Non-Con Edition: Triple-Double, Fast Starts + Freshman ASCENT

This is an I Heart podcast, Guaranteed Human. The calendar flips to December, which teams are outperforming their expectations? The next episode of SoCon Fast Break starts now. Okay, so here we are the month of December and you know the season is going extremely fast. Before you know it, we're gonna blink and the non-conference part of the schedule is gonna be done. I can't believe it. I was looking at the schedules today and I mean, we're in the back stretch of non-conference play at this point. It's just wild how fast it goes. It is and obviously you've got exam weeks that are in there. So there's gonna be a little bit of a lull and get ready because December 31st, that's when we're gonna have some teams start playing conference action. And at that point then get ready because it's even going to speed up even more. We'll be to March just like that. But it is interesting just starting to see right now which teams are starting to put some things together and which teams might be trying to still figure things out. And then again, when we had Rocco Miller here, we were talking about the jigsaw puzzle in which teams were able to start putting the pieces together. And unfortunately, there might be a few teams out there that are some wondering, we're starting to see some early signs that they might not even have all the pieces that they can put together. Yeah, you know, I think you really, you bring up a great point in terms of, we're kind of at the point in the season now where, yes, teams are certainly still getting better. And you know, if you hit your peak right now, you probably ain't gonna be that good. But we're starting to be able to see a little bit of a kind of proof of what teams are starting to look like and they are starting to get better. And as you mentioned, not only throughout college basketball, but obviously in the Southern Conference in particular, we're starting to see some teams kind of separate themselves. Oh, no doubt. Whether it's positive or unfortunately negative. Yeah, that's right. And one of those teams right now that I think is starting to separate themselves. Again, early on, I totally understand that. And maybe it's a little bit of a challenge to evaluate some of these teams because it's not a true apples to apples comparison because the non-conference schedules for each of these teams can be vastly different. But record also does indicate something. You're playing who you play on the schedule and for ETSU sitting here at six and one, now they've got a huge game tonight that we'll talk about against Dayton. But this is an ETSU team that you talk about efficient and just a team that is putting some things together right now with Brooke Savage. And we talked about it. It was going to be interesting to see how this team, how quickly they can come together with all of the transfers coming in. It was. And I think we both talked about in the preview episode that we really did like their pieces if they came together in a way that we thought they could and how they really kind of constructed this roster, what appeared to be really fitting Coach Savage's style of play. I know it's December 1st and next week I'll probably have a different response for you. But man. That's how it happens. You're going to have a hard time convincing me right now that ETSU is not the best team in the Southern Conference. They've played really well. As you mentioned, they've been really efficient. They're getting it from a multitude of guys at a high level. They're defending. They're doing everything that we expect Coach Savage team to do and frankly, are ahead of schedule for what I would predict with that many new faces on the roster. Yes. And they're a hiccup away from being one of the remaining 20-ish teams that would be undefeated. That's right. The loss there at PC leaves you scratching your head to a certain degree. But when you shoot less than 40% from the field, that's going to be a tough time to be able to win that game. And then, but you look at what they've been able to do as you talk about defensively. They lead the SoKon and scored Dean Fitz. 61 points per game. They also lead the conference in steals. Almost 11 steals per game. They're forcing over 16 turnovers per game. So right there, you do that. You're putting yourself in a really good spot because then you're not putting so much pressure on your offense that you have to score so many points. And I think ETSU has been able to showcase that not only are they doing it on the defensive side, I should say, but even on the offensive side. And then it's easy equation when you can play elite level offense and elite level defense. Yeah, that's going to put you in a position where you can be 6 and 1 to start the season. No, it absolutely is. And credit to that staff for getting those guys to the point that they're at right now. Like we've kind of talked about it is not easy when you have so many new faces coming in. But I mean, you talk about Cam Morris, Jalen Smith, Brian Taylor, the second, getting player of the week this past week. Those are three guys that are playing at a high level right now. And you're getting it on the perimeter and you're also getting the real presence inside. If they keep this up, they are going to be a handful in league. Not to mention going to Jefferson, going to Johnson City. Excuse me. I that's that's blasphemous to almost call it Jefferson City. Going to Johnson City is not no easy place to go play. And when you got a tough, hard-nosed physical ETSU team, to your point, it is not only efficient defensively, but is really doing it on the offensive end as well. Man, look out. Yeah, they're offensively they're the top in the top 50 and two important categories. 