Nov. 8, 2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -
The Samford University basketball team has its sights set high for the 2006-07 season. The Bulldogs are expected to not only make a run at the Ohio Valley Conference's regular-season title, but to also qualify for their third NCAA Tournament in the last nine years.
Samford, coming off a 20-win campaign and a second-place finish in the OVC, returns four starters and 10 players from the squad that advanced to the league's 2006 championship game. The Bulldogs also enter the season with two highly-touted incoming freshmen and last year's coaching staff intact.
Head coach Jimmy Tillette, Samford's all-time winningest coach, enters his 10th year at the helm of the Bulldogs and rejoins his seasoned staff, consisting of associate head coach Paul Kelly and assistants Lee Burgess and Derrick Jones.
All three members of Tillette's staff played for him at some point in his coaching career. Kelly, who is also in his 10th season at Samford, played under Tillette at De La Salle High School in New Orleans, La., while both Burgess and Jones were members of Samford's 2000 NCAA Tournament team.
With a roster filled with talent, experience and grit, the 2006-07 version of the Bulldogs' basketball team should once again vie for an NCAA Tournament appearance and an OVC title. This season marks Samford's final year of play in historic Seibert Hall, and the Bulldogs would like to cap off the building's storied 45-year past by hanging yet another banner in its rafters.
RETURNING STARTERS
Samford's entire starting backcourt of Jerry Smith, Randall Gulina and Joe Ross Merritt returns this season and will be joined by second-year starter Travis Peterson at center.
Smith, a high-octane senior from Picayune, Miss., will once again lead the Bulldogs from the point guard position, while both Gulina and Merritt are expected to start at the wings. Smith, who has started at point guard since his freshman campaign, averaged 8.5 points per contest last season and has been included in Samford's starting lineup in 54-straight games.
A tall, athletic guard at 6-foot-2, Smith is the Bulldogs' top returning rebounder with 4.5 per game and has led the team in assists in each of the last three seasons.
Gulina, the Bulldogs' fiery 6-foot-1 guard from Baton Rouge, La., will start at the two-guard position for a third straight season. He enters the 2006-07 campaign as the team's top returning scorer after averaging 12.6 points per game a year ago.
As a slasher with a great ability to get to the goal, Gulina will again look to maximize his explosive scoring potential. Last season, he scored in double digits in 20 of the team's final 25 games and reached the 20-point plateau in five contests.
A junior native of Oklahoma City, Okla., Merritt returns to the starting lineup this season after starting in all 31 games last year. He will either start at the No. 3 or No. 4 position in Tillette's offense, and he is considered one of the team's top defenders.
In 2005-06, Merritt averaged 5.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in 26.4 minutes per game. This season he will be looked upon for more offensive production, mainly to recoup some of the point production lost to the graduation of his brother and 2005 OVC Player of the Year, J. Robert Merritt.
The only member of last season's starting five that is not returning this year, J. Robert Merritt led the Bulldogs in both scoring (17.6 ppg) and rebounding (5.2 rpg). For his efforts, he garnered a number of prestigious postseason awards and became the first Samford player to earn All-America honors.
J. Robert Merritt also finished the season ranked second in the nation in 3- point field-goal percentage (47.6) and was third in the country in 3-point field goals per game (3.9).
Samford's most critical offensive position, the center or "P" position, is again in good hands this season. Peterson, a 6-foot-10 native of Glendale, Ariz., will start at the center spot for a second-consecutive year and will look to improve upon his 11.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
He finished the season ranked third on the team in 3-point field-goal percentage and led the OVC in assist/turnover ratio. In the 2006 OVC Tournament, Peterson reeled off three consecutive double-digit scoring games and was named to the all-tournament team.
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS
Along with their four returning starters, the Bulldogs also boast a pair of talented returning letterwinners in junior Curtis West and sophomore Jason Black. Each of these players possesses the talent to break into the starting lineup this season and both have the talent and ability to be game-changing players.
