GENERAL INFORMATION BASKETBALL STAFF Full name: Georgia State University Basketball Offi ce Telephone: 404.413.4050 Location: Atlanta, GA Head Coach: Ron Hunter (Miami (Ohio), 1986) Founded: 1913 Record at School/Years: 0-0 / 1st Yr. Enrollment: 32,000 Career Record/Years: 274-219 (.558) / 18th Yr. Nickname: Panthers Associate Head Coach: Darryl LaBarrie (Georgia Tech, 2001), 1st Yr. Colors: Blue and White Phone: 404.413.4055 • Email: [email protected] Arena: GSU Sports Arena (3,400) Assistant Coach: Everick Sullivan (Louisville, 2002), 1st Yr. Affi liation: NCAA Division I Phone: 404.413.4052 • Email: [email protected] Conference: Colonial Athletic Association President: Dr. Mark Becker Assistant Coach: Claude Pardue (Emory, 2008), 1st Yr. Director of Athletics: Cheryl L. Levick Phone: 404.413.4053 • Email: [email protected] Director of BB Operations: Tony Bollier (Wheaton College, 2006) BASKETBALL INFORMATION Phone: 404.413.4056 • Email: [email protected] Strength & Conditioning: Jamal Terry (Morris Brown, 2000) 2010-11 Record: 12-19, 6-12 CAA/T9th Athletic Trainer: John Anderson (Arizona State, 1996) Starters Returning/Lost: 4/1 Graduate Assistants: Justin Wheeler, Nate Summers Lettermen Returning/Lost: 8/5 First Year of NCAA Basketball: 1963-64 All-Time Record: 462-840 NCAA Appearances: (2) 1991, 2001 NIT Appearances (1): 2002 WHAT’S INSIDE This is GSU Basketball ...... 2 Records ...... 106 The 2011-12 Georgia State University men’s basketball President ...... 4 Starting Lineups ...... 124 outlook is an offi cial publication of the Georgia State Sports Director of Athletics ...... 5 Letterwinners ...... 126 Communications offi ce. The outlook was written, designed Athletics Administration ...... 6 Tournament History ...... 127 and editted by Associate Sports Communications Director Season Preview ...... 38 Year-by-Year Results ...... 134 Mike Holmes. Cover design by Summit Media. Photography 2011-12 Roster ...... 40 Series Results ...... 145 by Georgia State Sports Information, Paul Abell, Todd Drexler, Pronunciation Guide ...... 41 Opponent Contacts ...... 153 Randy Wilson, Steven Jones and many others. Special thanks Coaching Staff ...... 42 Media Information ...... 154 to those who assisted in this outlook goes to Allison George, Player Profi les ...... 53-80 Directions ...... 154 Charlie Taylor, fellow SID’s and members of the Georgia State 2010-11 Review ...... 82 CAA Schedule ...... 156 men’s basketball coaching staff. Honors ...... 104

ince beginning his tenure as versity’s global reach, the cornerstone of Georgia State University’s sev- which was the opening of GSU’s Confu- enth president on Jan. 1, 2009, cius Institute in 2010, a partnership with MarkS P. Becker has launched a major the Beijing Language and Culture Uni- strategic planning initiative focused on versity and one of the fi rst business-ori- positioning the university, as it sets its ented Confucius Institutes in the United sights on its second century, to become States. one of the nation’s premier urban uni- In addition, Becker leads a diverse From 1989 to 2000, Becker was a versities. Embracing its commitments to university whose undergraduate aca- professor and associate dean for aca- recognized excellence in education and demic profi le continues to rise, and a demic aff airs at the University of Michi- research, as well as its unique location number of the university’s excellent gan’s School of Public Health. He also in and commitment to Atlanta, the uni- graduate programs enjoy strong national has held academic appointments at the versity is poised to rise to new levels of rankings. University of Washington, the Univer- accomplishment and impact. Becker also has overseen a number sity of Florida and Cornell University. Under Becker’s leadership, GSU in of physical improvements and enhance- Becker earned his bachelor’s degree 2011 approved and began implementa- ments including: the opening of the in mathematics from Towson State Uni- tion of its 10-year Strategic Plan, whose Parker H. “Pete” Petit Science Center; versity and his doctorate in statistics mission is to position Georgia State “as the university’s fi rst freshman housing from the Pennsylvania State University. a dynamic academic community where and dining complex, to be followed Active in the Atlanta community, teaching and research combine to pro- by the Piedmont North housing and Becker is a member of the Central duce leaders and create solutions to con- dining complex coming on line this fall; Atlanta Progress Executive Committee; quer the challenges of the 21st century.” the construction of on-campus Greek Atlanta Committee for Progress Board In 2010 Becker oversaw the housing; and the purchasing of land for of Directors; Georgia Aquarium Board; launching of the Second Century Initia- future growth and expansion in down- Woodruff Arts Center Board of Trustees; tive for faculty excellence, most oft en town Atlanta. Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce referred to as “2CI.” Th is initiative is Prior to his appointment to Georgia Board of Directors; Georgia Chamber of recruiting 100 additional faculty mem- State, Becker served as executive vice Commerce Board of Directors; Georgia bers to Georgia State over fi ve years to president for academic aff airs and Research Alliance Board of Trustees; build internationally recognized schol- provost at the University of South Commerce Club Operating Board; arly strength and critical mass in areas Carolina. ARCHE (Atlanta Regional Council for of priority. Before assuming that role, Becker Higher Education) Board; the Coalition Seeking to recognize the importance spent three years at the University of of Urban Serving Universities Board of and infl uence of international com- Minnesota as a biostatistics professor, Directors; and the World Aff airs Council merce and technology for Georgia State dean of the School of Public Health and of Atlanta Board of Directors. students and researchers, Becker has assistant vice president of Public Health, During his career, Becker has been worked to enhance Georgia State Uni- Preparedness and Emergency Response. involved in several professional associa- tions, including the American Associa- tiont for the Advancement of Science, the InternationalI Biometric Society and the AmericanA Statistical Association, where heh is a fellow. He has been principal investigatori on research grants from the NationalN Institutes of Health and the NationalN Science Foundation, and he has publishedp extensively in leading journals ofo medicine, public health, and statistics. BeckerB has served on a number of edito- rialr boards, was co-editor of Sociological Methodology,M and was a guest editor for SociologicalS Methods and Research and forf the Journal of the American Statis- ticalt Association. Becker and his wife, Laura Voisinet, haveh two grown children, Matthew and Julia.J harged with leading Georgia State State in March 2009 from the University of University athletics in an era of Maryland, where she served as chief of staff / unprecedented growth, Director of executive senior athletic director, overseeing AthleticsC Cheryl L. Levick is changing the daily management of the 27-sport program. face of Panther athletics with the historic Her impressive career includes seven years launch of Georgia State football and the as director of athletics at Santa Clara Univer- development of the overall program. sity and Saint Louis University as well as Under Levick’s leadership, the inaugural nearly two decades in senior administrative football season of 2010 was an unquali- positions at Maryland and Stanford Univer- fi ed success as the fi rst-year team posted a sity and stints with the Pacifi c 10 Conference winning record on the fi eld while averaging and the NCAA headquarters. nearly 17,000 fans for home games at the Levick was named the 2001 Division Georgia Dome. As a result, Georgia State I Athletic Administrator of the Year by the received tremendous positive exposure, National Association of Collegiate Women both locally and nationally. Athletic Administrators (NACWAA). In Levick’s fi rst two-plus years on the job 2005-06, she received the General Sports have been marked by dramatic upgrades in TURF Systems Athletic Director of the Year facilities and fund-raising. Annual giving Award for the NCAA Division I Central to the Panther Athletic Club has increased Region, and she was recognized in both more than ten-fold, and the two largest gift s 1998 and 1999 as one of the nation’s Top 25 in the history of GSU athletics have been Female Sports Executives by Street & Smith’s secured. Construction projects include the Sports Business Journal. She is a past presi- GSU Football Practice Complex, new facili- dent of the NCAA Division I-AAA Athletic ties for strength and conditioning and sports Directors Association. medicine, and upgrades to every venue used Before going to Maryland in 2007, she by the Panthers. served three years (2004-07) as director Her forward thinking is evident in her of athletics at Saint Louis, where she led reorganization of the GSU Athletics Asso- the transition from Conference USA to ciation and the ambitious, six-year strategic the Atlantic 10 Conference and served as plan she has developed for the future of the lead fund-raiser for a new $80 million Georgia State athletics. on-campus arena and practice complex. In With Levick at the helm, Georgia State’s 2006, she received the Carl O. Bauer Award athletic programs are rising in stature in as the top amateur sports fi gure in the St. the Colonial Athletic Association. Since her Louis area. arrival, GSU has claimed six CAA team titles Levick also spent four years (2000-04) as and 16 individual conference crowns while director of athletics and recreation at Santa boasting nine CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Clara University, where she oversaw a major Year honorees. GSU student-athletes have renovation of the school’s basketball arena. also excelled in the classroom, maintaining Th e Broncos’ women’s soccer team captured a cumulative grade point average over 3.0 the 2001 national championship, still the while completing more than 5,000 hours of only NCAA title in school history. community service in 2010-11. Prior to Santa Clara, Levick