61% for two point field goal percentage. They're 26th, 26th nationally and 38th nationally and field goal percentage at 50.4%. But they have a plus 20 scoring margin. I mean, that's significant. They're averaging almost 82 points per game, which is second in the conference. And we'll talk about the team that's leading the conference and scoring right now. But again, the outlier was that lost 64 to 68 against PC where they shot 38% from the field, 23% from three point line. And PC shot 41% from beyond the arc. So that was the difference maker right there. But they're also one of 14 teams ranked in the top 50 both with effective, offensive and defensive efficiency. It's the best start since the 2019-2020 season. And I can tell you again, if that team would have been able to play in the NCAA tournament, watch out. Cause that was a special team. And you're seeing some of the same type of situations or I should say there's some similarities between that team and this team. Yeah. And I think one of the things that stands out to me most is really their offensive efficiency. Yeah. Because with a Brook Savage team, I expect them to be physical, tough, defensively. You know, again, not a methodically slow pace, but you know, they're gonna wanna grind it out a little bit. And if they're putting up over 80 points a game on the offensive side of the ball, man, you know, I mean, that's just a recipe for a really tough, you're in for a really tough game. Oh, yes. When you're playing them. So to me, that offensive stuff really stands out as an outlier. And that's not to say that Coach Savage can't get it done as an offensive coach, he certainly can. But their calling card, at least during his time at ECSU has been more of a defensive physicality. Well, they're doing it. Now they just have the ability to score. And we said, it's a simple equation. You stop the other team and you score, then it's gonna be hard for you to lose a game. And I think one thing that's different about this team than his previous teams at ETSU is, as we mentioned, he's got like three or four guys that can go out and give you 15 plus a night. That's just not been the case with his teams previously at ETSU. So he's got the versatility now where in past years, if Kamari Peterson or one guy didn't really have it going, they were really gonna have to defend. That's right. Now, if one of these guys isn't exactly having the best night in the world, they've still got two or three guys that are giving you close to 15 a night. Oh yeah, exactly. And I think that's what is imperative as you're looking at heading into conference. Do you have the depth and do you have that situation where if a guy is having an off night, you've got somebody else to lean on and that is significant for ETSU. And also I did like to see that they honored Alan LaForce, former head coach there at ETSU. And obviously we see him at Furman Games quite a bit. He was an assistant at Furman back in the day. But what a great individual. And you're talking about team back in the 90s, that ETSU team upset Arizona in the NCAA tournament and then lose to Michigan in that second round. And they gave Michigan a battle. They did. A battle. Again, great opportunity to honor Alan LaForce. No, certainly in coach LaForce, I don't think he gets enough credit for what he's brought to the game of basketball, especially in this region. I mean, he's an icon and a staple in this region in terms of basketball coaching and even better person. Just a guy that would give you a shirt off his back, high level of care, loves the game of basketball. Just what we love about the game of basketball in coaching as coaches is he loves to teach the game and mentor young men. And it was a pleasure getting to spend the amount of time that I got to spend with him during my time at Furman as he's around the program a lot these days. I love it. All right, the other team, Mercer Bears. Ryan Ritter in his second season. And the overhaul with that roster, we talked about it. You're bringing in a guy like Baraka Okoje and what he can bring to the floor, so to speak, Armani Mighty. Again, it's one of my favorite names in all of college basketball. And he's living up to it right now. But then also you've got Quentin Perkins the second. So this is a Mercer team that is loaded. And in terms of what we're starting to see, I know it's early, but they're averaging over 83 points per game right now. That's significant for Mercer. And again, we know Mercer and Ryan Ritter. I know he's going to be able to push. He's going to get up and down the court. But he also, he's not afraid to be physical. And I think you're starting to see some physicality, but also some athleticism as well for Mercer. And that's why they're sitting there in a positive position, especially early on in the season. Yeah, I mean, look, Okoje's been arguably one of the best players in college basketball so far. He is a problem. Yes, he is. And so you combine that with Armani Mighty, who has been fantastic. Frankly, I would have to think he's been better than they even anticipated. And, you know, as you mentioned earlier as well, scoring about 84 points a game leading the league, they're getting up and down. We knew that was going to be the case with Coach Ritter. But one of the things I've been most impressed with so far is their physicality defensively. I mean, they will get up and they will deny, they will get in you. They've got really good size. This is looking very much to me like a top four team in the Southern Conference right now. And, you know, they've got some good wins on a schedule. And yes, we've talked about it's early, but 10 games in, you're starting to see trends that are building now, right? And I know conference gets tough, but this team is not all of a sudden just going to fall off the map when conference starts. This is a good basketball team. And I've been very impressed with what Coach Ritter's been able to do with this group so far. Don't forget about Zair Williams. Also, he's been able to knock the three point shot down. And Brady Shoulder