI and Indiana in the non-conference schedule.
The contest with the Hoosiers will take place on Dec. 20 – the team’s last game before Southland Conference play.
“We have a challenging road – there’s no doubt,” Piper said. “But we create our schedule to give us challenging opponents for Southland Conference games. We think that playing those teams makes us better and gets us ready for those games in February and March.”
Replacing Hunter isn’t easy, but like Piper said two years ago, he believes the team’s future is now.
“We like our basketball team,” Piper said. “We have to stay healthy, of course, but if we do, I think we have a chance to be really good. We have experience and I think we’re really talented. We’re really excited.”
