By Chuck Mistovich, Basketball Times - basketballtimes.com

Florida Southern didn't make it into the top 15 in a few pre-season NCAA Division II rankings, including 16^th by Basketball Times, while Augustana (Ill.) in NCAA Division III and Cal State San Marcos had a lot higher expectations with top-five pre-season selections.

Well, all three have exceeded expectations, resulting in coach of the year honors for Linc Darner of Florida Southern, Greg Giovanine of Augustana (Ill.) and Jim Saia for the second straight year at Cal State San Marcos.

Heading into the post-season tournaments, Florida Southern commands the number-one spot in D2 with a 30-1 record.  Augustana was D3 number-one for several weeks early in the season as it has racked up a 24-4 record, and the same for San Marcos with a bunch of number-one weeks during this 28-3 season.

Both Florida Southern and San Marcos feature plenty of firepower, scoring over 85 points per game.  Augustana takes the more moderate route with a 65.1 points per game defense, holding foes to 41 per cent shooting from the floor.
           
Darner (213-72 in nine seasons at Southern) credits a brutal pre-season schedule for building up to number-one through the season.  The Moccasins opened the pre-league schedule with an 11-0 mark, defeating the likes of top 10 teams Bellarmine (Ky.) and Metropolitan State (Colo.) plus other top-20 types West Alabama, Delta State and Southern Indiana.
           
Darner would not have guessed an undefeated opening, saying, "I thought that four losses would win our league (Sunshine State Conference) and I wanted to have a solid strength of schedule for the regional rankings.  We knew the conference was going to be very good this year.  A lot of coaches told me that they couldn't believe the schedule we played out of conference." 
           
The Mocs blew away the coach's expectations with the undefeated early season and then going 15-1 in the league.  The lone downer was a 107-102 overtime loss to 13^th-ranked Barry to open league play.  The team got over the loss right away, and then won out the rest of the way, including the conference playoffs to take a 19-game win streak into the NCAA tournament.

Darner said, "As I looked at the schedule, I thought a 22-8 record would be a really good year.  This was an unbelievable accomplishment for the team.

"This team is better defensively than some of our past teams, and we are starting five seniors.  We win with experience.  With the older team, we have the same lineup and rotation every game, and we have stayed away from injuries."

The Mocs have four players scoring in double figures, led by All-America 6-2 Kevin Capers with 21.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.  Two other top point-getters are 6-5 Stephen Battle (13.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and 6-2 Tyler Kelly (10.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.8 apg), supported by two juniors coming off the bench in 6-3 Dylan Travis (10.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and 6-3 Dominique Williams (9.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg).
  
The key statistic that Florida Southern lives by is turnover margin difference.  "At the end of the day," said Darner, "our goal is to have 10 or under turnovers while maintaining a fast pace, picking up at half court and various trapping, and forcing turnovers."

Though Southern matches its opponents with 44 per cent shooting from the field, the coach says that "we get up more shots and hit a higher percentage at the free throw line (77 per cent).  Some games we get 12 more shots up than our opponents.  We take some teams out of what they want to do with scheming and trapping.

"Offensively, Capers can really get to the basket.  He can score the basketball and makes us hard to beat, plus he can pass and rebound.  This year we have won games in the 60s and 70s (points scored), which is better than in the past.  We can also win the high-scoring games."
 
The next goal on tap for the Mocs is to become the first South region team to win the national championship since North Alabama in 1991.
   
Augustana is quite a contrast to the senior-dominated Florida Southern lineup, as it features an all-junior quintet.  "A lot of these juniors played as freshmen, and our team traveled to South America and played top teams there.  Last season we opened with an exhibition game against Iowa and this year we won an exhibition game with D1 Bradley on the road.  These guys have been through the fires, and logged a lot of minutes."

The Vikings enjoyed a winning streak of 10 in a row in the first half of the season, and rebounded well after two straight losses down the stretch, with a seven-game win streak.

The team leader has been 5-9 Hunter Hill with 15.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, while hitting 41 per cent on threes.  Other top scorers are Ben Ryan (11.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and Nic Hoepfner (10.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg).   A couple injuries created a variety of different starting lineups earlier in the season, but all are well heading into the NCAA tourney, except for 6-8, 261-pound Kevin Schlitter who returned from a torn ACL, but suffered the tear again at the start of the season.

Giovanine said, "Last year we lost in the NCAAs against the eventual champion Wis.-Whitewater, and returned everyone this year.  Our expectations were high, especially after we won at Bradley and then opened the season with a couple good weeks and a 96-94 win over number-one Whitewater.  These guys have embraced the role they are in.
 