is a sophomore team captain, what he's been able to provide for the team. So I think this is a different Mercer team. And some of the pieces that we've talked about, can they come together? They at least have so far. They're shooting 36% from beyond the R. That helps right there significantly that, again, you can put the ball in the basket, especially, from the three point perspective. No, it is. I mean, this is I've been heavily involved with the Southern Conference now for going on four plus years. And this is the best Mercer team I've seen. Yeah, I would think so too right now. I know it's early. And I know we're going to harp on that. But you are starting to see enough that you can at least you're making some established observations. And we'll get to the point where we can make some conclusions. But right now, they definitely seem to be a team that I'm not certain many people want to see. No, I mean, when you've got a guy doing what Kojay is doing right now, I mean, he's absolute stat stuffer. Oh, yeah. No doubt. And with his size and his ability to get to the free throw line, I mean, he shot 30 free throws last week in two games and is shooting it well from the line. He is going to be a physical nightmare come conference time, in my opinion. Oh, I think so too. And those are big wins that they had against App State. And you have those type of signature wins that's going to carry you in conference play. And obviously the momentum that you need. And then I know we've talked about what Kevin Giltner has been able to do at Wofford in. They had two tough games, Northern Kentucky. They hung there with them. We're able to take care of business against Eastern Kentucky. And so right now, they're sitting there at five and three as we're recording right here, December the second. Yeah. And they've got some big games coming up. And we'll talk about that. But Kamari Holmes. It's been great. He's doing. Yes, Niels Mojawski, what he's been doing, some double doubles in there. And then the freshman, Brian Sumter, and Luke Flynn's been playing well. I mean, this is a Wofford team that they do seem connected. That's that's the I think you hit the nail on the head right there. To me, that's the biggest thing I've seen as they look connected. They look like they enjoy playing for Coach Giltner. They look like they enjoy playing together. Now, some of that is probably because of what they went through so early that it kind of probably goes one or two ways. It either fractures or you get tighter. And I think that they have so far gone the former and got the ladder and gotten tighter. But that's one of the biggest things I see is the connectivity of this team. And you bring up the freshman, Brian Sumter, you know, overall, his numbers are solid. But what I what I like most about him is because he's had some some a couple of really good games where he is shown real promise. But he's not trying to do too much. And I think to me that is a really good sign. And I love his efficiency with how he's playing. I mean, he's shooting, I believe, almost 70 percent. Yeah, exactly. I mean, look, he's going to get better throughout the year. And I think if he keeps this trajectory up, I would anticipate come conference time, he will make an even bigger impact. And he's been a rim protector at almost two blocks a game. That's right. Yes. And Kamari Holmes is leading the Socon and scoring at just over 19 points per game. So you're getting some production from some of these guys. And they do seem to be figured it out right now. All right. Another team that obviously is near and dear to you. It's the Furman Paladins. And I would have to say that we look at Furman and there's some questions. Yes, they have turnovers that is seems to be plaguing them to a certain degree. They haven't been able to shoot the three point shot. The way historically that we see a Bob Richie team be able to do that. But I think we have to look at this team and truly dissect the schedule. Oh, it's now they had a huge win against Richmond. There a 10 took Illinois State down to the wire and could have won that game also. But you look at the mid major programs that they've played in this schedule. I mean, it is crazy when you think about a high point. Then you also think about a Northern Iowa and both of those are in the top 10. They're the latest mid major top 25. And then you throw Troy in there. And that's I would say that's a top 50 program in mid major level. I know Rocco Miller, our guests previously, he thinks so also. And so you're having those type of games that you can't tell me even in losses. That's going to prepare you for the so con. Absolutely. Portion of the schedule. Absolutely. I mean, I would find it hard to believe that there's another mid major school that has played a tougher mid major schedule. You know, look, you want to win some of those games. I mean, of course, I'm sure they would like to have a better record than what they have right now. But they have they have gotten better over the last couple of weeks. And we have to take their schedule and their record with a great assault because I do think it will prepare them significantly for conference play. As you mentioned, you know, I'm obviously, you know, intimately connected to the program. But I do objectively think offensively, they have started to look better. The ball is not sticking as much. They're cutting a lot better. They have been more efficient. I am concerned, as you mentioned, about the turnovers because that does continue to be a theme, but a guy that I'm sure we're going to talk a little bit about during this show, Alex Wilkins, is still turning the ball over too much. But he is learning and he is getting better. And he's learning while being thrown into the fire. That's right, because he has to be. And I suspect that he will get significantly better as we move on in terms of limiting some of those turnovers. So overall, I