ESPN Men's Basketball

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(Information in this team report is as of Oct. 1.)

COACH AND PROGRAM

With the backcourt intact from last year's 27-win season -- led by star scorer Andrew Goudelock (16.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg), the College of Charleston is poised for another 20-win season.

It was just two seasons ago the Cougars had slipped to 16-17, thanks to an extremely young roster, but last year they bounced back in a big way.

The only disappointment came in the SoCon Tournament finals. They had dispatched league favorite Davidson in the semifinals and were expected to beat Chattanooga, which had struggled to finish above .500 for the year, in the championship game. Instead, the Mocs pulled the upset, knocking Charleston out of an NCAA spot and an NIT berth (Davidson claimed that by virtue of winning the regular season championship).

So the Cougars settled for a spot in the College Basketball Invitational, an alternative tournament in its second year. They played a pair of fine games, defeating Troy by 93-91 before falling to Richmond, 74-72.

"Last year I think in the league tournament we just seemed to run out of gas,'' Charleston coach Bobby Cremins said. "It was disappointing. But we won 27 games and we got into the postseason. The kids worked hard and they were very deserving."

PLAYERS

A star emerged from last year's team in Goudelock, one of the best shooters in the conference. The 6-1 guard is back for his junior season, along with senior point guard Tony White (12.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg), wing Antwaine Wiggins (8.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and tough sixth man Donavan Monroe (8.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg), giving Charleston one of the best backcourts in the conference.

The inside game is a different story. Two solid post players are gone in Jermaine Jackson and Dustin Scott, so what was one of the top frontcourts in the SoCon is now a question mark.

"We've got the starting perimeter players back plus the top sixth man," Cremins said. "And we've got Jeremy Simmons (6.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg) returning inside, so we've got a good nucleus."

That's enough to make the Cougars one of the league favorites in what looks to be, on paper at least, a very balanced conference.

Goudelock shot .459 from the floor, .440 from three-point range on 216 attempts, and made more than 86 percent of his free throws. At 200 pounds he's solid and appears to have the stamina for his shot to hold up despite big minutes.

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Appalachian State Chattanooga The Citadel College of Charleston Davidson Elon Furman Georgia Southern Samford UNC Greensboro Western Carolina Wofford

"He's a great scorer," Cremins said. "He needs to work on his defense. If he keeps maturing and keeps getting better, he could become a great player.

"He can shoot from the outside and drive with the ball. He's quick but he's got tremendous range. Very dangerous. He's going to get even better."

Goudelock, who tossed in 29 points in the CBI victory over Troy, will be in the mix for SoCon Player-of-the-Year honors.

White is a 6-0, 150-pound wisp of a point guard who's naturally a shooting guard but has learned to run the show. But he hasn't strayed far from what he knows best. White scored 31 points in the league final against Chattanooga (7-of-14 on threes) and 24 in the win over Troy (8-of-10 from the field.)

"He's weightless," Cremins said with a laugh. "We tried everything to put some pounds on him.

"He's an amazing story. He was my first recruit when I came here. I thought I was going to redshirt him, but he was too good to sit. He needs to improve defensively but he's got a lot of heart."

Wiggins, a 6-7, 193-pound junior, is long, lean and athletic. While he's been an inconsistent shooter (.292 on threes, .473 at the free-throw line last year), he fills a stat sheet. Wiggins finished second on the team in blocks and third in steals, and he drew defensive assignments like Davidson's Stephen Curry when Charleston beat the Wildcats at Davidson in the regular season and in the conference tournament.

Rounding out the returning backcourt is Monroe, a 6-1, 205-pound junior.

"He's fearless," Cremins said. "He's a warrior. He ignites us. He comes off the bench firing and he plays great defense. I call him our John Havlicek. I had to tell him who John Havlicek was, though.

"I consider him a starter even if he doesn't start the game. He plays starter minutes."

The backcourt will be filled out by 6-1 freshman Andrew Lawrence from London, England, who played for the Heat Academy in Martinsville, Va., last year and was captain of the U-20 Great Britain team. His father played under Cremins at Appalachian State, before Cremins' long tenure at Georgia Tech.

"He's more a passer, more of a pure point guard," Cremins said. "He has a head for the game. But he'll have to earn his time in the lineup."

The frontcourt lacks certainties, but it has possibilities, starting with Simmons, a 6-8, 230-pound junior who shot nearly 58 percent last year (but only 57 percent from the free-throw line.)

"He's been the first sub the last two years, and he'll start at center," Cremins said. "He's very athletic, a great shot blocker, one of the most athletic people you'll find. He can leap. But he's battled injuries each of the last two years."

Simmons' game is close to the basket. He's not a face-up shooter or even a classic back-to-the-basket scorer. His athleticism around the bucket is his game, and he's hard to hold back for long.

Cremins is hoping Casaan Breeden, a 6-8 senior who transferred from Florida State and had to sit out last year, will be a force inside. He averaged 4.7 points and 2.4 rebounds at FSU in 2007-08. Breeden was a major prospect out of high school, earning South Carolina 4A Player-of-the-Year honors and ranking in the top 50 nationally.

He just missed earning two more seasons of eligibility; unfortunately for the Cougars he'll be available only this year.

"We need him," Cremins said. "He's very athletic, he can score, and he's a good shooter, although he's not extremely physical. He's a pure four."

Two freshmen could also impact the post game. Willis Hall, 6-6 and 215 pounds, comes from Charlotte Christian, where he averaged 15.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and shot 60 percent from the floor. Rashad Wright, 6-9, comes from South Kent High and Agawam, Mass. He wasn't a big scorer (10.8 ppg) but averaged 8.2 rebounds and 4.0 blocked shots for a team that went 26-7.

"Wright will be our tallest player. He needs to develop some, but he's athletic. His whole thing is his upside," Cremins said. "Hall could be the sleeper. He's undersized, but he's a banger, a tough kid who played football. He'll battle you."

Matt Sundberg (2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg), a 6-8, 195-pound sophomore, played some good minutes last year and could emerge as a key player as well.

BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS

BACKCOURT: A-
BENCH/DEPTH: B-
FRONTCOURT: C+
INTANGIBLES: B+

Charleston should be one of the better teams in the SoCon's South Division. A tough schedule and the lack of a proven inside game could prevent the Cougars from matching last year's gaudy win total, though.

"We've got a good nucleus back from last year, and we're hoping these four newcomers will fill in the gaps," Cremins said. "Our inside game is the question mark. But I think we can be a very good team."

The early schedule includes Clemson, Tennessee, North Carolina at home Jan. 4 and the potential for UNLV and USC in the new Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii. The Cougars will be buoyed by the fact they regain a scholarship they'd lost by failing to meet the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate guideline. (The APR measures each school's graduation rate over four-year stretches; Charleston had a 1.000 rate last year, earning back the scholarship.)

Cremins loves coaching in Charleston after coming out of retirement. Cougar fans remember how the head-coaching job was given to Greg Marshall from Winthrop, a former Charleston assistant, before he changed his mind and went back to Winthrop -- exactly what Cremins had done several years earlier with Georgia Tech. The irony has not been lost.

Even recent knee replacement surgery, which has slowed him down physically and may hamper him this season, hasn't tempered Cremins' enthusiasm.

"Hopefully I'll be healthy soon," he said. "But I'm so fortunate to be here. I remember how I was walking the beach a few years ago, thinking I'd never coach again. And here I am. I love being back in coaching."

For the most comprehensive previews available on all 334 Division I teams, order the "Bible" of college basketball, the 2009-10 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, at www.blueribbonyearbookonline.com or call 1-877-807-4857.