The Aggies return no starters from last season

WINSTON-SALEM, October 15, 2008 – North Carolina A&T head men’s basketball coach Jerry Eaves expected people to not look favorably on his team’s chances to be one of the top teams in the MEAC for the 2008-09 season.

Wednesday, his expectations were met. The Aggies were picked to finish 8^th in the 11-team MEAC. The Aggies also did not have a player named to the first or second preseason team. The prediction is predicated on the fact that the Aggies return no starters from the 2007-08 team that won 15 games and finished 9-7 in the conference.

Among those lost starters are Steven Rush, Austin Ewing and Jason Wills. Those three players happened to be the Aggies top three scorers last season. In addition, Rush proved to be one of the best 3-point shooters in the nation. Ewing was a two-year starter at point guard and another good 3-point shooter. In Wills, the Aggies lost their top rebounder over the last three seasons.

“College basketball is great because is not so much about the individual as much as it is about the overall program,’’ said Eaves. “In the pros, people sometime identify individual players with a team. People have been coming to our games for years and years because they love A&T basketball regardless of who’s wearing the jersey.”

Eaves, who enters his sixth season as the Aggies headman, said the players this season we’ll be asked to run the same system his previous five teams have. “It’s going to be an exciting season,’’ he said. “When people come to our games this year, we’ll still be pressuring the basketball, we’ll still be pushing the basketball and we’ll still be running our same offense because that’s A&T basketball no matter what players are occupying the jerseys.”

The Aggies are not completely new. Senior swingman Ed Jones and sophomore center Thomas Coleman didn’t start a lot of game last season, but they earned a lot of playing time.

Jones is the Aggies leading returning scorer. Jones scored in double figures eight times last season and averaged 7.6 points and 3.5 rebounds. He was pivotal in helping the Aggies defeat Delaware State in Dover, Del., last season when he scored 24 points on 10-for-12 shooting.

Coleman was one of the top freshmen in the MEAC last season. He was a strong defender for the Aggies, ranking second in the MEAC in blocked shots. He broke the school’s single-game blocked shot record when he had nine against Coppin State in Corbett Sports. Coleman won MEAC Rookie of the Week honors twice and was an all-rookie team selection. Coleman averaged 6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game despite averaging just 21 minutes per game.

There are going to be nights when Thomas scores seven or eight points, but will be the most vital player on the floor because he’s going to do some many things for,’’ said Eaves. “He’s going to block shots, he’s going to rebound, he’s going to pass the ball out of the post for open jump shots…That’s just the kind of player he is.”

The Aggies open their season Nov. 14 against the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. They begin conference play Dec. 6 at home against Norfolk State.