am I'm still very bullish on this firm and team being able to compete at a high level and absolutely being in the mix heavily to win the league. I think so, too. And that's the challenge with the non-conference schedule, as we've talked about. It's hard to just look at the record. Yeah, because obviously a lot of these teams are going to be playing high major type programs or even high mid major programs. And I think Furman has done that. And I know Bob has even talked about this is he's lined it up this way. That is going to be a tough schedule. So you have to take that into consideration when you're evaluating Furman. And that's why some of these teams are hard to evaluate just solely off of their non-conference schedule, because it's so vastly different as far as the levels that they might be playing. But I agree with you. I think Furman's got the pieces there still early. Can you get more efficient on the offensive side by cutting down the turnovers? And I just think Alex Wilkins is going to continue to grow. And yeah, we will definitely talk about him in your mind, though. What about some teams that we're starting to look at them and question? Wow. How did they get to this point, this part of the season? Yeah, I think probably the team that I would circle first would be UNC Greensboro. Yeah. And I do think there are two or three other teams that at least starting to get a little bit concerned about, but a Mike Jones team to be sitting here at one and seven, albeit with a couple close losses. They have they have played some some tough games. But to be sitting here at one and seven, and you and I talked about this earlier, the way that they're getting beat is not typical of a Mike Jones team. They're giving up a lot of points, a lot of points. And they're they're not being the aggressor and the physical force that I think coach Jones teams is typically play with. They're usually the aggressor and you have to kind of match their physicality. And teams just seem to be being able to they seem to be able to do what they need to do and want to offensively against this team right now. And that's not the trademark of the UNCG team. I can promise you not giving up over 80 points per game. Yeah, and I know it's early in the season, the non-conference schedule. But you're starting to see some signs now. You've got Justin Neely coming out there. I mean, he's been good. He's a walking double double. Also, I know we talk about that with Charles Johnston at Furman. But Justin Neely is also doing it. And he was just named Socon Player of the week, the previous week. And so they've definitely got some talent, Donald Whitehead, Jr. There's no doubt that he's starting to play a little bit better. But can you turn the page, so to speak, on the defensive side? That's what you're going to have to do, because that's the signature. That's the calling card of Mike Jones. Absolutely. I mean, they they play it probably the slowest pace in the league or they want to, at least. And, you know, I think for them, the next couple of weeks are going to be really important because you just don't want to head into conference with only maybe one or two more wins. You know, at some point taking beatings, whether it's by two points or by 15, you know, that starts to creep into your head from a confidence perspective. So I think the next couple of weeks for them are really huge. Can they get right defensively? Because if they can get right defensively and they can control the tempo and be the aggressor, that style of play, you're going to be able to be in just about every ball right. Yeah, no doubt. And they've got a big game this week against UNC Asheville there at the Harris Cherokee Center in Asheville, where the Socon tournament championship is. So they'll be familiar with the place. They haven't had a whole lot of success as far as tournament time. But maybe this is where it flips for them, so to speak, that they are able to get that win. Other teams, though. Yeah, you know, I mean, I think I think the other one, and maybe we kind of flip it a little bit here, concerned, you know, not worried, but concerned a little bit is Chattanooga. They just haven't looked like themselves. They've got only three double digit scores. And, you know, those guys are barely average in over 10 a game. They're not shooting it particularly great from the field. You know, and then you lose a game against Tennessee State at home this past weekend. You know, they've played a tough schedule, but I haven't seen that typical coach Earl kind of juice in that in that bunch yet. And I think some guys that they were expecting to maybe come in and make bigger transitions early on have not done that. But this is the nature of the world that we're in right now. It is. A switch could flip come January and these guys take off. Yeah. Well, they lost a lot, though. They did. And especially in the back court. I mean, you lost an also con back court there. I mean, that's that's significant. Leaders of your team, not only of the team, but also floor general, so to speak, and guys that could score, they could make a bucket at any moment. And so that does seem to be missing right now. Kind of that alpha guy. And I know Colin Mulholland is, you know, hoping to make that next step. But I don't know if he's that guy in terms of, hey, when you need to bucket, he's going to be able to break somebody down and get a bucket, not like on or huff. And, you know, there's not going to be that type of scenario. No, I mean, that back court was. I mean, you could make the argument that that was one of the best back courts in mid major basketball last year. I mean, certainly a top five back court. So I'm not saying concern like I think that that they can't be right there when it's all said and done. Oh, I agree. But I was I think I was expecting them to probably be playing a little bit better basketball, as you mentioned, as the calendar