WEEVILS TO FACE TOUGH EARLY TESTS

By Sean Saunders/of the commercial staff

The Arkansas-Monticello men’s basketball team has the chance to roll as much as 13-deep this season. But the Boll Weevils have to get healthy before they realize that potential.

“We have the potential to be a very deep team, and that’s huge at the (NCAA) Division II level,” UAM coach Mike Newell said. “But that means that we have to get healthy.”

The Weevils began practice last week with at least seven players sidelined with injuries. Their biggest absences were Deron Brown and D’Angelo Dean, who are UAM’s second and third returning scorers respectively.

Brown has been sidelined with a dislocated heel, but should be back by UAM’s exhibition opener with Shorter College on Tuesday, Newell said. Brown averaged 12.2 points per game last season after leading the team in 3-pointers with 53 on 157 attempts.

Dean has not been available to practice since August, and Newell said his recovery has taken some time. Dean led the team in steals last year with 33 and averaged 11.8 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game.

Newell has one player who won’t see action for the first few weeks of the season with a broken hand. He also has three more who are dealing with ankle sprains.

One player who is not dealing with injury yet is senior Raymond Wright. Wright, at 16 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, is UAM’s leading returning scorer and rebounder, and Gulf South Conference coaches recognized his efforts from last year by selecting him last week to one of the spots on the All-GSC West team.

“I thought that we had at least two or three guys that could have made the team,” Newell said. “I guess they went only with Raymond because he’s 6-9 and was our leading scorer and rebounder last year.”

Wright will lead the Weevils into another tough early-season test when they travel to Carbondale, Ill., to participate in the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. UAM takes on Massachusetts, a Division I team that finished runner-up in the postseason National Invitational Tournament last year.

Newell said that, unlike last year where the Weevils lost convincingly to Tennessee, West Virginia and Texas, the Weevils are looking to accomplish something against teams from a higher classification this year. Newell said his goal is to make it out of Carbondale to play on national television at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

“We have a chance to beat UMass,” Newell said.

“Fortunately, we’ve been put into what I think is the weakest region. If we win our first two ballgames, then we’ll be playing in front of Madison Square Garden. I’m confident in saying that this game is the biggest in school history.”

To make it to New York, UAM will not only have to knock off UMass on Nov. 11, but the Weevils also have to go through a potential matchup with Southern Illinois.

The Salukis have to fight off D-II power California (Pa.) in their first-round game, but Southern Illinois is still an established team after making consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 2002-07.

The Weevils should have a much lighter schedule following the tournament, as they don’t have another Division I team left on the schedule. But that schedule could seem a little more daunting if UAM fails to get its players healthy.

“We have our season divided into four parts,” Newell said.

“There is the tournament, the nonconference season, the conference season and the postseason. Our guys have to remember that there are plenty of games still to play even if they do accomplish something in the tournament.”

The Shorter College exhibition is set for 6 p.m. at Steelman Fieldhouse. The annual Green-White scrimmage will take place on Nov. 6.