MOREHEAD, Ky. — Official team practices are underway for the Morehead State men’s basketball program. The Eagles will have approximately 23 workouts before their lone exhibition contest on Nov. 5 at Johnson Arena.
“This is an exciting time of year for everyone associated with college basketball,” Head Coach Sean Woods said. “We had a successful summer with our trip to the Bahamas, and now it’s time to get ready for the regular season.”
Morehead State returns four starters — senior Angelo Warner (17.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.0 apg, 2.0 spg), senior Billy Reader (6.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg), senior Kareem Storey (6.8 ppg, 5.1 apg) and junior Brent Arrington (11.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.9 spg) — and nine players overall.
The Eagles welcome 10 new players, including three who sat out last season as Division I transfers. Senior Jalen Courtney (LSU), junior Lyonell Gaines (IUPUI) and sophomore Corban Collins (LSU) will join four others with college experience and three freshmen.
“We lost two quality seniors from last season, but have added a lot of talent this year,” Woods said. “We should be more athletic this season, which means we can play even faster than we did last year. I’m excited to be back on the floor and coaching these guys.”
Morehead State is coming off a 20-win campaign for the fourth time in the past six years. The 2013-14 Eagles also earned a spot in the College Basketball Invitational, which marked the program’s fourth postseason berth in six seasons and ninth in school history.
“We have a lot of experience this season, with all of our returning players and transfers who have already played at the Division I level,” Arrington said. “It’s great that our three redshirts — Jalen, Corban and Lyonell — are finally eligible. They will certainly help us.”
The Eagles started the 2013-14 campaign with 17 players, including redshirts and walk-ons, but only had nine available during postseason play due to injuries throughout the year.
“Getting healthy is our top priority in the month of October,” Woods added. “We had a lot of injuries last year, which made our depth an issue down the stretch. If we can stay healthy and work hard to improve every day, we should be in good shape. I really like this team.”
Woods is joined by Associate Head Coach Dylan Howard, Assistant Coach Brian “B.J.” Ellis, Assistant Coach Preston Spradlin, Graduate Manager Martiese Morones and Graduate Manager Jonathan Mattox on the 2014-15 staff. Spradlin is the only new addition.
“This is my fourth season with most of our coaches, and that gives me an opportunity to be a leader,” Arrington said. “Guess you could say I am a mediator between the two sides. I like helping with the communication, both directions, between players and coaches.”
Morehead State won all three of its exhibition games in the Bahamas. The Eagles scored 330 points, while allowing just 181. MSU smashed the Grand Bahamas All-Stars (115-69), Real Deal Shockers (103-57) and Pyramid Food Rockets (112-55) on Aug. 9, 10 and 11.
“Our Bahamas trip will help as we prepare for the 2014-15 season,” Arrington added. “We really worked on team chemistry off the floor and had great results in all three games. We won every game by a large margin and plan to build on that confidence moving forward.”
Morehead State opens its regular-season schedule on Nov. 14 at Mountain West Conference foe UNLV. The 31-game slate includes match-ups with Big Ten Conference member Ohio State and American Athletic Conference opponent Cincinnati.
Morehead State will host 13 regular-season games at Johnson Arena, including dates with Southern Conference school East Tennessee State (Dec. 1), Horizon League foe Oakland (Dec. 6) and Atlantic Sun Conference member Northern Kentucky (Dec. 19).
The Ohio Valley Conference slate will feature 16 games between Jan. 3 and Feb. 28. Morehead State opens league play at home against West Division favorite Murray State. The Racers captured the 2014 CollegeInsider.com Tournament championship.
For more information on Morehead State men’s basketball, visit MSUEagles.com.
MSU head coach Sean Woods comments after practice.
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