turns over to December. Yeah, no, I agree. The other one that I'm really keeping my eye on and I'm just trying to figure out because we don't know what's going on. Ricky Bradley, Jr. at VMI and VMI now has lost six games in a row. Yeah. Again, they've had a tough schedule. They've had some close games earlier on, you know, losing there in the A-Sun Challenge to Jacksonville on a three pointer with one point four seconds to go. I mean, that's a heartbreak type of loss right there. But you're starting to see a T.J. Johnson and A.J. Clark come down a little bit in terms of their numbers. They're still playing extremely well. But I'm just wondering also just from a load perspective and the depth and especially if you don't have a guy like Ricky Bradley, Jr. Who is the preseason so-con player of the year? You don't have somebody like that. That's going to start taking a toll on your team. And I'm wondering if that's what's happening right now for VMI. I think you bring up a good point. You know, certainly when you're missing a guy like Ricky Bradley, Jr., you're going to struggle a little bit. I mean, you're taking 16 plus points off the board, which is also going to help other guys like T.J. Johnson out. But, you know, I think there has to be a little bit of a level of concern with the fact that they have three non-conference games left and we haven't seen Ricky Bradley, Jr. play once. So, you know, hopefully he's back soon. But getting to your point, I do think that there is some level of fatigue there because you're playing without your best player. You've had to rely on one or two guys to really score a ton in order to be competitive. And now teams are starting to they've they've got eight or nine games of film now when they're scouting you, right? And so teams are certainly making it more difficult for T.J. Johnson to be effective. And, you know, this isn't a knock against T.J. But he's not necessarily a guy that's going to go consistently create for himself at a really, really high clip. So to be able to have a guy like Ricky Bradley, Jr. in the lineup makes him that much better, you know, and he's really cooled off from three. And, you know, so his efficiency has gone down. And some of that's probably just regressing to the mean like we talk about. But some of that certainly is that, look, he's got eight or nine plus games on tape right now and teams are figuring out ways to guard him. And so I do think you are 100% correct with the fatigue factor. But, you know, at what point now, just some of the same old VMI stuff start to creep into everyone's mind. That's right. And you go in kind of limping into conference play in who knows when Ricky Bradley, Jr. is going to be back. There's certainly a level of concern, I think. Yes. You know, with where this thing is headed for sure. But I think you make a really good point with the fatigue factor. All right. So some of the team leaders, so to speak. So Mercer, as we talked about 83.4 points per game, ETSU at almost 82. Chattanooga still getting it done, though, 78 points per game. Wofford, again, I think a little bit of a surprise at almost 78 points per game. Also, and then you've got VMI, they're sitting there scoring 75 points per game. Now you do have to take that into consideration, even for some of these other teams, too, because there are some non D1 schools that are associated or, you know, baked into these stats. Also, the one thing that for Furman that does lend me to think that, OK, they'll be OK because they have been able to rebound. They're leading the conference right now. 39 just over 39 rebounds per game. So that's significant. And then Chattanooga averaging 17 assists per game. So they're getting guys involved and being efficient from that standpoint. And then Furman also at 16 assists per game, but ETSU just over 16 points per game. That's efficiency. And again, that's one of the reasons why you start looking at some of these numbers. You can see why ETSU is up there. Absolutely. I mean, those those are, you know, those are stats that. You're now starting to see a trend of that are either kind of lending themselves to hey, this team is trending in the right direction. Maybe they're trying to figure some stuff out, you know, but a lot of that comes into into play when you talk about scheduling, because some of those stats that you that you rail off now is you always preach, stats don't always tell everything. But some of those are really positive statistics that you think for a Chattanooga would have them trending in the right direction. But you do have to go back and look at the schedule that they've played. That's right. A tough schedule. So, you know, maybe it's they're still trying to figure it out. Yeah. And I think there's also we've talked about the equation. If you can stop the other team and if you can score, you're going to have an opportunity to win. And I think that's why we're seeing Mercer and ETSU where they are right now early on in this 2025 season. Because you look at ETSU, we talked about it shooting 50 percent from the field. Well, Mercer is right there third in the conference behind Furman at 46, which is second, but they're at 45 percent. And then Mercer also is as we talked about, they're leading the conference from beyond the arc, 36 percent. But ETSU is right there at 33 percent. So both of those teams are showcasing offensive efficiency. But even ETSU is taking it to a different level on the defensive side. Yeah, they really have. I mean, those stats that you point out right there, I mean, I think those tell the story. Yeah. And again, they're averaging almost 11 steals per game. But Mercer is averaging almost 10 steals per game. So again, they're able to stop these teams and also be able to score the basket. Yeah. All right. So now looking at players who have performed well so far early in the season, I get it. And we talked about it already. Brian Taylor, the second