Head Coach Mike Morrell
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2019-20 BULLDOGS TABLE OF CONTENTS 0 • Lavar Batts, Jr. 1 • Cress Worthy 2 • LJ Thorpe 3 • Tajion Jones 4 • Stephen Edoka 6-3/185 • R-So. • G 6-2/170 • So. • G 6-5/215 • R-So. • G 6-5/190 • So. • G 6-4/218 • So. • F Concord, N.C. (Jay M. Robinson) Gastonia, N.C. (Beckley Prep) West Palm Beach, Fla. (Royal Palm Beach) Oak Ridge, Tenn. (Oak Ridge) Abuja, Nigeria (Concord First Assembly) 5 • Trent Stephney 11 • Jamon Battle 14 • Luke Lawson 20 • DeVon Baker 21 • Jax Levitch 6-2/160 • Fr. • G 6-5/210 • Fr. • G 6-7/180 • So. • F 6-2/190 • So. • G 6-7/210 • R-Jr. • F Knoxville. Tenn. (Bearden) Richmond, Va. (LC Bird) Coeburn, Va. (Eastside) Dayton, Ohio (SPIRE Academy) Louisville, Ky. (ELEV8 Sports) 22 • Coty Jude 24 • AJ McBride 30 • Deacon Heath 34 • Jeremy Peck 6-9/190 • So. • F 6-1/190 • Fr. • G 6-0/170 • So. • G 6-9/240 • R-Jr. • F Fort Gay, W. Va. (Believe Sports) Houston, Texas (Manvel) Banner Elk, N.C. (Avery County) Houston, Texas (St. Thomas Aquinas) Mike Morrell ASSISTANTMike Venezia COACH ASSISTANTNeil Dixon COACH ASSISTANTWoody Taylor COACH HEAD COACH ASSISTANTFIRST SEASON COACH ASSISTANTFIRST SEASON COACH ASSISTANTFIRST SEASON COACH SECOND SEASON FIRST SEASON FIRST SEASON FIRST SEASON 2019-20 BULLDOGS TABLE OF CONTENTS GENERAL INFORMATION RECORD BOOK AND HISTORY Table of Contents ..............................1 Record Book ..............................29-33 Quick Facts .......................................2 Big South History .......................34-35 2019-20 Roster .................................3 Bulldogs in the Postseason ............36 The Big South Conference ...............4 Series Histories .........................37-45 Media Outlets ...................................5 Year-By-Year Results ................46-56 Director of Athletics Janet R. Cone ...6 2019-20 Schedule ........... Back Cover Athletics Communications ................7 The 2019-20 UNC Asheville Men’s Basketball Media Guide THE 2019-20 SEASON was curated by Stefan Nolet, with cover designs by UNC Head Coach Mike Morrell ..............8-9 Asheville volleyball student-athlete Carter Kennedy and 2019-20 Coaching Staff .............10-13 photography by Adrian Etheridge. 2018-19 Final Statistics .............14-16 Meet the 2019-20 Bulldogs ........17-28 To learn more about UNC Asheville athletics, please visit the official athletics website at www.uncabulldogs.com. 1 2019-20 QUICK FACTS 2019-20 ROSTER Location: Asheville, N.C. MEN’S BASKETBALL QUICK FACTS Founded: 1927 Head Coach: Mike Morrell (Second Season) Enrollment: 3,800 Alma Mater: Milligan, 2005 Career Record: 4-27 Nickname: Bulldogs School Record: 4-27 School Colors: Royal Blue & White Big South Record: 2-14 Chancellor: Nancy J. Cable Big South Tournament Record: 0-1 Athletics Director: Janet R. Cone Assistant Coaches: Senior Woman Administrator: Terri Brne Mike Venezia - Colgate, 2012 Faculty Athletics Representative: Jeff Wilcox Neil Dixon - West Virginia, 2006 Woody Taylor - Eckerd, 2013 Athletic Dept. Phone: 828-251-6459 Dir. of Basketball Operations: Jack Hayes Ticket Office Phone: 828-251-6904 Athletic Trainer: Tim White Basketball Office Phone: 828-251-6935 Arena (capacity): Kimmel Arena (3,200) UNC Asheville External Relations Stefan Nolet 2019-20 BREAKDOWN Assistant Athletics Director for External Relations/ Starters Returning/Lost: 4/1 Men’s