worked 12 With a resume of experience and years at Stanford as senior associate athletic 33 vvarsityarsity programs ththathat won 44 nanationaltionall success at prestigious athletics programs director and senior woman administrator. championships and six straight Sears Cup across the nation, Levick came to Georgia She served as the primary administrator for titles during her tenure. Levick previously served as assistant commissioner of the Pac-10 Conference, assistant director of communications and women’s programs at the NCAA, women’s gymnastics coach and associate athletic director at Slippery Rock University, and assistant gymnastics coach and synchro- nized swim coach at Indiana University. She began her career at Pattonville Senior High School in St. Louis, Mo., coaching gymnas- tics and women’s track. THE LEVICK Levick is a 1974 graduate of the Univer- FAMILY: sity of Missouri, and she holds a masters (l-r) Michael, degree in athletic administration from Heather, Indiana University. She has two daughters: Cheryl and Heather, who is married to Michael Klass, Melissa. and Melissa. JAMES GREENWELL JAMIE BOGGS TIFFANY DANIELS MARVIN LEWIS TODD REESER Executive Senior Associate Senior Associate AD - Senior Associate AD - Senior Associate AD - Senior Associate AD - Director of Athletics Compliance & SWA External Affairs Finance & Administration Development

DR. ANDREW SUMNER ALLISON GEORGE BOB MURPHY JOHN PORTLAND DENA FREEMAN-PATTON Faculty Athletics Associate AD - Associate AD - Sports Associate AD - Facilities, Associate AD - Representative Communications Medicine & Nutrition Operations & Events Student-Athlete Developmentp

MISTY BROWN ISAAC FULLARD TINA KELLY KEVIN MILLER BEN POLLARD Assistant AD - Assistant AD - Assistant AD - Assistant AD - Assistant AD - Speed, AD Operations Corporate Sales Marketing Development Strength & Conditioning

AWILDA RAGLAND ROB SLAVIS CHARLIE TAYLOR KEVIN WHITE Assistant AD - Assistant AD - Assistant AD - Assistant AD - Human Resources Compliance Communications Business

to repeat as an All-CAA Academic First With a run-and-gun, up-tempo Team member. style of basketball, Ron Hunter begins Here is a look at the Panthers: his fi rst season at the helm of the Pan- thers. State returns seven seniors, in- POINTS GUARDS cluding four starters from a squad that Senior James Fields and sophomore saw marked improvements as last sea- Devonta White are expected to see son ended. Th e squad will also welcome most of the playing time leading the four newcomers and one player who Panthers up the court. Each redshirted last season to a team ready were able to lead GSU to success to contend in the CAA. last season in diff erent ways, as To go along with a new coach and both bring signifi cant strengths new coaching staff , the Panthers will to the court. play a new style of fi ercely competitive “Having two talented play- basketball, which goes right along with ers like James and Devonta is key to Hunter’s personality. our success this season,” said Hunter. “Th e two things that people will “James is one of the top defenders in quickly notice about me is that I do not the CAA, while Devonta is an explosive sit down during games,” commented point guard with tons of talent.” the always energetic Hunter. “And the Fields, who started 28 games last year second thing is that we are going to play and averaged a team-high 27.6 minutes a style of basketball that they have not per game, scored 5.5 points and pulled seen in a while. We are going to press, down three rebounds per game last sea- Alpharetta, Ga. native is a true point run and shoot the ball quickly, not al- son. He also led the Panthers with 94 guard who combines court vision with lowing our opponents to get back in assists and 33 steals. Showing his talents exceptional speed and quickness as well their sets. It is an exciting style of play on and off the court, the Savannah, Ga. as scoring ability. and one that our players truly enjoy.” native became the fi rst Panther to earn Adding depth to the point guard po- Th e Panthers return 71.5 percent of All-CAA Academic First Team honors sition will be walk-ons Tyler Gamble their scoring production, along with as he fi nishes his degree in exercise sci- and Ryann Green. Gamble was an all- 86.2 percent of their rebounding totals ence. region honoree from Commerce, Ga. from last season. Senior Eric Buckner, White saw signifi cant playing time Last season, Gamble averaged 14 points who led the team in points, rebounds early in his freshman season and be- and seven assists a game for Commerce and blocks, is thought to be a preseason came the starting point guard 10 games High School leading his team to the All-CAA selection, aft er leading State to into the season, leading the Panthers school’s second straight state tourna- its most blocked shots in school history. to a 4-1 record and victory over Final ment appearance. He will be joined by the experienced Four-bound VCU in fi ve starts before Green played locally for former duo of Jihad Ali and James Fields, who an ankle injury caused him to miss 10 Panther Courtney Brooks at Benjamin combined for 48 starts last