there at ETSU is just named Socon Player of the Week, a triple double against Central Arkansas, only the fourth triple double in ETSU history. And that's obviously a significant moment and easy to see why he would be chosen as Socon Player of the Week. Yeah. And you mentioned that he's only the fourth player in ETSU history with a triple double. That surprises me a little bit. Yes. The program that has that much history. Agreed. You know, I would have certainly thought there were more. But yeah, I mean, he had a really good week. Frankly, I mean, there's a number of guys that could have gotten that Player of the Week award. But two of them are his teammates. You know, so. You talk about guys that have been top performers. You know, obviously, certainly Brian Taylor, the second has been great. But sticking with ETSU briefly, I mean, Jalen Smith and Cam Morris have also been really good. I mean, Jalen Smith had 28 and eight against Central Arkansas. And, you know, Cam Morris continues to just be the model of efficiency. As we talked about earlier, I think he's shooting over 60 percent from the field. Yeah. And I actually watched part of that game with ETSU versus Central Arkansas. And I was laser focused on Jalen Smith because of what he was doing and didn't even realize until close to the end of the game when they started talking about that Brian Taylor, the second had a chance for a triple double. And he obviously did get that 14 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists. But he also had four steals in this game. So again, it's going back to the defense side that they're showcasing just excellent play right now. And also you look at some of the other performers. You do have to look at Charles Johnston there at Furman. He's had five double doubles this season, which is fourth in the country in terms of number of double doubles. We've already talked about it as well. Baraka Kojai against almost 18 points per game, six assists per game. He just continues to light it up. And he had one game where he scored like 26 points and or 28 points and 26 were in the second half. So he can light it up pretty quickly. And his size, I've watched them play a decent amount this year. And watching him in particular against Eastern Kentucky, his size, I think, is really a differentiating factor for him with his ability to handle the ball and be efficient around the rim and use his body to get in the guys to draw files and get to the free. Yes, it's his physicality and being able to absorb contact and still finish and he can get to the free throw line. That's that's a big factor right there. And you talked about Jalen Smith, what he's been able to. Jaden Booth there at Samford. He's third in the country and three pointers made at 32 so far early in this season. And then also I look at Kamari Holmes and average in 19 points per game. As we talked about, he's shooting 54 percent from the field. And I know Brian Taylor, the second got so con player of the week. I do. I get that. And obviously a big moment getting triple double. I mean, we love that type of stat. I mean, that's something that every player wants to say. I got a triple double regardless of what categories it is, other than you don't want it with turnovers, obviously. Although we have seen I've seen the quadruple double there with Steve Nash. And he had like 14 turnovers in the NBA one game. Exactly. But we know how good, obviously, Steve Nash is. But Kamari Holmes has had over 20 points in four straight games for Wofford. That's significant right there. And that's why I do believe Wofford is in that position where they are. They're surprising people right now because you have that type of production. They have. And he has looked better and better almost every game. Yes. He looks like he is kind of feeling more comfortable in that leadership role and that maybe alpha of this group up in Spartanburg because he has really gotten better throughout the season so far. And to your point, I mean, just been a model, really, of consistency for that group that has needed kind of a rock in that consistency. And they've taken advantage of a favorable schedule. I mean, that's this isn't a knock. I mean, you play who you play. And, you know, they that Wofford has generally had a pretty favorable schedule, but they have looked they've looked good and they have taken advantage of those opportunities and won some good ball games. Yeah, I haven't seen the roller coaster ride with Wofford. No, they seem to be pretty consistent as of right now. And I think that's a testament to what Coach Gilmer has been able to do, creating some stability and, you know, bringing those guys together from that standpoint. The other player, though, is Alex Wilkins. Freshman at Furman. Yeah. What he's been able to do early on in this season, starting for Bob Ritchie. And as you know, Bob Ritchie, that's not something he does in terms of starting a freshman in a guard. Are you kidding me? To be the floor general? Yeah. I mean, that is crazy. But he's third in the conference and scoring right now. He's averaging over 18 points per game. I mean, this guy is efficient. He's shooting 61 percent from two point range. And now I know he needs to improve his turnovers and his three point shooting. But my goodness, he can get to the rim and he's so efficient and he gets guys involved. Yeah, he does. 41 percent of Ferman's assist come through Alex Wilkins. That's efficiency right there. No, it is. And, you know, you mentioned the turnover piece. I completely agree. And I think as we've talked about even earlier on in the show, that will improve. Yes. As the season goes on. But even just in the first month in seeing Ferman play a couple of times, his command of the offense and his floor vision, which I think is floor vision to begin with, was excellent. But he's starting to see stuff a little bit more now. And I've seen some I've seen him make some