Basketball Contact Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 9/3 Office Phone: (828) 250-2392 Newcomers: 5 Cell Phone: (318) 294-4074 Email: [email protected] 2018-19 REVIEW Overall Record: 4-27 Aaron Cantrell Big South Record (Finish): 2-14 (10th) Assistant Director of Athletics Communications Big South Tournament: Loss in First Round Office Phone: (828) 251-6931 Postseason: N/A Email: [email protected] MEN’S BASKETBALL HISTORY Office Fax: (828) 251-6386 First year of Basketball: 1964-65 Website: www.uncabulldogs.com Overall Record: 806-787 (.506) NCAA Tournament Appearances: 4 (2003, 2011, 2012, 2016) Mailing Address: NCAA Tournament Record: 2-4 One University Heights NIT Appearances: 2 (2008, 2018) Justice Center, CPO #2600 NIT Record: 0-2 Asheville, N.C. 28804 CollegeInsider.Com Tournament Appearances: 1 (2017) CONNECT WITH UNC ASHEVILLE ATHLETICS CollegeInsider.Com Tournament Record: 0-1 Official Athletics Twitter ................. @UNCAvlBulldogs Last postseason opponent: Southern California, lost 103-98 (2OT) Official Athletics Instagram ..............@uncavlbulldogs in first round of NIT Official Athletics FB ..... Facebook.com/UNCAvlBulldogs Big South Regular-Season Record: 272-230 (.542) Men’s Basketball Twitter/Instagram .......@UNCAvlMBB Big South Regular-Season Championships: 7 (1997-98-02- 08-12-17-18) Big South Tournament Record: 34-29 (.540) Big South Tournament Championships: 5 (1989-03-11-12-16) 2 2019-20 ROSTER No. Name Cl. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown/High School 0 Lavar Batts, Jr. G 6-3 185 R-So. Concord, N.C. / Jay M. Robinson High School (NC State) 1 Cress Worthy G 6-2 170 So. Gastonia, N.C. / Beckley Prep 2 LJ Thorpe G 6-5 215 R-So. West Palm Beach, Fla. / Royal Palm Beach High School 3 Tajion Jones G 6-5 190 So. Oak Ridge, Tenn. / Oak Ridge High School 4 Stephen Edoka F 6-4 218 So. Abuja, Nigeria / Concord First Assembly Academy 5 Trent Stephney G 6-2 160 Fr. Knoxville, Tenn. / Bearden High School 11 Jamon Battle G 6-5 210 Fr. Richmond, Va. / LC Bird High School 14 Luke Lawson F 6-7 180 So. Coeburn, Va. / Eastside High School 20 DeVon Baker G 6-2 190 So. Dayton, Ohio / SPIRE Academy 21 Jax Levitch F 6-7 210 R-Jr. Louisville, Ky. / Elev8 Sports Institute (Fort Wayne) 22 Coty Jude F 6-9 190 So. Fort Gay, W.Va. / Believe Sports Academy 24 AJ McBride G 6-1 190 Fr. Houston, Texas / Manvel High School 30 Deacon Heath G 6-0 170 So. Banner Elk, N.C. / Avery County High School 34 Jeremy Peck F 6-9 240 R-Jr. Houston, Texas / St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Drexel) Head Coach: Mike Morrell Pronunciation Guide Assistant Coach: Mike Venezia 3 Tajion Jones – tay-JON Assistant Coach: Neil Dixon 4 Stephen Edoka – steven ee-DOH-ka Assistant Coach: Woody Taylor 11 Jamon Battle – JAY-mon Director of Basketball Operations: Jack Hayes 20 DeVon Baker – duh-VAWN 21 Jax Levitch – LEV-itch HC Mike Morrell – more-ELL 3 THE BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE UNC ASHEVILLE MEDIA OUTLETS Founded in 1983, the Big South Conference has been an • Reached the NCAA “Sweet 16” in men’s soccer, women’s bas- exemplary leader in college athletics, dedicated to developing ketball, baseball and women’s lacrosse student-athletes through the pursuit of excellence in the classroom, • Four NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament wins community and field of play. The league’s growing