Know the Mocs Opponents: Coastal Carolina

The Mocs would only play Coastal Carolina if both teams wound up having the same result in their first game in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in Chattanooga. The game would be the Mocs fifth D1 out of conference opponent and this game would take place on Thanksgiving Day at either noon or 2:30 depending on the first game result.

The Chanticleers went to the NCAA Tournament a year ago, and appear primed for another run at the Big South title. They host the Big South Tournament the next two years in Myrtle Beach. This is a very talented team who won 21 games a year ago. Warren Gillis was the Big South Tournament MVP and averaged  14.7 points per game a year ago. While John Brown (at High Point) is pretty clearly the best player in the Big South, Gillis could certainly be the second best. Elijah Wilson was on the All Freshman team and averaged 15.8 points per game a year ago. Josh Cameron is a streaky three point shooter. Shivaughn Wiggins is a transfer point guard that should step in and be a very good immediately. Marcus Freeman is a junior college transfer and at 6-8 may be the key to the entire roster as he will be the man in the middle. Badou Diagne averaged 6.5 rebounds per game a year ago.

This team may certainly be the best team in this tournament. The Chanticleers are probably the best team in the Big South. They are favored to win their conference, while Robert Morris and Chattanooga are just predicted near the top and UL-Monroe is a middle of the pack team in their conference. That probably makes Coastal Carolina the early favorite in this tournament.

Of course, the Mocs are at home, despite the fact that this will be played on Thanksgiving Day and could easily be a quiet home game. That will make it more difficult for the Mocs to win this game. The Big South is a very evenly matched conference top to bottom, but Coastal Carolina is still the favorite, especially with the tournament on their home court.

If the Mocs play Coastal Carolina, this will be a quality opponent on their schedule. I am hoping that this winds up being one of the Mocs opponents, because it will add the SOS and get the Mocs a quality win or loss, depending on the result.

Thanksgiving could be spent WORSE ways, I suppose.....