passes over the last two weeks that are really, really impressive. Yes. For anybody, more or less being a freshman who's in his first year in this system. And frankly, not an easy system to learn. Like, yeah, not everybody can play in that Princeton style offense. And with some of the concepts that Coach Richie runs, you have to understand how to play basketball. Oh, and he has been IQ level on the basketball side to be able to play there. And he has been exceptional. I mean, he averaged 25 and a half a game down in Orlando last week in two games against an A 10. And the team that was predicted to win the Missouri Valley Conference, a very good mid-major basketball team. Yeah. And I think one of the things that you really mentioned, and I'm curious to see how teams will start to play him come conference season is, yes, you really would like to see him shoot the ball a little bit more efficiently from three. But he seems to be able to get downhill just about whenever he wants. Whenever. And he has good size. He does because you have to honor his ability to get downhill so fast. And so you step off of him just a little bit, guarding out on the perimeter. But don't give him too much space because he'll launch it from anywhere. And maybe that's part of it right now. Maybe he's trying to do a little too much, you know, taking some ill advised three point shots. But I've watched enough that you take a step off of him. And if you have a hand down, he's going to shoot it right over. Yeah. And he just seems to be a different type of playmaker. And when you talk about getting downhill, it's it's almost that he like glides downhill. He's so smooth and he can once he gets the hips turned on that defender. Watch out. He's he's gone and he's and he finishes strong at the rim. He finishes exceptionally well, especially for a freshman. And to your point, if he gets if he gets your hips turned and he gets a step on you, you're in trouble because he's got he's got good size. He finishes well into contact. You know, you talk about like eight feet in and with him. I'd love to go back and watch their their film and see what he's shooting from like eight feet in and especially on straight line drives. You know, the guy's bodies. It's got to be 70, 75 percent. I would love to see him. And I think teams are going to start scouting him that they're going to make it harder and harder for him to be able to straight line drive. Yes. But I would love to see him continue to get downhill as as much as he can because, as you mentioned, he just makes things happen when he does downhill. He either scores, gets filed, or he's now really starting to see the reeds within coach Richie's offense and be able to make plays and set guys up. That's right. Yeah. So I think you do have to have him in consideration for Socon Player the week. And I know. Oh, absolutely. Socon offices they did. He was, you know, listed as a nominee. But there's no question that he should be getting even more attention, in my opinion. Oh, look, you brought it up last week when we were talking at one point, and I agree with you. You're going to have a hard time convincing me that there are five better players in the league right now, right now. Yes. Agreed. Yes. I mean, and I know that might be, you know, hyperbole or whatever you want to say, hot take. But the stats don't lie. And more importantly, just watch the film. Yes, you see it. He is a different type of player. He just has a different it factor about him. He is a dude. Yes. You hit the nail on the head. He has that it factor. We talked about it both at the at the Alabama game when we caught up at halftime. He literally that arena opens up. They're playing a top 15 team in the country. It's his first college game. They get the tip. He bangs a three-pointer and then running back down the court. An Alabama player just tries to not rim run, but run through the paint to, you know, kind of help get the other offense set up in the half court and very, very legally gives him a good bump. Just says, yo, I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. And you and I talked about it like turnovers aside, this dude is not afraid of the moment. And you just can't teach that aura that he has. Yeah. And that's why you're going to have to live with some of the mistakes that he has right now. He's still a young player, still has a little bit of the high school in him, maybe dribbling over dribbling at times, you know, that type of thing. And maybe a little bit of that freshman strut makes a big play. And he just he's strutting back down the court because he could get away with that in high school. You can't get away with that here, especially in the SoCon. All right. Another freshman, though, Brian Sumter, you got Wofford, watch out for this guy. And I know we talked a little bit about him, but I think he's another piece of Wofford's success right now because he does give you that rim protection. He's a highly effective once he gets it in the low post. And he's a really good rebounder right now early on. And I think there's something about Brian Sumter also. No, I agree. And it's funny. Just overall, I think this is a really good core group of freshmen in the Southern Conference this year. But like I mentioned earlier, I what I love most about what I've seen from Sumter is his efficiency and just not trying to do too much. Yeah. Now, I do think credit to the coaching staff it Wofford, they're putting they're trying to, I think, put him in spots where he can be successful. But look, he's playing extended minutes as a freshman right now. And he's not trying to do too much, generally speaking. And so I love his efficiency and I also agree with you. I think he's a guy that with more reps, I think his minutes are going to go up. And I think he's going to continue to have an impact. And I would suspect that as we get really into the nitty gritty of conference play that we see