season. games and never recover to full-speed Banneker High School. Green led his In his fi ft h year as a Panther, Ali has before the end of the season. In just 20 team to the Sweet 16 of the state tour- a chance to play in the most games in games, several in which he saw limited nament his senior year aft er averaging school history entering the 2011-12 action aft er his injury, White averaged 15 points, six assists, four rebounds and season, while Fields, who led the team 5.2 points and 2.4 assists per game. Th e two steals per game. in minutes per game last season, looks WINGS steals and third with 72 assists. having a pair of career games each Returning starter Jihad Ali will look Sophomore Rashaad Richardson, a time the Panthers played Towson. Af- to fi nish his Panther career in style aft er 6-4 win from Oldsmar Christian Acad- ter battling through injuries, the 6-10, averaging 7.2 points and 4.8 rebounds emy, made his debut for the Panthers 267-pound center averaged 3.0 points per game last season. Ali has played in last year, playing in 25 games and aver- and 3.1 rebounds last season, scoring 92 games in his career and had a chance aging 4.2 minutes per contest. his fi rst career double-double against Freshman Tony Kimbro Jr., a highly- to set a new school record this season, CAA Champion Old Dominion late currently held by Trae Goldston at 122. touted shooting guard from Louisville, Ky., joins the Panthers aft er fi nish- in the season. Th e Columbus, Ga. na- Th e 6-5 native of Atlanta started 19 tive fi nished the season with 36 blocks, games for the Panthers last year, aver- ing his career at Jeff ersontown High second most on the team, shooting 53.7 aging 25.6 minutes per game, second School. Th e 6-6 left y became the fi rst most on the team. player signed by Hunter last April. percent from the fl oor. “Jihad got off to a little bit of a slow “Tony is a talented high school play- “James has the size to be a force in start last year, coming off of a summer er who comes to us from a basketball the CAA,” said Hunter. “He does a lot in which he did not get to play as much family,” commented Hunter. “He is of things right fundamentally and if he as he would like due to injury,” said strong and explosive with good size on can put it all together and stay healthy Hunter. “He has really focused on all the perimeter.” this year, I think he can have a big sea- aspects of his game this summer and I Tony was named second team all-state son for us.” expect big things out of him this year.” as a senior as well as to the all-region Senior Brandon McGee, who team this past season. He averaged 17 Senior Josh Micheaux, who started showed his ability to score a lot of points the fi nal 10 games of the 2010-11 sea- points and 4.7 rebounds per game for the Chargers, who were ranked fi rst in in a short period of time last year, will son will look to build on his fi rst season line up again at either the small forward with the Panthers. Over the fi nal third the state at midway through the season. or power forward position. McGee av- of the season, Micheaux led eraged 7.8 points last season, second the Panthers in scor- POST PLAYERS most on the team, while pulling down ing, rebounds and Senior Eric Buckner is Georgia 4.8 rebounds per contest. Playing in all assists. State’s top returner in the post and is 31 games, McGee made 10 starts and A native of Mis- expected to challenge for All-CAA scored one of the Panthers highlights souri City, Texas, preseason honors. Th e 6-10 Micheaux fi n- of the season. Against Northeastern in power forward from ished the season mid-February, McGee scored 31 points, Ehrhardt, S.C. averaging 6.5 the most by a Panther in nine years, to led GSU in points and 3.7 lead State to a come-from-behind vic- scoring (9.4), rebounds per tory over the Huskies live on CSS. rebounds game, fi nish- Redshirt-senior Jamar Taylor also (5.6) and fi eld ing second returns for a fi nal season aft er seeing on the squad goal percent- action in 16 games, including four starts with 32 age (.548), during the 2010-11 season. Taylor gives while block- the Panthers added depth underneath, ing 49 shots, with the ability to play long stretches of the third most minutes if necessary. in school his- “Brandon is a very talented scorer tory last sea- and can be an impact player for us, son. while Jamar will give us minutes when “Eric has tre- we need him to” commented Hunter. mendous talent,” comment- Georgia State’s fi nal newcomer is ed Hunter. “Th e only thing Virginia Tech transfer Manny Atkins, that is holding him back from who will sit out the 2011-12 season per being one of the best players in NCAA rules. Atkins saw action in every the conference is confi dence in game for the Hokies last season, playing his game. We have worked hard a season-high 38 minutes against Geor- on building that and I expect him gia Tech in March. He starred at nearby to be a double-double player for us this Tucker High School, leading his squad season.” to the state championship during his Junior James Vincent continued to senior year. show improvement during this sopho- more season, earning three starts and