ESPN Men's Basketball

Originally Published: October 13, 2009

Team preview: Gardner-Webb

Blue Ribbon Yearbook previews the 2009-10 college basketball season, exclusively on Insider.

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Blue Ribbon Yearbook

Editor's Note: ESPN Insider has teamed with Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook to provide a comprehensive look at all 334 Division I teams. To order the complete 2009-10 edition of Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, visit www.blueribbonyearbookonline.com or call 1-877-807-4857.
(Information in this team report is as of Oct. 1.)

COACH AND PROGRAM

It's not easy being the new kid in school, or in Gardner-Webb's case, the new kid in the Big South Conference.

The Runnin' Bulldogs moved over from the Atlantic Sun, where they had enjoyed some success in recent years, to the BSC last season.

Based on preseason expectations, the young Gardner-Webb team got the equivalent of a wedgie from their new conference mates.

Coach Rick Scruggs' team had been .500 or better in three of the previous four seasons. They were picked for a third-place finish in the Big South, but the Bulldogs' bite proved worse than their bark. "It took some time to get used to the teams we were playing, and even little things like where we were going to stay on the road, and where we were going to eat pre-game," Scruggs said. "Now we even know how long it takes to get to each town and things like that."

Scruggs isn't one to make excuses, though a rash of early-season injuries forced him to shuffle his lineup, and his team never found the consistency and chemistry that had helped G-W make a name for itself with efforts like the 2007 upset of No. 20 Kentucky.

"We didn't play well, and a part of that was changing lineups so much, I'm sure," Scruggs said. "But we just didn't do a good job of handling adversity and good teams handle adversity."

Now with four starters back, a year in the Big South behind them and the tough lessons learned, these Bulldogs could be ready for their day in the sun.

PLAYERS

A lot depends on the health of guard Grayson Flittner (14.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.8 apg).

The 6-0 senior was the hero of that upset at Kentucky, and he led the team in scoring last season despite missing five games and being hobbled in several more with a gimpy knee that required micro-fracture surgery last spring.

The Bulldogs lost three conference games with him on the sideline, losses that dropped G-W to .500 in the league and knocked them out of a first-round tournament home game.

If Flittner's knee is up to it, G-W will ask him to do even more this season, maybe even moving over to play some point, because second-team all-conference guard Aaron Linn has graduated. "We've already put in some new plays for the point guard, just in case," Scruggs said. "It's something we've thought about for three years, but we're just not sure he's got the quickness or the ability to push the ball the way we want."

What Flittner does have is great basketball IQ and the distinction of being the team's top passer. Some of Scruggs' favorite plays the last two years were run through Flittner on the wings as a passer. The coach sounds committed to giving the deadeye shooter (.365, 72-of-197 behind the arc last year) a chance running the whole show.

Scruggs has some insurance, though, in two freshmen he thinks can challenge for the job. Brian McNair (16.0 ppg, 6.0 apg, 4.0 spg), 5-11, led Greenfield School in Wilson, N.C., to a 31-6 record and the state semifinals. Scruggs said he has the tough mentality to be a top point guard right away.

Tom Staton (10.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.1 spg at Clarkston High School in Michigan) has more size (6-5) and that basketball IQ Scruggs loves. Staton's dad played at Michigan on the 1976 team that reached the NCAA Tournament title game, and he was a late addition after Highland (Kansas) Community College point Eddie Gray's transcripts didn't pass muster at G-W.

The dark horse in the point-guard race is senior Brandon Jackson (1.3 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 1.5 apg), who won't join the team until football season is over. A reserve running back and one of the top kickoff return men in the country, Jackson has shown a growing savvy on the basketball court, too.

Another newcomer will step in at shooting guard or back Flittner, and is the heir apparent as the team's next big perimeter scorer.

David Brown (14.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.7 apg), 6-2, was team MVP and school athlete of the year at Broward (Fla.) College. He'll have three years of eligibility and could start this year if Flittner's point-guard experiment works.

Blue Ribbon Previews

Take an Inside look at the Big South with Blue Ribbon's 2009-10 team reports:

Charleston Southern Coastal Carolina Gardner-Webb High Point Liberty North Carolina-Asheville Radford Virginia Military Winthrop

Senior C.J. Hailey (6.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg), 6-0, missed five games with a bad ankle, but he's also back to lend some depth on the wing, and could compete for time on either wing at guard or small forward.

There's even more competition at the small forward slot, where 6-4 junior Jonathan Moore (9.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg) and 6-2 senior Anton Silver (3.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg) both return. Silver may be the team's best all-around athlete, but Moore is a better shooter and passer.

Freshman Keith Manley is another candidate. The 6-5 Greensboro native averaged 19.0 points, 10.1 rebounds and two blocks a game at Grimsley High School, and Scruggs calls him a "maintenance player" because he can go on the floor and fix any problem.

Joshua Henley (6.8 ppg, 10.3 rpg) returns at power forward, where he was a revelation last year as a 6-4, 220-pound freshman. The blue-collar Henley had the top rebounding average among all freshmen in the nation after starter Nate Blank missed time with a thumb injury.

Blank has since transferred to Division II Indianapolis but Henley will get a push from transfer Luke Engelken (10.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg) from Butler (Kansas) Community College. A 6-6 athlete, Engelken can also bump up and play center in G-W's fast-paced, spread-the-floor offense.

Of course, the Bulldogs don't pull their center away from the basket all the time thanks to the presence of 6-8, 235-pound senior Auryn MacMillian (9.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.4 bpg). In fact, when the big Australian came off the floor last year, G-W struggled, particularly against the likes of Kansas State, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech and the bigger teams in the Big South.

Junior Matt Maden (0.5 ppg, 0.7 rpg) is a 6-11, 275-pound reserve that should play four or five minutes a night at least, particularly against those big foes. Stefan Johnson (9.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg) is another option. The 6-6 freshman played on a great Princeton High team in Cincinnati, Ohio last year that had six Division I recruits.

BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS

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

Gardner-Webb saw five players transfer to lower-level programs, and Scruggs thinks the incoming class elevates the overall talent level of the team.

A lot rides on a new point guard emerging, and in a related matter, the health of Grayson Flittner's knees.

The nagging injuries that forced Scruggs to shuffle his lineup last year probably kept the Big South from seeing the true nature of Gardner-Webb's up-and-coming program.

The Bulldogs didn't have enough depth or talent to play the small-ball, running style Scruggs prefers, and they didn't have the team chemistry or knowledge of the league to help get them through tough times.

The Bulldogs may be unleashed this year. "We like big guys that can play several positions and make other people match up with us instead of us matching up with them all the time," Scruggs said. "We can go big or small now."

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.