West, a 6-foot guard from Baton Rouge, La., averaged 5.7 points and 2.1 rebounds per game a year ago and thrived in his role as the team's sixth man. A speedy defensive specialist, he provides an instant spark coming off the bench and should see much more playing time than the 20.7 minutes per contest he averaged last season.
Black, Samford's high-flying wing man from Martin, Tenn., has the potential to be one of the team's top players this season. Since becoming a Bulldog in 2004, he has suffered a pair of ill-timed knee injuries that have limited his playing time. Last year, Black averaged 2.3 points per game in 9.9 minutes, but showed flashes of his potential with outstanding performances against both Tennessee-Martin and Austin Peay.
REDSHIRT FRESHMEN
Samford will boast the efforts of four talented redshirt freshmen this season. Savoy Fraine, Bryan Friday, Jim Griffin and Trey Montgomery were all highly regarded coming out of high school and spent the 2005-06 campaign learning the Bulldogs' Princeton-style offense.
Friday, a native of Grapevine, Texas, is expected to see vie for playing time at the forward position this season, while Montgomery will showcase his abilities at guard. Montgomery, a 6-foot-4 native of Destrehan, La., is fully recovered from last season's knee injury and will be chomping at the bit to get on the court in 2006-07.
Fraine, from Granada Hills, Calif., and Griffin, from Chicago, both possess the physical skills needed to play in the OVC and will see action coming off the bench. Fraine is a 6-foot-8 shot-blocker with a 7-foot wingspan, while Griffin is a 6-foot-7 ball-handler with the ability to play several positions.
NEWCOMERS
A total of three true freshmen will join the Bulldogs in 2006. Gaby Bermudez was the first to sign with Samford and is a 6-foot-4 point guard from Miami, Fla. A three-year starter at Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, Bermudez was named one of the Top Florida Players in the Class of 2006 by PowerBasketball.com. He also earned Miami Herald second-team All-Dade County honors in 2005.
Andy King, a 6-foot-8 forward from Omaha, Neb., signed in the late period with Samford, and should provide some key depth in the Bulldogs' frontcourt this season. King averaged 11.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game at Creighton Prep High School and earned All-Nebraska Honorable Mention honors in both 2005 and 2006. In 2005, he helped guide CPHS to the state championship game.
Samford's third true freshman to join the team in the off-season was Matt Robertson. Robertson, a native of Birmingham, Ala., is a 6-foot- 7 forward who played at Briarwood Christian. He earned Shelby County All-Tournament Team honors as both a junior and a senior, and received all-area honors in 2006.
SCHEDULE
As is the case year after year, Samford's 2006-07 schedule will again be very challenging. During the summer, Tillette unveiled a 30-game slate featuring contests at Florida, LSU and Arizona. The Bulldogs will also welcome Ohio to Seibert Hall, Nov. 28, and will later host an ESPN BracketBusters matchup in mid-February.
Samford opens the season, Nov. 10, against defending national champion Florida at the O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla. Next up, the Bulldogs will play its first home contest of the season versus Tennessee Temple, Nov. 14, before embarking on a two-game road swing against Towson University and perennial Pacific 10 Conference powerhouse Arizona.
After Christmas, Samford will travel south to Baton Rouge, La., to play in the LSU Hispanic College Funds Classic. In the four-team tournament, the Bulldogs will square off against 2006 Final Four participant LSU, Mississippi Valley State and Wright State.
The Bulldogs will conclude their 2006-07 regular-season schedule with three home games. On Feb. 17, Samford will host its first ESPN BracketBuster contest in school history. The Bulldogs will then play home games against Southeast Missouri (Feb. 22) and Eastern Illinois (Feb. 24). Samford's matchup against Eastern Illinois will be the final game played in historic Seibert Hall.
The Bulldogs began playing basketball in Seibert Hall in the early 1960s and have accumulated an impressive 344-167 record in the facility. Beginning in 2007-08, Samford will begin play in the brand-new, 32-million-dollar Pete Hanna Arena.