"This team has similarities of some of our past great teams, including always being led by a special player.  This year it is Hunter Hill who carries that mantle.  He is a great player and shares the ball efficiently for our well-balanced offense."

Over the last 10 years, the Vikings have won nine conference titles: five regular-season titles and four league playoff crowns.  Coach Giovanine owns an impressive, 308-120 record in 16 years at Augustana.  Prior to taking over the Augustana program, he was head coach at D1 Lamar of the Sun Belt Conference, with a 47-37 record in his final three years of a six-year stint for the Sun Belt Conference team.

Talk about a team with momentum going into the NAIA nationals, San Marcos has won 14 of its last 15 games and Coach Saia is quite pleased that "all the pieces are in the right places, but Kansas City (traditional site of the tourney) has a way of exposing teams' flaws (the champion would play five games in seven days).  We have the point guards, slashers, shooters and rebounders, so the key is putting it all together in the tournament."  Another plus for the team is the recent return of Tony Freeland (8.5 ppg) who missed all but seven games with a knee injury.

The San Marcos program concentrates on great basketball and great talent, and not all those "perimeter things"…..such as its own gymnasium.  The team practices in a local rec gym, and played its 10 home games in a local gym.
           
Saia could see the outstanding potential at San Marcos and actually left 14 years of D1 coaching experience and a 70-29 record at NAIA Fresno Pacific to start the San Marcos basketball team from scratch.

Saia sees the bright side, as a new gymnasium is to be built in two years, saying, "It was the same last year.  It is a very difficult circumstance but assistant coach B.J. Foster helps us through it all."  For the Cougars, they are accustomed to all games being road games.
           
In only its third season of collegiate basketball, San Marcos racked up a number-one rating in the regular season and then reached the NAIA quarter-finals, only to lose to eventual national runnerup Emmanuel (Ga.) in overtime, with its all-seniors lineup.
           
This year the California team is again among the NAIA leaders in scoring with 85.3 points per game, on 47 per cent shooting, while allowing 71.6 with 43 per cent shooting.

The lineup is deep with scorers, as eight players average over eight points a game, and eight different players have started at least 10 games.  At the top of the list is All-America Blake Nash, a 6-0 senior, with 17.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.2 steals per game.  Other leaders are: 6-4 senior Julian Camper (14.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg), 6-8 junior Taran Brown (11.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and 6-1 junior Akachi Okugo (10.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.6 apg).  Combining for over 26 points and 11 rebounds a game are 6-6 senior Wade Collie, 6-3 junior Dayton Boddie and 6-0 junior Tyson Kygar.
           
Saia said of Nash, "He is extremely talented, and can beat you in multiple ways.  Blake gets to the basket, shoots the three-ball, and he can get 10 assists or 14 rebounds in one game.  He is a tough competitor and is best when chips are down.  He is a former junior college All-American and has really come on and had an incredible year."
           
The presence of Okugo gives Saia another point guard weapon "and he helps solidify us plus we can have two point guards out there on the floor with him and Nash."  Another unique talent is Camper who, at 6-2 and 250 pounds, is a Charles Barkley-type post player "and he is a load inside," praises Saia.
           
Saia is planning to make this season better than last year's 32-2 season, with a sprint to a national championship.

   2014-15 Basketball Times All-Americans
                                   NAIA
   Player of the Year – K.J. Manigault, Pikeville (Ky.)
  Coach of the Year – Jim Saia (Cal State San Marcos)
                                     First Team
Semar Farris, Mid-America Christian (Okla.)    5-5       Sr.
Cameron Lewis, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)        6-1       Sr.
K.J. Manigault, Pikeville (Ky.)                         6-5       Sr.
Blake Nash, Cal State San Marcos                    6-0       Sr.
Shandel Stewart, Talladega (Ala.)                     6-2       Sr.
                                  Second Team
D'Von Campbell, Campbellsville (Ky.)             6-1       Sr.
Deondre McWhorter, Georgetown (Ky.)                      6-8       Jr.
K.K. Simmons, Pikeville (Ky.)                         6-3       Jr.
Korry Tillery, Evangel (Mo.)                           6-4       Sr.
Marty Wilkerson, St. Gregory's (Okla.)                       5-9       Sr.
                                    Third Team
Noah Cottrill, Georgetown (Ky.)                      6-3       Jr.
Eric Gaines, Campbellsville (Ky.)                     6-4       Sr.
Phillip Miller, Wiley (Tex.)                             6-0       Sr.
Kenny Morgan, Hope International (Calif.)     6-2       Sr.
Brandon Peters, Talladega (Ala.)                      6-2       Sr.

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