his numbers creep up and him continue to even have a bigger impact on this Furman team. Yeah, that's right. And as we continue going through the rest of the nonconference schedule, I think we'll start seeing some other freshmen that will start making their way into the conversations. Mario Tatum, Jr. there at VMI, I think is another guy. And now I did remind me, though, of something that we actually said about Mercer. And I'm going all over the map here because I'm coming back to Armani mighty just because I love his name. We had talked about could he be a guy, you know, what type of minutes he could give you and he might not give you 30 minutes per game. Well, he's averaging over 30 minutes per game right now. So there you go. Yeah. That's the type of impact that some of these guys can have. But it's hard to truly evaluate because we don't know. But now we're starting to see some more data. And that's where I'm going like with a Brian Sumter. It's hard to know how these guys are going to transition into Division one basketball straight from high school and like an Alex Wilkins. But now we're starting to see enough of the numbers in the eyeball test also. Yeah. And look, I don't mean to to digress off the freshman, but I didn't know that stat about Armani mighty. And I know specifically that was one of my concerns was can he stay on the floor for a long enough time, one from a foul trouble perspective, but to more so to the pace that they want to play now knowing that. Who? I mean, that makes me feel even even better about where I think you know, Mercer stands because if you've got a guy with that size and with the impact that he's making on the game right now, man, I mean, yeah, that's that's yeah. I mean, I've said it before and I'm probably sounding like a broken record, but that's a recipe for success right there. Yes. Easily. All right. So let's look at some of the games coming up this week. This is a big week. It is for non-conference games. And again, we talked about it. ETSU at Dayton. I mean, this is a huge test for ETSU. We'll get a better idea as far as ETSU once we get into conference play. But you can't tell me this is not a great barometer to see where ETSU is here in the non-conference. Well, 100 percent. And I know I'm being dramatic when I say this because you can't judge a team by one game, but I think we're going to find out just how good and how for real ETSU is tonight. Not to say that they haven't played anybody they have and they've been really, really good, but I want to see them against a, you know, mid-major plus borderline like high-major type program like Dayton. And I want to see how how they match up because, frankly, I think, look, if we look at the box score tomorrow and they won that game, I'm not going to be surprised. That's how high I am on ETSU right now. But I think to your point tonight is going to be a really big test because Dayton is an NCAA tournament caliber. No doubt. Yes. I mean, we know it's tough to play at Dayton also. It's a very, very difficult, very difficult place to play. UNCG at UNC Asheville, as we talked about there in Asheville. That's tonight also Georgia State at Mercer. OK, this is one of those situations where Mercer and some of these other teams, you're wanting to take that next step. These are the type of games you need to go out and win. Yeah, you got to go be the Georgia State for sure. PC at Wofford on December the third. Wofford, can you continue at Furman at Elon? This is a big week, I think, also for Furman, because not only do they have at Elon, but they also have later in the week, Harvard coming into town. And that's a great test there for Bob Richie's squad. South Alabama at ETSU on December 5th. OK, so big week for ETSU. That's another game we're going to find out. Oh, yeah. Kind of where ETSU is. I mean, that's right. South Al is off to a really, really strong start. Yes. Samford at VCU. So I'm interested in that one. Then you also have Western Carolina at USC Upstate on Saturday, December the sixth. Then Elon at Wofford, Cimo at Chattanooga on Saturday the sixth. And then also you've got UNCG at East Carolina. And then on the seventh, Cornell at Stanford. Little idyllic flavor. At Samford, I should say. Yes. We'll see how that plays out. So this is a big week in terms of non-conference for all of these teams in the SoCon. Yeah, no, it really is. I mean, you've got some major games on the schedule here. Teams will kind of continue to separate themselves, I think, or kind of show us maybe what what they are that we weren't necessarily expecting or what they weren't expecting. But what an exciting week of basketball in the Southern Conference. I mean, I can't wait to watch some of these games. Let's go sign me up in front of the TV, ESPN Plus, all these things. I just wish it was a little bit easier to access some of these games. It's so frustrating that the app slows down on you. You can't really rewind. You can't. I want to be able to be able to take my own time, rewind, watch several different plays, but it's just too cumbersome. Now, I love the access. Yeah, certainly. But. Come on, Disney. Come on, ESPN. Make it a little bit easier for us. That's the problem. I need them to improve the technology to make it easier. I'm a little old school, as I think maybe you are here, too. Like, I just want I just give me a high level cable package. Like, like with the access to be able to have a plus, but just give me give me give me give it to you. That's right. I can see the list of what's going on. That's what we're going to ask for for Christmas. We're in the month of December. So why not? Xfinity. There we go. That's our wish list. All right. And remember, also, all you have to do is hit that to follow or subscribe button, Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast, including the I Heart Radio app. Until next time, may all your jumpers hit nothing but the bottom of the net.