presence as an • Reached the NCAA Softball Regional Championship game five NCAA Division I athletic conference is made evident by its multi- times tude of athletic accomplishments, innovative marketing and media • Three Top 24 finishes in the NCAA Women’s Golf Champion- partnerships, increased television packages and most importantly, ship since 2011 its commitment to fostering the academic, personal, social, athletic • The No. 1 seed in the NCAA Baseball Regionals four times, and leadership development of its student-athletes. Comprised of including the national No. 4 seed in 2010 11 member institutions sharing a common geographic region and • Three berths in the NCAA Baseball Super Regionals similar academic values and purposes, the Big South’s remarkable • Multiple teams in the NCAA Baseball Regionals eight times history of achievement is characterized by the league’s 19 cham- • Qualified three teams for NCAA postseason play in the same pionship sports and the profound academic and life successes of sport for the first time in 2016 (men’s soccer, men’s golf) its more than 4,200 student-athletes. This has evolved into the • Multiple postseason berths in at least four sports for five straight conference’s “Where Winners Are Made” mantra as part of a new years strategic emphasis on becoming the premiere non-FBS conference • First-ever appearance in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Wom- in the Southeast. en’s Tennis Doubles Championship Since 2000, the Big South Conference has experienced its most • Appearances in the round of 32 in the NCAA Men’s Singles pivotal accomplishments in the league’s history both athletically and Championship academically, such as: • First All-Americans in men’s and women’s cross country • NCAA Baseball National Champion in 2016 • The first-ever national finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year • Six individual National Champions • A Big South-record 13 Academic All-Americans in 2003-04 and • Two top 10 finishes in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship -- 2013-14 including fifth in 2007 • A Big South-record 28 NCAA Public Recognition Awards for • The No. 1 ranked team in the national polls in 2014 and 2015 APR Success in 2018 (football) • A Big South-record 86 percent Graduation Success Rate in • Reached the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs four times in a five- 2017 – fourth consecutive year at or above 84 percentile year span from 2013-17 • A Big South-record 42 All-Americans in 2011-12 • Multiple teams in the FCS playoffs four times since 2012 To learn more, please visit BigSouthSports.com. 4 THE BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE UNC ASHEVILLE MEDIA OUTLETS NEWSPAPERS TELEVISION RADIO STATIONS Asheville Citizen-Times Spartanburg Herald-Journal WLOS-TV 1310 WISE Radio PO Box 2090 189 West Main St. 110 Technology Drive 1190 Patton Ave. Asheville, NC 28802 Spartanburg, SC 29306 Asheville, NC 28803 Asheville, NC 28804 (828) 232-5867 (864) 582-4511 (828) 651-4563 (828) 253-1310 (800) 800-4204 The Greenville News WSPA-TV WWNC Radio Hendersonville Times-News 32 E. Broad St. PO Box 1717 PO Box 6447 PO Box 490 PO Box 1688 Spartanburg, SC 29304 Asheville, NC 28816 Hendersonville, NC 28739 Greenville, SC 29602 (864) 576-7777 (828) 253-3835 (828) 692-0505 (864) 298-4165 WYFF-TV WIRE SERVICE The Mountaineer The Charlotte Observer 505 Rutherford Rd.