GSW welcomes 11 newcomers to ‘Canes basketball team in 2015-16
Published 7:04 am Tuesday, September 22, 2015
From STAFF REPORTS
AMERICUS – Fans of the Georgia Southwestern men’s basketball team have a lot of new names to learn before the season tips in November as the Hurricanes added 11 players during the off-season to their 2015-16 roster. The list of signees includes seven transfers with NCAA Division I experience and four true freshmen.
The lone returner from last year’s 15-win group is leading scorer senior Damien Leonard (14.7 points per game). Leonard ranked fourth in the PBC last season with 82 3-pointers and was 16th in scoring average.
GSW finished 2014-15 ranked 10th in the southeast region and the new crop of Hurricanes look to extend the program’s postseason run to four consecutive berths in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament.
Southwestern hosts the All Army Team in an exhibition game on Nov. 7 before opening its regular season in the Storm Dome on Nov. 17 against Fort Valley State.
Members of GSW men’s basketball 2015-16 recruiting class joining Brantley County High School’s Colt Yawn who signed back in November:
Jure Gunjina (6’8″, Senior, Zagreb, Croatia)
The 205-pound forward played in 30 games at NCAA Division I Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne last season. Gunjina averaged 8.1 minutes per game for the Mastodons. Prior to IPFW Gunjina played at Eastern Florida State College where he averaged 10.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Gunjina had three games of 20 or more points during the 2013-14 season and was named Second Team All-Southern Conference.
Terence Johnson (6’3″, Junior, Tarmac, Fla.)
Johnson played in 21 games at Palm Beach State College last season where he averaged 8.1 points, shot 44.9 percent from the floor and 71.4 percent from the free throw line. The 175-pound guard played in 20 games as a freshman at NCAA Division I South Alabama and averaged 9.5 minutes per game.
Jake Piazza (6’2″, Freshman, Thomasville, Ga.)
The 160-pound guard was named to the Georgia Independent School Association All-State team and GISA 3-AAA All-Region team last season for Brookwood School.
Brandon Price (5’9″, Junior, Radcliff, Ky.)
Price played in 22 games last season for NCAA Division I Western Kentucky. The 150-pound guard averaged 5.0 minutes per game. In 2013-14 Price appeared in 14 games for the Hilltoppers. He started the season opener at 16th-ranked Wichita State and played 22 minutes. Over his freshman campaign, Price played double-digit minutes on five occasions.
Chandler Thomas (6’6″, Graduate, Indianapolis, Ind.)
Thomas played in three games last season at NCAA Division I Ohio University. The 220-pound forward spent the 2013-14 season at Division I Grambling State. His sophomore campaign was highlighted by a 26-point, 11-rebound effort on Nov. 12, 2013, at Marquette. Thomas averaged 8.0 points and 5.9 rebounds over 22.8 minutes while at Grambling. He sat out the 2012-13 season after transferring from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where he started 10 of the 30 games he played in as a freshman in 2011-12, averaging 6.0 points and 3.4 rebounds over 17.4 minutes.
Adam Thoseby (6’6″, Graduate, Melbourne, Australia)
Thoseby spent last two seasons at NCAA Division I South Dakota. The 210-pound guard/forward averaged 18.4 minutes, 7.7 points and 2.3 rebounds per game during his sophomore campaign for the Coyotes and shot 80.6 percent from the charity stripe. He played in 28 games, started two, and averaged 8.0 minutes per game as a freshman at Utah State in 2011-12.
Cade Towers (6’9″, Sophomore, Queensland, Australia)
Towers redshirted last season at NCAA Division I Nicholls State. The 240-pound forward played in 16 games as a freshman and averaged 1.5 points and 0.9 rebounds per game. He scored a season-high eight points and pulled down five rebounds against Auburn, while adding an assist and a steal, on Nov. 8, 2013.
DeVante’ Tremble (5’9″, Freshman, Statesboro, Ga.)
The 155-pound guard averaged 18 points last year at Southeast Bulloch High School and was named Second Team All-Region 1-AAA. Tremble was a scholar-athlete award winner at Southeast Bulloch and his GPA ranked 15th out of a class of 387 students.
Devin Watson (6’3″, Freshman, Lawrenceville, Ga.)
Watson averaged double-digit points over is final two seasons at Collins Hill High School. The 175-pound guard was named All-Region 7-AAAAAA and First Team All-Gwinnett County in 2014-15.
Karon Wright (6’0″, Junior, Jackson, S.C.)
Wright spent the last two seasons at NCAA Division I South Carolina State where he appeared in 63 games for the Bulldogs, averaged 7.1 points and shot 75.0 percent from the free throw line. The 180-pound guard scored 15 points at Virginia on Nov. 18 last year, connecting on 5 of 10 from 3-point range and scored 17 at Georgia Southern on Nov. 29, draining 5 of 9 from beyond the arc.